Chief of Staff – BPL role at Barclays
The Chief of Staff (CoS) to the Chief Product & Technology Officer is a strategic and operational leadership role at the heart of our UK-based acquiring and payments business. The CoS turns the CPTO's vision into clear priorities, drives alignment across Product & Technology, and ensures our organisation operates with focus, efficiency, and discipline. The role oversees the Product & Technology operating rhythm, improves cross-team execution, enhances communication, and acts as a trusted adviser and problem-solver for the CPTO. The CoS also leads three functions: Product Strategy, Product Risk & Compliance, and Product Operations. This role is ideal for someone experienced in financial services, banking, or payments—able to navigate regulatory expectations, complex stakeholder environments, and risk-sensitive product development.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Planning & Alignment
* Support the CPTO in shaping and communicating Product & Technology strategy.
* Lead annual and quarterly planning cycles and ensure priorities and OKRs are clear and aligned.
* Ensure alignment across Product, Engineering, Commercial, Operations, Risk, Compliance, and Finance.
Execution & Operating Rhythm
* Own leadership meetings, business reviews, and roadmap governance.
* Improve cross-team coordination and unblock organisational issues.
* Drive continuous improvement in delivery processes and operating models.
Executive Support & Communication
* Act as a trusted adviser and extension of the CPTO.
* Prepare executive-level updates, board materials, and stakeholder communications.
* Represent the CPTO as needed, ensuring consistent messaging and decision support.
Cross-Functional Problem Solving
* Proactively resolve issues spanning multiple departments.
* Coordinate regulatory, operational, and commercial dependencies.
* Maintain strong alignment with Legal, Risk, Compliance, and external partners.
Leadership Of Three Functions
* Product Strategy
o Oversee market insight, strategic planning, and long-term product roadmaps.
o Support portfolio prioritisation and investment case development.
* Product Risk & Compliance
o Lead product governance, risk frameworks, and compliance processes.
o Ensure product development meets regulatory (e.g., FCA) and scheme requirements.
* Product Operations
o Drive operational excellence through process, tooling, metrics, and delivery oversight.
o Manage roadmap governance, release communication, and operational reporting.
Skills & Experience
Stakeholder Management
* Exceptional ability to manage, influence, and align diverse senior stakeholders across Product, Engineering, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Commercial.
* Skilled at navigating competing priorities, facilitating consensus, and ensuring decisions are understood and followed through.
* Proven experience acting as a trusted adviser to senior executives, with strong judgement and discretion.
Banking, Payments, or Financial Services Background
* Experience within acquiring, issuing, payments processing, fintech, or broader banking environments.
* Familiarity with regulatory frameworks (FCA, AML, operational resilience, scheme rules) and how they impact product and technology decisions.
* Clear understanding of risk management, compliance dependencies, and product lifecycle requirements in regulated businesses.
* Ability to translate regulatory or operational risk considerations into practical product and delivery processes.
General Skills
* Strong strategic thinking combined with operational discipline.
* Excellent communication and presentation skills, especially for executive and board-level audiences.
* High organisational awareness and ability to anticipate challenges before they arise.
* Comfortable switching between high-level strategy and hands‑on operational execution.
* Proven track record of improving processes, driving alignment, and scaling organisations.
Barclays’ Payments Acceptance Business
Barclays’ payments acceptance business provides critical infrastructure to the UK economy, processing billions of pounds of payments annually for both 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 both existing and prospective clients.
Purpose of the Role
To enable the success of senior executives by helping navigate complex challenges, make informed decisions and deliver against their strategic objectives.
Accountabilities
* Strategic support to senior executives, such as the CEO or other top-level leaders including assistance in the development and execution of in year and multi-year business strategy, research, and analysis to support decision-making and act as delegate for the senior executive in specific situations.
* Management of colleague engagement planning in line with the strategic direction, managing communication channels and ensuring effective coordination across different departments and teams.
* Management of key projects and strategic initiatives on behalf of senior executives, ensuring strategic projects are on track, monitoring progress, and provision of regular updates to the executive team.
* Improvement of operational efficiency, alongside functional partners, within the organisation including the identification of areas for improvement, streamlining of processes, and implementation of consistently excellent best practices to enhance productivity and effectiveness.
* Development of performance reporting for key metrics that reinforce the strategic objectives of the division and support the external commitments made. Analyse and draw insight to drive performance. Involvement in aspects of financial analysis and budget management, including assistance in financial planning, forecasting, cost management and monitoring of financial performance against targets.
* Support to senior leadership to ensure appropriate resourcing across the business/function including planning and forecasting, partnering with HR to drive talent development and succession planning including the identification of high-potential employees, provision of mentorship and guidance, and support to leadership development and diversity initiatives.
* Support to the senior executive with risk and control oversight, escalation, crisis management and risk mitigation, support the development of contingency plans, coordination of responses to emergencies, and ensure business continuity.
* Implementation of a robust governance framework which supports the board of directors, executive forums and governance committees through the preparation of board materials, organisation of meetings, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
Director Expectations
* To manage a business function, providing significant input to function wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policy and procedures for the function and plan, manage and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business wide.
* They manage the direction of a large team or sub-function, leading other people managers and embedding a performance culture aligned to the values of the business. Or for an individual contributor, they lead organisation wide projects and act as deep technical expert and thought leader, identifying new ways of working and collaborating cross functionally. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions.
* Provide expert advice to senior functional management and committees to influence decisions made outside of own function, offering significant input to function wide strategic initiatives.
* Manage, coordinate and enable resourcing, budgeting and policy creation for a significant sub-function.
* Escalates breaches of policies / procedure appropriately.
* Foster and guide compliance, ensure regulations are observed that relevant processes in place to facilitate adherence.
* Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to both monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays, when appropriate.
* Demonstrate extensive knowledge of how the function integrates with the business division / Group to achieve the overall business objectives.
* Maintain broad and comprehensive knowledge of industry theories and practices within own discipline alongside up-to-date relevant sector / functional knowledge, and insight into external market developments / initiatives.
* Use interpretative thinking and advanced analytical skills to solve problems and design solutions in often complex/ sensitive situations.
* Exercise management authority to make significant decisions and certain strategic decisions or recommendations within own area.
* Negotiate with and influence stakeholders at a senior level both internally and externally.
* Act as principal contact point for key clients and counterparts in other functions/ businesses divisions.
* Mandated as a spokesperson for the function and business division.
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