At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead operational planning and drive value realisation in a fast-growing payment tech company.
- Company: Join Zilch, a double unicorn payment tech company on a mission to empower customers.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive pay, health perks, hybrid work, and professional development opportunities.
- Other info: Be part of a culture that values innovation, collaboration, and personal growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a dynamic environment while shaping the future of payments.
- Qualifications: Experience in commercial leadership, operational planning, and financial modelling is essential.
The predicted salary is between 40000 - 50000 £ per year.
Who we are: Zilch is a payment tech company on a mission to create the most empowering way to pay for anything, anywhere. Combining the best of debit, credit and savings, we give our customers the option to earn instant cashback or spread the cost of pricier purchases, completely interest free and with no late fees. We started in 2018 with a small team and a big dream - to make credit accessible to all. Since then, we've achieved double unicorn status and taken on more than 5 million customers. There are some exciting projects coming up and we’ve got big growth plans.
About the role. The Director of Operational Planning & Value Realisation is responsible for the commercial stewardship of Service Operations. The role provides executive ownership for the planning, analytical and commercial disciplines that ensure operational investment, AI adoption, workforce strategy and transformation activity translate into measurable improvements in customer outcomes, operational efficiency and financial performance. Working alongside Operational Excellence, the Director ensures Service Operations not only creates value through continuous improvement, but consistently realises that value through disciplined planning, commercial governance and operational optimisation.
Primary Accountabilities: The Director is accountable for ensuring Service Operations continues to improve its economic contribution to the wider business. This includes executive ownership for:
- Operational planning
- Workforce strategy
- Supplier strategy
- Business Analysis
- Commercial modelling
- Operational investment appraisal
- Benefits realisation
- Cost-to-serve optimisation
- Productivity improvement
- Efficient growth
- Commercial governance of operational transformation
The role ensures Service Operations remains commercially efficient as customer volumes, AI capability and product complexity continue to grow.
Day to day responsibilities:
- Commercial Stewardship: Provide executive ownership for the commercial performance of Service Operations. Ensure operational investment decisions maximise customer outcomes alongside financial performance. Develop robust commercial frameworks supporting operational decision making. Partner with Finance to improve visibility of operational economics. Ensure Service Operations contributes positively to broader business performance.
- Operational Planning: Lead long-term operational planning. Develop strategies covering: Workforce capacity, AI adoption, Outsourcing, International expansion, Operational resilience, Resource allocation. Ensure Service Operations remains scalable as the business grows.
- Business Analysis & Value Realisation: Lead the Business Analysis function. Develop robust business cases supporting operational investment. Establish consistent approaches to opportunity sizing, commercial modelling, investment appraisal, benefits realisation. Ensure every significant operational initiative has clearly defined success measures and measurable financial outcomes. Track realised benefits and challenge initiatives that fail to deliver expected value.
- Workforce Strategy: Lead Workforce Management. Develop long-term workforce strategies that balance customer demand, AI capability, automation, internal capability, outsourced delivery, operational resilience. Ensure workforce planning evolves beyond forecasting into strategic operational capacity planning.
- Supplier Strategy: Lead Supplier Management. Develop long-term sourcing strategies that balance customer outcomes, operational resilience, commercial performance, scalability. Ensure supplier strategy evolves alongside increasing automation and international growth. Lead executive supplier governance.
- Executive Decision Support: Provide analytical support for executive operational decision making. Develop executive dashboards covering cost-to-serve, productivity, operational investment, benefits realisation, workforce strategy, supplier performance. Support prioritisation of operational investment. Provide evidence-based recommendations to the Operations Leadership Team.
- Leadership Responsibilities: Lead the teams responsible for Workforce Management, Business Analysis, Supplier Management. Develop a culture of commercial thinking. Embed disciplined planning and evidence-based decision making. Build organisational capability in commercial modelling, investment appraisal and benefits realisation. Coach leaders to understand the economic impact of operational decisions.
