Innovation Lead - Consumer

Cleo; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 102,000 - 128,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company on a mission to revolutionize financial advice. As an Innovation Lead, you'll spearhead the development of groundbreaking consumer products that engage users and drive behaviour change. This role offers the chance to work in a dynamic environment where creativity meets strategy, and your ideas can shape the future of personal finance. With a focus on AI and consumer innovation, you'll collaborate with talented teams to bring concepts to life and make a real impact in people's financial lives. If you're ready to challenge the status quo and drive change, this opportunity is for you.

Benefits

25 days annual leave

6% employer-matched pension

Private Medical Insurance

Enhanced parental leave

1 month paid sabbatical after 4 years

Flexible working hours

Regular team socials

Online mental health support

Company-wide performance reviews

Lunch provided on office days

Qualifications

• Proven track record in developing consumer product ideas.
• Strong understanding of user behaviour and engagement.

Responsibilities

• Lead ideation sessions to create innovative product concepts.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to refine ideas.

Skills

Consumer Innovation

Behavioural Design

AI Interaction

Gamification

Communication Skills

Problem Solving

Education

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field

Job description

At Cleo, we're not just building another fintech app. We're embarking on a mission to fundamentally change humanity's relationship with money. Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of background or income, has access to a hyper-intelligent financial advisor in their pocket. That's the future we're creating.

Cleo is a rare success story: a profitable, fast-growing unicorn with over $200 million in ARR and growing over 2x year-over-year. This isn't just a job; it's a chance to join a team of brilliant, driven individuals who are passionate about making a real difference. We have an exceptionally high bar for talent, seeking individuals who are not only at the top of their field but also embody our culture of collaboration and positive impact.

If you’re driven by complex challenges that push your expertise, the chance to shape something truly transformative, and the potential to share in Cleo’s success as we scale, while growing alongside a company that’s scaling fast, this might be your perfect fit.

As Innovation Lead, you’ll be at the forefront of driving Cleo’s diversification strategy, leading the discovery of high-impact New Bets that redefine our product offering and expand our reach into new experiences and customer behaviours.

You’ll thrive in ambiguity, combining creative firepower with sharp strategic thinking to generate and validate ideas that push boundaries—and shape the future of Cleo. This role isn’t just about iterating on what exists—it’s about imagining what could be. You’ll bring bold, unconventional ideas to life and foster a culture of experimentation across the business.

We’re especially looking for someone who lives and breathes consumer innovation: someone with a deep understanding of how to influence behaviour, who’s passionate about AI, and who’s constantly plugged into the latest in consumer product design, social apps, games, wellness tools, and everything in between.

What You’ll Do

Develop deep understanding of user problems, the competitive landscape, and Cleo’s right to win in new space

Run ideation and brainstorming sessions to generate early-stage concepts focused on consumer behaviour change, gamification, AI interaction, and new modes of engagement

Engage with internal and external experts to sharpen thinking and improve the quality of concepts

Collaborate with cross-functional partners (design, research, engineering, analytics, commercial) to shape and evolve ideas

Map key assumptions and coordinate scrappy testing plans with research and analytics to validate early-stage concepts

Build compelling, data-informed cases for why Cleo should invest in the concepts you’ve developed

Challenge conventional thinking and surface bold ideas aligned with Cleo’s mission and the emerging needs of our customers

Uncover opportunities by partnering with Research and Product Marketing to identify unmet needs, whitespace, and emerging trends—particularly around AI, social experiences, and new consumer patterns

Prototype new ideas that tap into social dynamics, personalisation, and habit formation—helping Cleo go from assistant to indispensable

Draw on the expertise of our cross-functional teams to refine and strengthen concepts throughout the process

Ideal Candidate

Creative Visionary: You’re constantly exploring ideas—through reading, talking, building, or experimenting—and have a strong point of view on what’s coming next in the consumer product landscape

Behavioural Designer: You understand how to nudge, motivate, and support users towards healthy long-term habits—and can build products that do exactly that

