Strategy Manager - BPL

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic reporting and planning cycle for Barclays and Brookfield stakeholders, including annual submissions, executive updates and ad-hoc board materials 

• Own the framing of strategic questions and assess options across the business, developing clear recommendations grounded in commercial logic, evidence, risks, trade-offs and mitigations 

• Drive priority strategic initiatives end-to-end, working independently and through cross-functional teams to turn direction into delivered outcomes 

• Act as a trusted thought partner to senior leaders, shaping decisions, challenging assumptions and helping functions translate strategy into sequenced, costed action plans with clear owners and metrics 

• Lead problem-solving on complex, ambiguous topics such as AI-led business design, operating model choices and enterprise-wide planning priorities 

• Develop market, competitor and internal performance insights, and synthesize into implications for positioning, investment choices and executive decision-making 

• Identify emerging risks and opportunities across the strategy agenda and escalate recommendations with pace and judgement 

• Coach junior colleagues and help raise the quality, pace and consistency of strategy team output 

Experience required

• Experience interpreting enterprise-wide strategic objectives and translating them into actionable plans for specific business units and functions, within a FinTech or Payment Acquirer.
• Developing detailed implementation roadmaps, including key initiatives, timelines, resource allocation, and performance metrics.
• Implementing robust commercial models for new initiatives and ventures, with a focus on financial viability and profitability.

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. Leveraging extensive client relationships and deep experience of UK payments, we will create an environment of continuous innovation - activated by Brookfield’s global private equity expertise in payments, technology, operational transformation and corporate carve-outs - to ensure the business is strategically positioned for long-term growth.

Barclays will invest approximately £400m in the new business, the majority of which will be 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. 

For more information on our partnership with Brookfield, please visit Barclays.com.

Purpose of the role

To provide independent and balanced advice and counsel to senior stakeholders through problem identification, solving and decision making practices.

Accountabilities

• Provision of strategic advice to Group Executives to support the decision-making process of business challenges and opportunities.
• Development and implementation of strategic advisory incentives to grow and optimise the bank’s operations, through market research and analysis.
• Collaboration with various stakeholder groups to identify the appropriate strategic direction type to meet the needs of Barclays clients and investors.
• Development of financial models to support strategic recommendations and transactions through financial data analysis, financial projects and considering the financial impact of transactions.
• Management of transactions, negotiations, transaction structure development and post-transaction integration.
• Collaboration with internal stakeholders to maintain client relationships, and develop new relationships to identify opportunities.
• Identification of industry trends, maintain peer benchmarking and developments related to strategic advisory services by attendings conferences, participating in training and conducting market research.

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.

All Senior Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.