Innovation Strategy and Insights Lead

Join Barclays as Innovation Strategy and Insights Lead, where you’ll be responsible for driving strategy aligned with Barclays' mission of innovation and the evolving market landscape. You will bring your expertise in identifying and assessing strategic opportunities for innovation, ensuring they align with Barclays' long-term objectives, market trends, and emerging technologies.

To be successful in this role, you should have:

• Innovation & Strategic Rigor: Experience in identifying and assessing strategic opportunities for innovation in relation to Barclays' strategy, market developments, and technology trends. Ability to adapt and craft emergent strategies in line with a rapidly changing external environment. A creative mindset with the ability to challenge the status quo and bring fresh ideas.

• Strategic Planning & Market Insight: Ability to conduct market analysis, identify opportunities, customer trends, and competitive threats, and craft and execute strategic innovation plans that position Barclays for success.

• Communication & Stakeholder Influence: Strong ability to communicate, collaborate, and influence senior executives, business leaders, regulators, and partners. Excellent storytelling, presentation, facilitation and negotiation skills to drive alignment on strategic initiatives.

Some other highly valued skills may include:

• Data Analysis & Insight Generation: Strong analytical mindset with the ability to extract meaningful insights from large data sets, including financial performance data and customer analytics, to inform strategic decisions.

• Technology Literacy: Proficiency in modern technologies (digital platforms, AI, emerging technologies) with experience of applying strategically to drive innovation.

• Regulatory Acumen & Risk Awareness: Deep understanding of regulatory requirements, compliance standards, and risk management practices, with the ability to navigate constraints and integrate them into innovation strategies.

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role is based in Glasgow.

Purpose of the role

To collaborate, nurture and drive group innovation with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the bank stays at the forefront of innovation and adapts to the rapidly changing landscape in financial services and increasing customer expectations. 

Accountabilities

• Collaboration with a range of stakeholders to develop a portfolio of open innovation and strategic initiatives through experimentation, co-creation, access to innovative technology capabilities, products and services and a global innovation ecosystem.
• Development and delivery of frameworks, ideation, training and tools to build a culture of innovation and knowledge sharing to enable new and creative ideas/solutions that deliver on the bank’s strategy.
• Provision of a global platform and curated ecosystem of partners to inform strategy, drive connectivity and new insights.
• Development of the strategic capabilities and programmes for the bank to deliver on its strategy, supporting the exploration, evaluation and execution of innovation and investment opportunities.
• Management and coordination between external stakeholders/partners and the bank, to successfully deliver joint projects and initiatives.
• Deliver thought leadership and insights to inform strategic decision making and organisational readiness, in conjunction with regular research, identifying emerging technologies and trends.  .
• Development and management of key metrics including key partnerships, innovation initiatives and impact through regular assessments to calculate the return on investment and identify any potential risks and issues.

Assistant Vice President Expectations

• To advise and influence decision making, contribute to policy development and take responsibility for operational effectiveness. Collaborate closely with other functions/ business divisions.
• Lead a team performing complex tasks, using well developed professional knowledge and skills to deliver on work that impacts the whole business function. Set objectives and coach employees in pursuit of those objectives, appraisal of performance relative to objectives and determination of reward outcomes
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.
• OR for an individual contributor, they will lead collaborative assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will identify new directions for assignments and/ or projects, identifying a combination of cross functional methodologies or practices to meet required outcomes.
• Consult on complex issues; providing advice to People Leaders to support the resolution of escalated issues.
• Identify ways to mitigate risk and developing new policies/procedures in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Take ownership for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work done.
• Perform work that is closely related to that of other areas, which requires understanding of how areas coordinate and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the organisation sub-function.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategy.
• Engage in complex analysis of data from multiple sources of information, internal and external sources such as procedures and practises (in other areas, teams, companies, etc).to solve problems creatively and effectively.
• Communicate complex information. 'Complex' information could include sensitive information or information that is difficult to communicate because of its content or its audience.
• Influence or convince stakeholders to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.