Head of SME & Mid Market - Business Support Unit

Lloyds Banking Group; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension up to 15%

Annual bonus

Share schemes

Discounted shopping

30 days holiday

Wellbeing & parental leave

Job summary

Lloyds Banking Group is seeking a Head of SME & Mid Market BSU to lead credit risk and turnaround for UK SME clients, directing a multi-location team of around 60 and shaping strategy with Risk and business partners.

The role focuses on delivering fair customer outcomes, impairment decisions, and transformative improvements using data, technology and strong leadership; hybrid working with London, Birmingham, Leeds or Edinburgh offices.

Qualifications

• Extensive credit risk experience across complex portfolios.
• Strong strategic and commercial judgement, balancing risk appetite, customer outcomes, growth, and regulatory expectations.
• Experience operating credit delegated authority, risk policy, and governance frameworks, with the ability to make high-quality decisions in complex and ambiguous situations.
• Demonstrable senior leadership experience, aligning credit strategy with wider organisational objectives and delivering across business boundaries.
• Strong collaboration and influencing skills, with the credibility to engage senior executives, regulators, and external partners.
• Ability to use data, analytics, and portfolio insight to identify emerging risks and support forward-looking risk management.
• Proven success in leading high-performing teams, building specialist and future capability and delivering significant transformation and cultural change.

Responsibilities

• Lead SME & MM BSU, ensuring clients in financial difficulty are identified early and managed through appropriate client treatment, restructuring, recovery, or resolution plans.
• Deliver fair and sustainable client outcomes by balancing customer treatment, commercial considerations, regulatory obligations, and safeguarding the Bank’s position.
• Provide senior oversight and challenge on complex cases, including impairments, write-offs, and other delegated credit decisions.
• Define the SME & MM BSU strategy and operating model in alignment with Group strategy, risk appetite, and regulatory and conduct requirements.
• Provide strategic portfolio oversight, identifying emerging and developing risks and taking timely management action, including proactive impairment recognition.
• Lead transformation, driving improvements in operational efficiency and the use of technology, data, and ways of working.
• Build and lead a high-performing team and maintain effective relationships with senior internal and external collaborators.

Skills

Credit risk management

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Data analytics

Strategic judgement

Regulatory knowledge

Tools

Risk policy

Governance frameworks

Job description

We support flexible working – click here for more information on flexible working options

Flexible Working Options

Hybrid Working, Job Share

End Date

Wednesday 18 November 2026

Salary Range

£0 - £0

Job Description Summary

Title: Head of SME & Mid Market - Business Support Unit
Department: Business & Commercial Banking Credit, Risk Function
Location(s): London, Birmingham, Leeds or Edinburgh
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. Colleagues with disabilities can be supported with workplace adjustments including hybrid working expectations in line with our Flexibility Works policy.

Job Description

The Head of SME & Mid Markets Business Support Unit (“SME & MM BSU”) leads the management of SME and Mid Markets clients in financial difficulty, predominantly UK businesses with turnover of up to £500m. The role is accountable for delivering effective client treatment, restructuring, recovery and exit strategies, balancing fair customer outcomes with protection of the Bank’s financial and reputational position.

The role provides senior leadership and judgement across complex and material credit cases and portfolio risks, ensuring effective operation of delegated credit authorities and timely impairment and write-off decisions. It also sets the strategic direction and operating model for SME & MM BSU, working closely with senior leaders across Risk and the business.

Leading a multi-location team of c.60 colleagues, the role will build the specialist capability required to manage current and emerging portfolio risks while leading significant transformation across the function. This includes simplifying ways of working, making better use of data and technology, and leading colleagues successfully through change while maintaining strong engagement, accountability and operational resilience.

Key accountabilities

• Lead SME & MM BSU, ensuring clients in financial difficulty are identified early and managed through appropriate client treatment, restructuring, recovery, or resolution plans.
• Deliver fair and sustainable client outcomes by balancing customer treatment, commercial considerations, regulatory obligations, and safeguarding the Bank’s position.
• Provide senior oversight and challenge on complex cases, including impairments, write-offs, and other delegated credit decisions.
• Define the SME & MM BSU strategy and operating model in alignment with Group strategy, risk appetite, and regulatory and conduct requirements.
• Provide strategic portfolio oversight, identifying emerging and developing risks and taking timely management action, including proactive impairment recognition.Lead transformation, driving improvements in operational efficiency and the use of technology, data, and ways of working.
• Build and lead a high-performing team and maintain effective relationships with senior internal and external collaborators.

Essential capabilities, knowledge and experience

• Extensive credit risk experience across complex portfolios, with deep expertise in financial distress, restructuring, impairment, and write-offs.
• Strong strategic and commercial judgement, balancing risk appetite, customer outcomes, growth, and regulatory expectations.
• Experience operating credit delegated authority, risk policy, and governance frameworks, with the ability to make high-quality decisions in complex and ambiguous situations.
• Demonstrable senior leadership experience, aligning credit strategy with wider organisational objectives and delivering across business boundaries.
• Strong collaboration and influencing skills, with the credibility to engage senior executives, regulators, and external partners.
• Ability to use data, analytics, and portfolio insight to identify emerging risks and support forward-looking risk management.
• Proven success in leading high-performing teams, building specialist and future capability and delivering significant transformation and cultural change.

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. We are 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 launch a dedicated Working with Cancer initiative. We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns.

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 bonus award, subject to Group performance
• 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

At Lloyds Banking Group, we’re driven by a clear purpose; to help Britain prosper. Across the Group, our colleagues are focused on making a difference to customers, businesses and communities. With us you’ll have a key role to play in shaping the financial services of the future, whilst the scale and reach of our Group means you’ll have many opportunities to learn, grow and develop.

We keep your data safe. So, we’ll only ever ask you to provide confidential or sensitive information once you have formally been invited along to an interview or accepted a verbal offer to join us which is when we run our background checks. We’ll always explain what we need and why, with any request coming from a trusted Lloyds Banking Group person.

We’re focused on creating a values-led culture and are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve. Together we’re building a truly inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference.