Senior Manager - Solutions and Innovation

JOB TITLE: Senior Manager - Solutions and Innovation

Within Group Sustainable Business, a new Solutions and Innovation team has been established. Working with Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) business units and external partners, it aims to accelerate and scale further innovative initiatives that achieve an environmental or social impact as well as delivering commercial returns. 

The Senior Manager in our Solutions and Innovation team and will play a pivotal  role in realising these ambitions. This is an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of pioneering and high-profile initiatives.

Examples of our recent purpose-led initiatives include:

• A £500m financial guarantee programme with the National Wealth Fund to accelerate the retrofit of social housing in the UK

• A £62m fund to help fund small businesses in low income regions through the provision of finance to Community Development Finance Institutions

• LBG’s Social Housing Initiative.

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) is committed to playing a leading role in society, building stronger and more sustainable economies and communities in accordance with our purpose of Helping Britain Prosper. LBG’s Group Sustainable Business team sits at the centre of the organisation and plays an important role in converting our purpose ambitions into tangible outcomes which are critical to the delivery of LBG’s strategy and purpose. Within Group Sustainable Business, a new Solutions and Innovation team has been established. Working with cross Group business units and external partners, it aims to accelerate and scale further innovative initiatives that achieve an environmental or social impact as well as delivering commercial returns.

The Senior Manager in our Solutions and Innovation team plays a pivotal role in realizing these ambitions! This is an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of pioneering and high-profile initiatives.

You will lead the strategic design, development, testing, and mobilization of innovative solutions to deliver some of our most material purpose and sustainability opportunities. This is an opportunity for you to use your experience of leading cross functional teams in developing groundbreaking solutions that deliver both commercial growth and support the Group’s purpose strategy and goals.

As Senior Manager, Solutions and Innovation, you’ll be:

• Shaping the direction for how to use different financial products to create breakthrough ideas and new opportunities that deliver commercial growth, while supporting LBG’s purpose and sustainability strategy and goals

• Leading cross functional teams in developing innovation projects, taking concepts from early ideas to implementation, ensuring alignment with Group goals

• Independently identifying and forming relationships with strategic external partners to develop new and innovative ecosystems to support the Group’s ambitions

• Collaborating with internal and external partners, quickly establishing credibility to cultivate innovation partnership models and trial approaches to ‘test and learn’ to achieve sustainability outcomes

• Evaluating the feasibility of new solutions providing detailed reports, quantitative analysis and recommendations for senior management

• Using measurement and feedback to understand value and impact and uses the findings to test, learn and adapt to influence activity

• Shaping and delivering the end-to-end plan to implement large scale signature programmes across the Group, including maintaining high quality plans and reporting on progress to key governance forums and senior partners

What you’ll need:

We’re looking for a self-starter with a commercial growth mindset who will use their strong connections within LBG, financial institutions and with external partner organisations to initiate and establish solutions at pace that are focused on impact and tangible repeatable results that demonstrate positive commercial returns. Is this you? If so, we want to hear from you!

We’re looking for someone that has the following combination of skills:

• A strong commercial attitude will be essential, with the ability to understand markets and develop solutions with applicability in the real economy.

• Strategic thinking, with an innovative approach.

• A proven ability to lead cross-functional teams in developing and implementing innovative projects.

• Excellent communication and relationship building skills to champion innovative ideas and influence collaborators to adopt new thinking.

• The tenacity and resilience to drive the business through the complexities of innovation and change.

• Experience of shaping and leading programmes of work to turn ideas into tangible solutions quickly and validate concepts promptly

• Confident, proactive, able to represent the business externally and flexible to work in a dynamic working environment

• A demonstrable personal commitment to creating positive economic, social and environmental impact.

While this role focuses on drive and skills, the ideal candidate should be able to demonstrate the following experience:

• Experience of shaping and leading sophisticated, multi-partner programmes of work to turn ideas into tangible solutions quickly

• A track record of playing a leading role in designing and delivering practical solutions to complex financial or commercial challenges, with proven evidence of the ability to think creatively and translate ideas into reality.

• Familiarity with finance and banking such as debt and structured commercial finance, novel financial instruments and consumer finance will be advantageous but not essential.

• A well connected external network across regional and national government, financial institutions and consultancies will be beneficial.

About working for us:

Our focus is to ensure we're inclusive every day, building an organisation that reflects modern society and celebrates diversity in all its forms. We want our people to feel that they belong and can be their best, regardless of background, identity or culture. We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer initiative. And it’s why we especially welcome applications from under-represented groups. We’re disability confident. So if you’d like reasonable adjustments to be made to our recruitment processes, just let us know.

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%

• An annual performance-related bonus

• Share schemes including free shares

• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping

• 30 days’ holiday, with bank holidays on top

• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies

If you’re excited about joining the team, get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!