SME Relationship Director

Lloyds Banking Group; Mountain Ash; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension up to 15%

Performance bonus

Share schemes

Discounted shopping

30 days holiday

Wellbeing initiatives

Parental leave

Job summary

Lloyds Banking Group is seeking a passionate Relationship Director to join our SME Commercial Banking team in South Wales. You will manage a defined SME portfolio, drive sustainable income growth, and expand market share by providing tailored lending, deposits, and day-to-day banking solutions.

You will build trusted relationships and win new-to-bank opportunities through effective market engagement and networking.

Qualifications

• Track record of winning new business in corporate or commercial banking.
• Proven credit experience with evaluating propositions for commercial lending.
• Strong communication skills for building and maintaining client and partner relationships.
• Understanding and negotiating legal/commercial terms and knowledge of lending risk.

Responsibilities

• Manage a defined SME portfolio with turnover £10m-£50m and drive income growth.
• Identify and win new-to-bank opportunities through market engagement and networking.
• Collaborate with product specialists to deliver end-to-end banking solutions.
• Maintain strong risk controls and ensure exposures align with risk appetite.

Skills

Client relationships

New business

Credit experience

Communication skills

Legal understanding

Risk management

Job description

WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least one day per week, or 20% of our time, at one of our South Wales offices and at least a further 20% of the time meeting clients. What you'll be doing: We're looking for a passionate and driven Relationship Director to join our high-performing SME Commercial Banking team. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who thrives on building strong client relationships, identifying growth opportunities and delivering meaningful impact. In this role, you'll manage a defined portfolio of SME clients, typically businesses with a turnover of £10m-£50m, ensuring an outstanding client experience while driving sustainable income growth, balance sheet expansion and market share. Acting as the face of Lloyds Banking Group, you'll build trusted, long-term relationships with both existing and prospective clients, positioning yourself as a key advisor who understands their ambitions and supports their growth. You'll take ownership of your portfolio, developing clear client strategies and delivering tailored solutions across a broad range of commercial banking products, including lending, deposits, payments and day-to-day banking services. A core focus of the role will be generating new business and expanding your client base. You'll proactively identify and win new-to-bank opportunities through effective market engagement, networking and relationship building, strengthening the Group's presence within your region. You'll also work closely with internal product specialists and coverage teams to deliver the full capability of the bank, ensuring clients benefit from a joined-up, end-to-end service. Success in this role will rely on your ability to build and maintain strong internal and external networks. You'll collaborate with colleagues across the bank, as well as Group partners and professional introducers, to open doors and create opportunities for your clients. By connecting clients with the right expertise and solutions, you'll help them unlock their potential and achieve their business objectives. Alongside driving growth, you'll be fully accountable for managing risk within your portfolio. This includes undertaking lending assessments, structuring appropriate financial solutions and ensuring that all exposures align with the bank's risk appetite and credit policies.

What we're looking for:

• To be seen as the "go to" banker in their geographic area of responsibility. Maintaining a high profile with external influencers and the local business community to achieve the Bank's stated aim of being the best bank for clients.
• A track record of winning new business in a competitive environment within corporate or commercial banking, alongside a broad established network within the South Wales Commercial market.
  Skilled team player as well as a proven self-starter with a drive and passion to succeed individually and as part of the wider team.
• Proven credit experience - skilled at evaluating propositions and using that experience to make confident and effective commercial recommendations to the Credit team.
• Strong communication skills with experience in building, creating and maintaining relationships with clients and influential external partners.
• Detailed understanding of legal documentation, together with the ability to effectively negotiate legal and commercial terms.
• Understanding and appreciation of the different types of risk in a lending environment and how to minimise such Risk.
  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.

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 and we're 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 a dedicated Working with Cancer Initiative. We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. As a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role with a disability, long-term health or neurodivergent condition through the Disability Confident Scheme. 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:

Benefits:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%
• An annual performance-related bonus
• 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