Success Measures: The Director will be accountable for improvements in:
- Commercial
- Cost-to-serve
- Productivity
- Return on operational investment
- Benefits realisation
- Financial contribution of Service Operations
- Operational efficiency
- Planning
- Forecast accuracy
- Capacity utilisation
- Workforce planning maturity
- Supplier performance
- Operational scalability
- Strategic financial value realised from transformation
- Quality of investment decisions
- Readiness for international expansion
- Readiness for AI-enabled operating models
- Commercial sustainability of Service Operations
What does success look like: The successful candidate is likely to have experience leading commercial, planning or strategy functions within an operational environment. Likely backgrounds include: Director of Business Planning, Director of Commercial Operations, Director of Operational Planning, Director of Value Realisation, Head of Operational Finance, COO of a business unit, Operations Strategy leader within consulting. The individual will bring experience in: commercial leadership, financial modelling, operational planning, workforce strategy, supplier management, business case development, investment appraisal, benefits realisation, executive stakeholder management. Experience supporting AI-enabled operational transformation and large-scale operational change would be advantageous.
Leadership Profile: The successful candidate will be commercially astute with strong financial acumen, highly analytical and numerate, comfortable operating at executive level, curious, pragmatic and outcome focused, able to balance customer outcomes with commercial priorities, comfortable making complex investment recommendations, confident influencing without relying on hierarchy, and a strong systems thinker capable of connecting operational decisions to wider business performance.
What Success Looks Like: Within 12 months the Director will have established a single operational planning framework across workforce, supplier strategy and transformation, introduced a consistent benefits realisation framework across Service Operations, embedded commercial governance across all significant operational investment decisions, improved cost-to-serve whilst maintaining or improving customer outcomes, developed a long-term workforce strategy supporting AI adoption and international growth, created executive visibility of the economics of Service Operations, demonstrated measurable financial value from operational transformation, and positioned Service Operations as a commercially disciplined function that consistently converts operational improvement into measurable business value.
Benefits:
- Compensation & Savings: Pension scheme, Death in Service scheme, Income Protection, Permanent employees enjoy access to our Share Options Scheme, 5% back on in-app purchases, £200 for WFH Setup.
- Health & Wellbeing: Private Medical Insurance including GP consultations (video, telephone or face-to-face), Prescribed medication, In-patient, day-patient and out-patient care, Mental health support, Optical, dental & audiological cover, Physiotherapy, Advanced cancer cover, Menopause support, Employee Assistance Programme including unlimited mental health sessions, 24/7 remote GP & physiotherapy, 24/7 helpline for emotional & practical support, Savings & discounts on everyday shopping, 1:1 personalised well-being consultations, Gym membership discounts.
- Family Friendly Policies: Enhanced maternity pay, Enhanced paternity pay, Enhanced adoption pay, Enhanced shared parental leave.
- Learning & Development: Professional Qualifications, Professional Memberships, Learning Suite for e-courses, Internal Training Programmes, FCA & Regulatory training.
- Workplace Perks: Hybrid working: office-based Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; remote working Tuesday and Friday, Casual dress code, Workplace socials, Healthy snacks.
Director of Operational Planning & Value Realisation in London employer: Zilch
Zilch is an exceptional employer that prioritises employee well-being and professional growth, making it an ideal place for a Platform Reliability Engineer. With a hybrid work environment, comprehensive benefits, and a strong focus on optimising technology infrastructure, Zilch fosters a collaborative culture where innovation thrives. Join us to be part of a forward-thinking team dedicated to shaping the future of payment technology in the UK.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Director of Operational Planning & Value Realisation in London
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We think you need these skills to ace Director of Operational Planning & Value Realisation in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Problem-Solving Skills:In management consulting, it's all about problem-solving—so make sure your CV highlights your analytical and critical thinking skills. Include examples from your studies or previous roles where you tackled complex issues or came up with innovative solutions. Quantify your achievements whenever possible to demonstrate your impact!
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Highlight Team Experience:Consultants often work in teams, so it's vital to showcase your collaborative skills. Include experiences where you've worked effectively with others, whether in academic group projects or internships. Discuss your role in the team and how you helped achieve common goals, demonstrating you can thrive in a consultancy environment.
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How to prepare for a job interview at Zilch
✨Master the Case Study Game
In management consulting, case study interviews are all the rage. Make sure to practice structuring your thoughts and analysing data on the fly. Use resources like example case studies to get comfortable with frameworks and solutions. Remember, it’s not just about getting the right answer but showcasing your thought process, so talk us through your reasoning!
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As this is a full-time role, we want to see your potential as a seasoned consultant. Be ready to discuss experiences where you've led a project or a team. Think about times you've influenced decisions or navigated challenges—this is your chance to show how you can thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
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We’re not just looking for brains; we want to see if you vibe with our company culture at Zilch. Prepare to share how your values align with ours. Have a think about what makes a great team environment for you and how you can contribute to that. A good cultural fit goes a long way in management consulting!
