Group Operations Director in London

Join to apply for the Group Operations Director role at St. James’s Place. Are you ready to chart your own career path? At SJP, we need talented individuals like yourself to support our evolving culture. If you’re seeking an employer passionate about excellence, innovation, and autonomy, SJP could be the place for you.

At a glance:

• Location: Cirencester or London
• Workplace Type: Hybrid
• Employment Type: Permanent
• Seniority: Director

The role

The Director, Group Operations is a strategic leadership role focused on transforming and optimising operations to meet the evolving needs of SJP’s Partners and clients. This role ensures the delivery of efficient, compliant, and high-quality services while leading operational functions supporting clients and Partners. This includes customer-facing operations and managing key external outsourcing partnerships to drive excellent client outcomes.

What you’ll be doing:

• Partner with the executive team to develop and execute operational strategies aligned with business goals, translating strategic objectives into actionable plans and measurable outcomes.
• Lead and develop a high-performing operations team to deliver efficient and scalable processes, building a culture of service excellence and continuous improvement.
• Transform end-to-end operations to deliver excellent customer outcomes with robust, simple, and reliable processes trusted by clients, the partnership, and employees.
• Oversee outsourced administration to ensure efficiency, accuracy, and compliance with SLAs and regulations.
• Work with Procurement to deliver exceptional commercial outcomes and evaluate continuous improvement activities for benefits to clients and Partners.
• Oversee handling of regulated complaints, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, including treating clients fairly.
• Use data from customer complaints to identify root causes and lead initiatives for long-term process and service quality improvements.
• Ensure timely processing of confirmations, payments, settlements, client money, and other related matters in line with policies and procedures.
• Lead Business Continuity and Operational Resilience across the Group, acting as Contingency Director.
• Oversee the Group’s Business Continuity Policy and framework, ensuring they are robust, current, and effectively tested, with regular assessments of recovery capabilities of critical suppliers.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and provide assurance and relevant information to the Board and stakeholders regarding business continuity and resilience.
• Oversee the leadership of the SJPWM partner remuneration team, ensuring comprehensive delivery of all remuneration activities.
• Oversee the Group's Investment Operations team, managing Middle Office, Fund Accounting, Third Party Management, and operational aspects of Fund launches and change events, executing strategic and governance frameworks.
• Handle delegated responsibilities from SMF24 (Chief Operations) for various Group entities under SMCR.
• Ensure leadership and oversight of Customer-facing operations to underpin good client outcomes, supporting FCA Principle 12.

Who we’re looking for:

A strategic leader with extensive experience managing diverse operations functions, driving a positive culture.

Essential Criteria:

• Experience leading large operational functions, especially with significant outsourcing, and knowledge of financial services regulation and SJP’s products/services.
• Deep knowledge of Customer Complaints Handling and Redress within FCA regulation.
• Experience applying governance structures to manage risks, with systems and controls to monitor and mitigate risks impacting delivery and customer satisfaction.
• Senior stakeholder management experience, including delivering management information.
• Extensive budget management experience, including financial and business planning.
• Experience procuring services from external providers and managing ongoing contracts and relationships.

Special Requirements:

This role is a certification role under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.

What’s in it for you?

We reward your work through a discretionary annual bonus, competitive leave (28 days plus bank holidays, with optional purchase of 5 extra days), and access to an online rewards platform with discounts. Benefits include:

• Competitive parental leave (28 weeks full pay)
• Private medical insurance (optional taxable benefit)
• 10% non-contributory pension (increasing with service)

Reasonable Adjustments:

We are an equal opportunities employer. If you require adjustments during the recruitment process, contact us at.

We encourage applications from candidates who meet some of the criteria and can demonstrate transferable experience, even if they do not meet all requirements or have taken extended career breaks.

What’s next?

If you’re excited about this role and believe you have the right skills and experience, please apply by clicking ‘apply’ below. Our team will contact you. As an FCA-regulated business, we advise familiarising yourself with conduct regulations and consumer duty obligations before your interview.