Operating Model Lead (6-month FTC)

JOB TITLE:  Operating Model Lead (6-month FTC)

SALARY: £78,098 - £91,880

LOCATION(S): Leeds, Halifax, Bristol, or Edinburgh

HOURS: Full-time – 35 hours per week

WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at our Leeds, Halifax, Bristol, or Edinburgh office sites. Colleagues with disabilities can be supported with workplace adjustments including hybrid working expectations in line with our Flexibility Works policy. 

About this opportunity

We're looking for a senior leader to define and shape the continuous evolution of our operating model. This role is primarily focused on where we're going, translating strategy, market shifts, customer expectations, and technology change into clear enterprise design choices.

Alongside shaping the future, you'll ensure that the operating model evolves in a coherent and controlled way, maintaining a clear view of how changes across the organisation interact, and intervening where necessary to protect the integrity of the model.

You'll act as architect, challenger and advisor to senior leadership, bringing clarity to complex cross-enterprise questions, ensuring individual choices add up to a coherent operating model that is commercially grounded and positions the organisation for long-term success.

What you’ll be doing

• Define and evolve the target operating model, with a clear forward-looking horizon

• Translate strategy into enterprise design choices across products, platforms and functions

• Anticipate how customer expectations, technology and competition will reshape the organisation

• Frame and test hypotheses on how operating model changes can improve pace and value release

• Develop and maintain design principles, guardrails and decision frameworks

• Bring external insight and benchmarks to challenge and validate direction

• Frame strategic options, trade-offs and implications for executive decision

• Track and assess changes across the organisation, including those outside the immediate team

• Identify where changes may create unintended consequences, fragmentation or misalignment. Intervening early to protect coherence and integrity of the model

• Ensure the operating model evolution is commercially grounded and scalable

Why join us?

We’re transforming at pace. Investing billions in our people, data and tech to change the way we meet the needs of our 28 million customers. We’re growing, and we’d love you to be part of the journey.

What we’re looking for?

• Deep experience shaping and evolving operating models, anticipating how strategy, technology and market dynamics will reshape the organisation

• Strong understanding of how products, platforms, structure, governance and funding interact

• Strong commercial instinct, linking design to growth, cost and performance outcomes

• High levels of curiosity, actively seeking external perspective and benchmarking thinking

• Ability to think at system level, anticipating second- and third-order impacts of change

• Ability to simplify complexity, frame trade-offs and drive clarity in ambiguity

• Exceptional senior stakeholder management, able to influence, challenge and build trust

• Confidence to intervene and challenge decisions that risk breaking the model

• Comfortable operating as a close, trusted partner to leadership, with the judgement to lead independently

We know that great talent comes from many backgrounds. Whilst this job advert may reference specific years of experience, we recognise that skills are developed in many ways, so if you have relevant, transferable experience, we encourage you to apply.

This is a place for you

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 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

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.

Ready for a career where you’ll learn and thrive? Apply today and find out more.