Area Director, SME - Manufacturing

JOB TITLE: Area Director, SME - Manufacturing

LOCATION: London

HOURS: Full-Time

WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at one of our office sites

About This Opportunity

Lead. Inspire. Make an Impact.

Are you passionate about helping businesses thrive and shaping the future of UK manufacturing? If so, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.

We’re looking for an Area Director to lead our high-performing London Manufacturing Team. This is a senior leadership role where you’ll drive strategy, mentor dedicated professionals and represent our brand in the marketplace. Your influence will extend beyond your team – you’ll be a key voice on our London & East England Leadership Team & help shape the Sector’s future.

Our Relationship Management division has a rich heritage of supporting businesses and the economic prosperity of the nation, passionate about London based businesses and those with strong links across the country. We provide customers with the support they need to help them grow, handle risk and improve efficiency, and we continue to invest in our relationship teams and deepen our product expertise to deliver a first-class service.

What You’ll Do

• Lead, Inspire, Recognise and Elevate: Motivate, mentor and develop a team of Relationship Managers to deliver exceptional results and client experiences. Monitor performance, celebrate success and take action to maintain high standards.

• Champion Inclusion: Foster an inclusive culture and promote equal opportunities across your team.

• Strategic Leadership: Contribute to sector-wide planning and decision-making as part of the regional leadership team.

• Drive Growth: Oversee client proposals, find opportunities, and guide solutions that meet customer needs and grow income.

• Shape Local Plans: Support your team in developing local business plans and managing portfolios to achieve sustainable growth.

• Champion Compliance: Ensure adherence to policy and regulatory requirements across all portfolios.

• Be the Face of the Bank: Build strong networks and act as a trusted ambassador in the London market, engaging with senior stakeholders including MDs, FDs and Boards.

What You'll Need

• Strong experience leading and developing a high performing team.

• Highly proficient at building and maintaining positive relationships with external professionals.

• Specialist credit knowledge along with a track record delivering excellent client experiences.

About Working For Us

Our ambition is to be the leading UK business for diversity, equity and inclusion supporting our customers, colleagues and communities and we’re committed to creating an environment in which everyone can thrive, learn and develop. 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.

We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. And, as a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role with a disability, long-term health or neurodivergent condition through the Disability Confident Scheme. We provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to reduce or remove barriers. Just let us know what you need.

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 by the thought of becoming part of our team, get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.