Head of Product & Engineering Operations

Funding Circle UK; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical

Dental care

Learning allowance

Flexible benefits

Job summary

Funding Circle in London is looking for a Head of Product & Engineering Operations to design, install, and run the engine across product, engineering and design, creating a unified, high-performing build process.

You will lead cross-functional teams, drive the AI-native lifecycle programme, and partner with senior leaders to institutionalise an operating model that scales with growth. If you know what great looks like, you could build the product, but you will build the team who builds it.

Qualifications

• Proven experience scaling product development lifecycles inside complex product organisations.
• Ability to challenge leadership and align Product, Engineering and Design teams.

Responsibilities

• Establish and run core builders leadership rituals, cross-line product reviews, calibration sessions, and go/no-go release gates.
• Partner directly with stakeholders across Product, Engineering and Design to raise the bar on what and how we build.
• Pilot new frameworks hands-on and embed them as permanent habits across squads.
• Embed AI-driven build tools and automated workflows across Product, Engineering and Design functions to modernise the lifecycle.
• Lead the Tech, Product and Design leadership team to continuously improve delivery of great products.
• Integrate regulatory and compliance checks into the core delivery path without slowing shipping cycles.

Skills

Operational leadership

Cross-functional leadership

AI ownership

Executive stakeholder management

Regulated industry awareness

Job description

We’re on a mission to back the UK’s small businesses like no one else

Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, and we’re here to help them win. We’ve built a platform that uses clever data to get them the funding they need in minutes, not weeks.

At Funding Circle, we have the restless energy of a fintech start-up with the stability of a public company. It’s a unique mix that gives Circlers the autonomy to take ownership and the scale to make an impact that truly counts.

We’re a high-performing team that chooses to lift each other up. We challenge, we champion, and we have each other’s backs - because we know that when we stand together, we move faster and build better.

The impact is real:

Last year alone, the businesses on our platform generated £7.2bn for the UK economy.

[Read our Impact Report] | [See our Trustpilot]

The role

London (Hybrid) | 3 days in the office | Competitive Salary + Benefits

As our Head of Product & Engineering Operations, you will design, install, and run the engine across product, engineering, and design. You will help us find a better way by transforming our work into one unified, high-performing build process.

This role owns the ‘how’ we build. You install the operating model across product, engineering and design, and drive product, design and engineering leaders to run it. You have real influence with the CTO down.

You’ll work closely with product, engineering and design teams, and make the operating model work in practice. You’ll be the executive operator on the AI-native lifecycle programme already in motion, turning it from an initiative into the default way our teams build.

You know what great looks like because you’ve done it. You could build the product, but would prefer to build the team who build the product.

What You’ll Actually Do

• Establish and run core builders leadership rituals, cross-line product reviews, calibration sessions, and go/no-go release gates.
• Partner directly with stakeholders across all three disciplines, such as our VP Product, VP Engineering, and Design Leadership, to raise the bar on what and how we build.
• Take small steps fast through hands-on piloting of new frameworks, running early iterations personally before handing them off to squad leads and ensuring they become permanent habits.
• Embed AI-driven build tools and automated workflows across all three functions to modernise our Product development lifecycle and processes.
• Convene the Product, Design and Engineering leadership team to ensure continuous improvement of how we build great products at Funding Circle.
• Integrate regulatory and compliance checks seamlessly into the core delivery path without slowing down shipment cycles.

What We’re Looking For

• Operational Track Record: You are a builder and innovator, with proven experience scaling Product Development Lifecycles inside complex product organisations, operating as an embedded leader rather than an external consultant.
• Cross-Functional Fluency: Strong background in Product Management, Engineering, and Design, with the credibility to challenge leadership and bring teams together across all three disciplines.
• AI Ownership & Efficiency: The ability to take ownership of redesigning departmental workflows, and being up to date on how to use AI to build great products. You’ve built with Claude Code, Codex, or similar, and you’re excited about helping a whole organisation to build that way.
• Executive Stakeholder Management: Confidence and credibility to hold MDs, VPs, and senior directors accountable to continuous improvements in how we build.
• Regulated Industry Awareness: You understand that we are a regulated business and that means doing things right. It’s a bonus if you’ve worked alongside Risk and Compliance.

What Would Be Great

• Familiarity with fintech, lending, or financial services compliance requirements.
• Evidence of having installed an operating model at a comparable inflection point.
• Product thinking and design sensibility.
• Deep fluency in how modern software teams build, combined with a ‘builder’ background.

We’re building a place where everyone truly feels they belong. Even if your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement, we'd still love to hear from you.

Why join us?

We back you to build an incredible career and by joining us, you'll be part of one of The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2026! As a flexible-first employer, we use a "best of both" approach. We’ll see you in our London office to collaborate – with barista coffee and subsidised Just Eat lunches on us!

Our Circler Proposition Focuses On Five Areas

• Flexibility: We provide a benefit allowance you can tailor to your own life and family.
• Health: This includes private medical and dental, health assessments, and access to a digital GP.
• Wealth: We offer life assurance, share schemes, and financial coaching.
• Development: You get a dedicated annual learning allowance to help you level up.
• Lifestyle: We have electric car and cycle-to-work schemes, plus season ticket loans.

We also have award-winning parental leave policies. We're here to support you through the big life moments, from fertility treatments to new additions to the family.

Ready to join a mission that matters? We’d love to chat!