Build the Team. Shape the Process. Lead the Product Vision.
We’re looking for an exceptional Head of Product to partner closely with senior leadership and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our product organisation. This is a high-impact role for a product leader who thrives on building great teams, transforming ways of working, and turning strategy into outcomes that customers love.
What you’ll be responsible for
People – Build a world‑class product team
You’ll assess the talent we have today, identify capability gaps, and help us attract outstanding product talent at pace. Just as importantly, you’ll coach, nurture, and empower our existing leaders to create a strong, high‑performing product culture.
Process – Raise the bar on how we deliver
You’ll help drive the shift to quarterly planning and bi‑weekly product reviews across clearly defined value streams. Working closely with product, technology, and architecture, you’ll champion transparency, rigor, and continuous improvement — transforming how our product management teams operate.
Product – Turn strategy into execution
You’ll take a holistic view of our product estate and customer base to help shape a compelling product strategy and execution plan. While the strategic roadmap is set at the top, you’ll translate it into clear work packages that value stream leads can deliver against — ensuring strategy becomes reality.
Why this role?
This is a rare opportunity to shape the direction, capability, and impact of an entire product organisation. If you’re a hands‑on product leader who loves building teams, improving systems, and delivering meaningful customer value at scale, we’d love to hear from you.
Skills, Experience & Qualifications
Essential
* Senior leadership experience in a high‑impact role with a product team within payments, acquiring, fintech, or financial services.
* Experience within merchant acquiring, fintech or payments acquiring.
Barclays’ payments acceptance business provides critical infrastructure to the UK economy, processing billions of pounds of payments annually for small businesses and domestic and international corporate clients.
In April 2025, we announced a long‑term partnership with Brookfield Asset Management to grow and transform the payments acceptance business by broadening the range of services offered, enhancing the experience for existing and prospective clients. Leveraging extensive client relationships and deep experience of UK payments, we will create an environment of continuous innovation.
Barclays will invest approximately £400m in the new business, with the majority incurred during the first three years. Performance‑linked incentives will drive greater alignment between the partners, underpinning the long‑term commitment to the transformation. Barclays and Brookfield will work to create a standalone entity over time, continuing to use the Barclaycard Payments (BPL) brand and acting as the sole payments acceptance services provider to Barclays’ clients for a minimum of ten years.
More information on our partnership with Brookfield can be found on Barclays.com.
Purpose of the role
To manage a specific product or portfolio and set the strategic direction. Provide support to the bank’s senior management team, and to manage product development risk across the organisation.
Accountabilities
* Development of strategic direction for a specific product or portfolio, including the implementation of up‑to‑date methodologies and processes.
* Management of a specific product or portfolio, including oversight of colleagues and their performance, implementation of departmental goals and objectives, oversight of department efficiency and effectiveness.
* Relationship management of specific product or portfolio stakeholders, including identifying relevant stakeholders, and maintaining the quality of external third‑party services.
* Development and implementation of policies and procedures for the specific product or portfolio.
* Management of specific product or portfolio risk, including identification of potential risks, development of strategies to mitigate those risks, and maintaining alignment between the bank’s product and compliance functions.
* Monitoring the financial performance of the specific product or portfolio, including revenue, profitability, and cost control.
* Conducting thorough market research to understand market trends, competitive landscape, and regulatory changes to identify market opportunities.
Managing Director Expectations
* Lead a large, complex or diverse function and take accountability for its strategic direction to strengthen successful and efficient businesses and contribute to Barclays Group initiatives.
* Lead and mentor high‑performing teams, embed a performance culture aligned to the values of the business, and act as a profound technical expert and thought leader. Guidance is provided to less experienced specialists.
* Drive and achieve overall success and competitiveness of a business division by influencing senior leaders and committees.
* Strategically assess and manage risks to protect the business division or function and growth.
* Influence company policy and develop functional procedures in conjunction with senior leaders and strategic positions across the business.
* Demonstrate interpretative thinking for innovative solutions in complex situations and conceptual thinking in completely new situations.
* Exercise management authority to make significant and complex business and strategic decisions that impact Barclays Group or its divisions.
* Negotiate with and influence stakeholders at a senior level internally and externally and foster growth for Barclays.
* Serve as the business division or functional spokesperson to external bodies and shape Barclays’ public image.
* Demonstrate exceptional knowledge of how business divisions and functions integrate with the Group to achieve overall objectives alongside industry theories and practices.
* Maintain broad functional expertise and significant product knowledge.
* Accountable for the control and governance agenda of the business division or function.
* Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays.
All Senior Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours: Listen and be authentic, Energise and inspire, Align across the enterprise, Develop others.
All colleagues will demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship, and the Barclays Mindset of Empower, Challenge and Drive.
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