Innovation Solutions Lead - 12 month FTC

CIFAS; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote working

Private healthcare

Excellent pension

Wellbeing and growth

Job summary

CIFAS is seeking an Innovation Solutions Lead to own and deliver the Events Database initiative. The role blends product ownership, stakeholder engagement, and delivery leadership to create a valuable service for the UK fraud prevention landscape.

The successful candidate will drive from proof of concept through to implementation, ensuring adoption, governance and ongoing evolution of the product, while working with senior colleagues across technology, legal, and operations.

Qualifications

• Proven experience delivering complex projects or products.
• Experience coordinating across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Ability to translate stakeholder requirements into clear delivery plans.
• Strong planning and prioritisation skills to manage multiple workstreams.
• Experience identifying, managing and mitigating risks, issues and dependencies.

Responsibilities

• Act as senior business/product owner for the Events Database; define priorities and ensure measurable value.
• Lead development from concept through implementation and adoption.
• Define and manage the product roadmap with clear scope, value and risk.
• Translate business and stakeholder requirements into delivery specifications for teams.
• Coordinate with project management to align plans, dependencies and timelines.
• Engage with legal, data protection, operations, and external stakeholders to support delivery.
• Build trusted relationships with organisations to shape the product and improve adoption.
• Support operating model design including data submission, validation and reporting.
• Ensure governance, data protection, security and compliance throughout development.
• Lead pilots and onboarding to drive long-term participation and value.

Skills

Complex project delivery

Stakeholder management

Product ownership

Delivery leadership

Job description

Innovation Solutions Lead - 12 month FTC

Application Deadline: 5 October 2026

Department: Innovation

Employment Type: Fixed Term Contract

Location: London, UK

Reporting To: Director of Innovation

Compensation: £65,000 - £70,000 / year

Description

Join Cifas at a pivotal moment as we develop the next generation of fraud prevention services. As an Innovation Solutions Lead, you will lead the Events Database initiative, bringing together industry partners to tackle first party fraud through data sharing, collaboration and innovation. This role combines product ownership, stakeholder engagement and delivery leadership to turn new ideas into trusted services that make a measurable impact across the UK fraud prevention landscape.

This is a senior, delivery-focused product role for someone who can bring structure, pace and judgement to a strategically important new service. Success will be measured not simply by delivering a system, but by creating a sustainable product that organisations actively value, use and continue to support.

Key Responsibilities

Working alongside industry specialists, the successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Acting as the senior business and product owner for the Events Database, defining priorities, making delivery trade-off decisions and ensuring the product delivers measurable value to participating organisations and to Cifas.
• Leading the development of the Events Database from proof of concept through to implementation, operational readiness, member adoption and ongoing product evolution.
• Defining, managing and prioritising the product roadmap, making clear recommendations on scope, sequencing, value, risk and future investment.
• Translating business, member and stakeholder requirements into clear product, operational, technical and governance requirements for delivery teams, ensuring they remain aligned to the overall proposition and intended outcomes.
• Working closely with the Project Manager to ensure delivery plans, dependencies, risks, resources and timescales remain aligned to agreed priorities.
• Coordinating and influencing activity across product, technology, legal, data protection, operations, member engagement and external stakeholder teams to support successful delivery and adoption.
• Building trusted relationships with participating organisations, using their feedback and operational insight to shape product decisions, strengthen the proposition and address real-world fraud prevention challenges.
• Supporting the design of the Events Database operating model, including data submission, validation, matching, filtering, reporting, member guidance and support processes.
• Ensuring legal, governance, data protection, security and compliance requirements are embedded throughout development and translated into practical, auditable operational controls.
• Leading proof of concept and pilot activities, ensuring learning is captured and incorporated into product development, future phases and service readiness.
• Leading member onboarding, adoption and engagement activities, developing trusted relationships with participating organisations and driving long-term participation, usage and advocacy.
• Monitoring product performance, adoption, stakeholder feedback, commercial value and emerging opportunities, identifying enhancements that improve impact, sustainability and long-term strategic value.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

To be successful in this role, it is essential for you to have:

• Proven experience delivering complex projects, products or services from concept through to implementation.
• Demonstrable experience coordinating activity across multiple teams and stakeholders to achieve agreed outcomes.
• Experience gathering, analysing and translating stakeholder requirements into clear and actionable delivery requirements.
• Strong planning, organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously.
• Experience identifying, managing and mitigating risks, issues and dependencies.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build effective relationships, challenge constructively and influence outcomes.
• Experience working with external organisations, customers, partners or industry stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience developing and implementing new processes, services, products or operational approaches.
• Experience working collaboratively across technical, operational, governance and business teams.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to make sound decisions and maintain momentum in a fast-paced and evolving environment.
• A proactive, self-motivated approach with a willingness to take ownership and get stuck into delivery challenges.

And it would also be desirable for you to have:

• Experience delivering proof of concepts, pilots, product launches or new service introductions.
• Experience working within fraud prevention, financial crime, retail, intelligence, risk management or related sectors.
• Experience developing or supporting data sharing initiatives, industry collaborations or membership-based services.
• Experience working with retailers or large multi-stakeholder environments.
• Experience supporting product development, roadmap planning or service improvement activities.
• Experience using Agile, Waterfall or hybrid delivery methodologies.
• An understanding of data matching, analytics, reporting solutions or information-based services.

Benefits

In return for helping us take the fight to fraud, all our employees receive an impressive benefit package, which includes:

• Remote working with approximately 2 days a month in the London office, although there will be a requirement to attend conventions, forums and events
• Generous annual leave, plus bank holidays
• Private healthcare
• Excellent pension package through salary sacrifice
• Personal and professional growth
• Employee wellbeing – Wellbeing breaks, wellbeing hub access including exercise programmes, meditation guides, sleep stories and yoga.

We have introduced agile ways of working, allowing teams to decide how best they work, while ensuring regular opportunities to collaborate and innovate. We create an environment to help you to unleash your potential and perform the most rewarding work of your career, whilst keeping your wellbeing at the foremost with initiatives in place to promote the wellness of our people.
We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture and have dedicated inclusion champions across the business to celebrate and promote our uniqueness. We also have a dedicated team of volunteers looking for innovative ways to give back as part of our commitments under our Corporate Social Responsibility. Since 2021, we have been recognised in the Best Companies listings, and again in 2026 have been awarded 2 stars for outstanding levels of engagement. We have also been awarded the Investors in People Gold accreditation.