Plugged Into Consumer Culture: You’re across emerging formats—from wellness tech to social tools, gamified finance, AI companions and more

Thrives in Complexity: You bring clarity and focus to undefined challenges and aren’t afraid to explore unfamiliar terrain

Dynamic Collaborator: You co-create easily with product, design, engineering, and insight teams—bringing energy, inspiration, and direction

0→1 Experience: You’ve developed novel ideas from scratch and driven them to successful outcomes

Action-Oriented: You don’t just dream—you build. You know how to test quickly, learn, and keep momentum up

What We’re Looking For

A proven track record of originating and developing breakthrough consumer product ideas—especially those focused on behaviour, engagement, or virality

Exceptional communication and storytelling skills to inspire and align stakeholders

A mix of creative instinct and rigorous problem-solving to balance ambition with feasibility

Deep experience in consumer-facing apps (B2C), especially those focused on behavioural outcomes or community experiences

Curiosity and fluency in emerging technologies, particularly AI

Familiarity with customer research, market analysis, and rapid validation methods

Diversity and Inclusion

We strongly encourage applications from people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

If there’s anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.

What’s the Process Like?

We aim to move as fast as possible. Usually 2-3 weeks is enough time for us all to get to know each other.

• Step 1: 30 mins video call with a member of our Talent Team to find out more about your experience and why you’re potentially interested in Cleo.
• Step 2: 1 hour with the Hiring Manager - Tom May, Product Director - New Ventures.
• Step 3: Take home task interview, presented to two of our Product team
• Step 4: 45 minutes each with two cross-functional peers

What do you get for all your hard work?

• A competitive compensation package (base + equity) with reviews every 8 months. You can view our public progression framework and salary bandings here:https://cleo-ai.progressionapp.com/ - This position is a PM4 level and we can pay £102,535 - £127,707 depending on experience.
• Work at one of the fastest-growing tech startups, backed by top VC firms like Sofina, Balderton & EQT Ventures.
• A clear progression plan.We want you to keep growing. That means trying new things, leading others, challenging the status quo and owning your impact. Always with our complete support.
• Flexibility: We treat you as humans first, employees second. Because we can’t fight for the world’s financial health, if we’re not healthy ourselves. This means all the usual perks but it also means flexibility. We take pride in being a flexible workplace that trusts our Cleople to deliver their best work, giving you the autonomy to structure your day around morning drop-offs to school or daily dog walks.
• Hybrid-first:Join our hybrid-first team, where we blend the best of both remote and in-office work. We expect our team members to be in our London office 1-2 times a week. On Thursdays, we buy you lunch but you can come to the office on whichever days work best for you!
• Other benefits;
  • 25 days annual leave a year + public holidays (+ an additional day for every year you spend at Cleo)
  • Check out our new benefits package here:https://web.meetcleo.com/blog/big-benefits-energy-the-latest-cleo-employee-benefits
  • 6% employer-matched pension in the UK
  • Company-wide performance reviews every 8 months e.g every 2 terms, in line with our termly cycles (Jan-April, May-Aug, Sept-Dec):
    • Generous pay increases for high-performers and high-growth team members
    • Equity top-ups for team members getting promoted
  • Private Medical Insurance via Vitality, dental cover, and life assurance
  • Enhanced parental leave
  • 1 month paid sabbatical after 4 years at Cleo
  • Regular socials and activities, online and in-person
  • We'll pay for your OpenAI subscription
  • Online mental health support via Spill
  • And many more!

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Why have you applied to Cleo?

Can you share an example of how you turned a creative vision into a tangible prototype or product? *

How do you approach the process of identifying and validating truly creative and innovation new opportunities in a rapidly changing market? *

Can you describe a specific example of a groundbreaking idea you developed that significantly impacted a business outcome? *

Tell us about a time when you had to align senior leadership around a controversial decision. How did you approach stakeholder management, and what was the outcome? *

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