Strategy Analyst VP

As Strategy Analyst VP within Barclays Payments, you’ll lead high‑impact strategic initiatives that shape the future direction of the business. You’ll conduct deep‑dive analysis across key topics such as growth strategy and capital allocation, translating insight into clear, actionable strategies. You’ll be responsible for designing and articulating strategic plans, working closely with senior stakeholders to agree priorities and drive execution across the organisation. You’ll also take ownership of elements of the recovery plan, ensuring alignment with broader business objectives and regulatory expectations.

You’ll partner closely with product and technology teams to ensure strategic initiatives are grounded in practical delivery and aligned to platform capabilities. Your role will also involve supporting M&A activity, contributing to strategic assessment, due diligence, and integration planning. This is a high‑visibility role where you’ll influence decision‑making at the highest level, combining strong analytical thinking with commercial insight to drive meaningful change across Barclays Payments.

Barclays’ payments acceptance business provides critical infrastructure to the UK economy, processing billions of pounds of payments annually for both small businesses and domestic and international corporate clients.

In April 2025, we announced a long-term partnership with Brookfield Asset Management to grow and transform the payments acceptance business by broadening the range of services offered, enhancing the experience for both existing and prospective clients. Leveraging extensive client relationships and deep experience of UK payments, we will create an environment of continuous innovation - activated by Brookfield’s global private equity expertise in payments, technology, operational transformation and corporate carve-outs - to ensure the business is strategically positioned for long-term growth.

Barclays will invest approximately £400m in the new business, the majority of which will be incurred during the first three years. Performance-linked incentives will drive greater alignment between the partners, underpinning the long-term commitment to the transformation. Barclays and Brookfield will work to create a standalone entity over time, continuing to use the Barclaycard Payments (BPL) brand and acting as the sole payments acceptance services provider to Barclays’ clients for a minimum of ten years.

For more information on our partnership with Brookfield, please visit Barclays.com.

To be successful as a Strategy Analyst VP, you must have the following essential skills

• Excellent strategic capability, with experience in developing and delivering business strategy; a background in consulting is advantageous
• Proven ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders, with strong communication skills and the ability to articulate clear, compelling strategic narratives
• Payments experience, either within a payments business or supporting the sector, with a good understanding of product, technology, or AI‑driven developments

Some other highly valued skills may include

• Experience in defining and implementing Target Operating Models (TOMs), including operating model design, organisational structure, and aligning processes, technology, and governance to strategic objectives

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.

Purpose of the role

To provide independent and balanced advice and counsel to senior stakeholders through problem identification, solving and decision making practices.

Accountabilities

• Provision of strategic advice to Group Executives to support the decision-making process of business challenges and opportunities.
• Development and implementation of strategic advisory incentives to grow and optimise the bank’s operations, through market research and analysis.
• Collaboration with various stakeholder groups to identify the appropriate strategic direction type to meet the needs of Barclays clients and investors.
• Development of financial models to support strategic recommendations and transactions through financial data analysis, financial projects and considering the financial impact of transactions.
• Management of transactions, negotiations, transaction structure development and post-transaction integration.
• Collaboration with internal stakeholders to maintain client relationships, and develop new relationships to identify opportunities.
• Identification of industry trends, maintain peer benchmarking and developments related to strategic advisory services by attendings conferences, participating in training and conducting market research.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
• If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
• 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 be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills 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.