Product Lead - Engine by Starling

Starling Bank; City of Westminster; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A banking technology firm in the UK seeks an experienced Product Lead to lead product strategy and mentor teams. The candidate should have over 7 years in product management and experience in financial services. Responsibilities include providing strategic leadership, collaborating with engineering and design teams, and ensuring product management best practices. This company fosters a hybrid work environment and values diversity and inclusion, with multiple benefits including generous holiday allowance and health support.

Benefits

33 days holiday

Extra birthday holiday

Annual leave increase with service

Paid volunteering hours

Enhanced pension scheme

Life insurance

Private Medical Insurance

Family-friendly policies

Refer a friend incentives

Perkbox membership

Cycle to Work scheme

Qualifications

• 7+ years in product management with 3+ years of leadership experience.
• Experience in a client-facing financial services environment.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and product vision for key areas.
• Mentor and lead Product Managers in developing market-leading products.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, design, and delivery teams.

Skills

Leadership

Product management

Stakeholder management

User-centric design

Education

7+ years in product management

Experience in financial services

Tools

SaaS

Job description

We're looking for a visionary and experienced Product Lead to join our growing product team at Engine, reporting to our Chief Product Officer. This is a critical leadership role where you'll be instrumental in shaping the future of our platform, driving our product strategy, and evolving our product management practices. You'll lead and mentor talented Product Managers, guiding them through the exciting journey of scaling our platform and solidifying our product‑led approach. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast‑paced environment, is passionate about building world‑class products, and has a proven track record of leadership and product development in a client‑facing organisation. You'll leverage your deep expertise in product management and leadership to ensure we build the right products, for the right reasons, at the right time, as we navigate the complexities of a rapidly scaling business.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership, product vision and strategy for key areas of the Engine platform, aligning it with the needs of our customers, and market opportunities.
• Lead and mentor a group of high‑caliber Product Managers to design and develop market leading products that have the ability to revolutionise the global banking landscape.
• Drive Product best practices within the team and work as part of the Product Leadership Team to improve ways of working both within the product team, and how we interact with other teams, taking into account global scaling ambitions.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, design, business development and client‑facing delivery teams to ensure our roadmap reflects the needs of our clients and our strategy.
• Ensure delivery rigour and accountability: Hold Product Managers accountable for delivery against product roadmaps, providing challenge and mentoring to proactively identify, investigate, and mitigate key risks.

Interview Process

• Comfortable managing client interactions, representing product, skillfully running workshops to understand client needs, and managing difficult conversations with the objective of maintaining trust and relationships. Interviewing is a two‑way process and we want you to have the time and opportunity to get to know us, as much as we are getting to know you! Our interviews are conversational and we want to get the best from you, so come with questions and be curious. In general you can expect the below, following a chat with one of our Talent Team:
  First interview: 45 minutes with Chief Product Officer
  Second interview: 1 hour with some members of the Product team, including a pre‑prepared case study
  Final interview: 45 minutes with our CPO again and someone else from the Senior team

Qualifications

• Have 7+ years in product management, with 3+ years of leading teams.
• Have experience in financial services, ideally with a specialism in one or more of our product areas (lending, savings, daily banking, fincrime, onboarding, payments, cards – this role will take on a group of PMs who run these functions, and we will design the right split around the right candidate).
• Have experience in developing product in a client‑facing organisation, ideally a software‑as‑a‑service business.
• Bring hands‑on experience working in ambiguity and leading multiple squads or complex domains.
• Demonstrate experience shipping successful, user‑centric digital products in fast‑paced and evolving markets.
• Understand the value of written and verbal communication – articulating complex ideas clearly and concisely.
• Have strong stakeholder management and alignment skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
• Thrive in a collaborative environment where diverse opinions are welcomed and respected.

At Engine by Starling, we are on a mission to find and work with leading banks all around the world who have the ambition to build rapid growth businesses, on our technology. Engine is Starling's software‑as‑a‑service (SaaS) business, the technology that was built to power Starling Bank, and two years ago we split out as a separate business. Starling has seen exceptional growth and success, and a large part of that is down to the fact that we have built our own modern technology from the ground up. This SaaS technology platform is now available to banks and financial institutions all around the world, enabling them to benefit from the innovative digital features, and efficient back‑office processes that has helped achieve Starling's success. We draw upon our experience as knowledgeable bankers, and best in class technologists to become the chosen option for these banks, and preferred partners for leading consultancies.

Hybrid Working
We have a Hybrid approach to working here at Engine – our preference is that you're located within a commutable distance of one of our offices so that we're able to interact and collaborate in person. You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can't accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion.

Engine by Starling is an equal opportunity employer, and we're proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Engine by Starling are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. When you provide us with this information, you are doing so at your own consent, with full knowledge that we will process this personal data in accordance with our Privacy Notice. By submitting your application, you agree that Engine by Starling and Starling will collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we will process, where we will process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.

Benefits

• 33 days holiday (including public holidays, which you can take when it works best for you)
• An extra day's holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
• Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family‑friendly policies
• Incentives refer a friend scheme
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing