Chief Operating Officer - Europe

Job Description

As ClearBank continues to expand internationally, the bank is seeking to appoint a Chief Operations Officer (CBEU COO) and member of the Managing Board for its European Bank, headquartered in Amsterdam. This appointment will be regulated by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).

The CBEU COO reports to the Supervisory Board of ClearBank Europe, with a dotted line into the Group COO. You will be a part of a fast-growing business that is challenging the market and doing things differently.

We are seeking a highly capable CBEU COO to further build, scale and oversee the technology and operations services required for the running of the European business. The role will include responsibility to manage CBEU’s outsourcing and external third parties and remains accountable for all services supporting the European Bank even though the majority are outsourced. Consequently, you are required to ensure that appropriate oversight is implemented to oversee the outsourced services and able to exert efficient and effective influence.

As the CBEU COO you will have regulatory responsibilities and as such have a critical role to ensure the services being supplied to the European bank are operating at expected levels and risks being mitigated accordingly.

This role will be appealing to those individuals who want to work closely with our customers and business and contribute on a wider basis than a traditional “operations and tech” COO function.

Excellent commercial and financial services awareness and ability to work in a matrixed environment is critical along with the ability to maintain excellent regulatory rigour. As the CBEU COO you will also be accountable for leading and developing a high-performance team which has an embedded risk & control mindset and operates with a strong culture and practice of collaboration and innovation.

Your key tasks and responsibilities:

• Ensure the sound running of all administrative and operational activities including outsourced activities, customer servicing, and technology activities.

• Oversee activities performed by ClearBank Group Holdings and working in partnership with the COO of ClearBank Group to deliver all technology innovation, IT operations, information security, customer operations and onboarding, 1st line financial crime, programme management and business continuity service.

• Ensure that ClearBank Europe is operationally fit to sustainably meet the current and future needs of its customers, accountable for leading and developing a high-performance organisation, working to enhance the customer experience and embed a strong risk and control mindset which operates through a strong culture and practice of collaboration and innovation.

• Oversee the operational performance framework for ClearBank Europe, including monitoring key KPI’s and the effectiveness of outsourced operational activities delivered by ClearBank Group.

• Ensure services are delivered efficiently, cost–effective and in line with service, risk and regulatory standards, providing appropriate oversight, challenge and performance management where required.

• Provide strategic and operational direction to the full range of technology and operational activities, providing leadership and guidance in relation to the development of sustainable growth, scalability, and operational resilience.

• Ensure that ClearBank Europe runs according to the established business model, handles internal affairs, communicates policies to employees and designs operations strategies, oversees the delivery of committed deadlines and business plan milestones.

• Maintain effective relationships and deal openly with all key stakeholders by pursuing the Group strategy, considering the needs of all stakeholders and decisions which in the long term are positive for customers, shareholders, employees and the communities within which ClearBank Europe operates.

• Embedding a clearly articulated risk culture within the COO team, identifying and managing all relevant principal and key risk types applicable to the activities, ensuring the design and implementation of an effective controls environment to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulatory requirements.

• Ensure that ClearBank Europe has adequate regulatory capability and controls in place to meet its regulatory requirements and responsibilities to its customers.

• Ensure appropriate financial crime processes and pre-screen of all future and in-flight customers of ClearBank Europe.

• Leverage existing expertise from ClearBank Group companies and contribute to strong collaborative efforts between UK and European offerings.

• Support the delivery of ClearBank Europe’s GTM strategy, including Customer Onboarding, process and execution in collaboration with Sales and Product.

• Actively contribute to the relevant governance committees.

What you'll bring:

To excel in this role, you’ll also need the following competencies and experience.

Required competencies:

• Able to work with ambiguity, solve problems, handle conflicting priorities and goals and make things happen.

• Can manage a complex set of stakeholders, able to dive into the detail and lift up for Management Board discussions.

• Risk and compliance competence in terms of developing and driving a resilient risk and governance framework, able to assess the risks associated with innovation strategies.

• Detailed orientated, ability to multi-task, strong written and verbal communication, and a confident presenter.

• Fully proficient in English language.

Required experience and education:

• Seasoned customer operations and technology professional with strong commercial acumen.

• Proven experience hiring, building and leading high-performing teams with a focus on driving strong execution through periods of rapid growth and change.

• Experience within financial institutions, payments experience is considered highly advantageous, and a track record of innovation and transformation in this sector (including prior experience working in a start/scale-up environment).

• Extensive knowledge of business priorities and the commercial environment in an operations and/or business management role.

• Strong understanding of the technologies, risks and advantageous of operating in the cloud.

• Proven performance in a service environment and serving as the key contact in client-facing organisations, has held roles of high visibility and impact.

• Proven track-record of managing regulated outsourcing activities.

What makes a great ClearBank team member? Does this sound like you?

• You focus on solutions and positive outcomes, thinking radically and responsibly to find the best result for our customers, your colleagues and the bank;

• You actively seek feedback from others to drive your growth and development, always assuming positive intent from others and develop strong, trusting relationships you’re your colleagues and customers: you really, genuinely care;

• You always strive for the highest quality, but you know that done is better than perfect; you welcome a challenge knowing that they learn as you go and iterate;

• ‘I’ before ’we’, isn’t in your vocabulary

If this sounds like you then we encourage you to dust off that CV and apply!

A little bit more about us!

ClearBank is Where You Can belong:

At ClearBank we think about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) a lot. Not because we think we should. But because we know we should – how else can we build a happy workforce and be successful as a business. We’re committed to making sure our teams reflect society. And we put energy and effort into making this a place where everyone feels at home, where they’re given the trust and encouragement to do their very best work. Here are some of the things we’re most proud of:

• 42% of our senior management roles are held by women

• Our enhanced family leave policies

• Launching our partnership with Code First Girls

• Increasing awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace through our partnership with the Inclusive Group

Our hiring process and what you can expect:

Application: a member of our talent acquisition team will review your application against the key requirements for the role and let you know within two weeks whether you’re moving forward to the next stage;

Screening: You’ll spend 30-45 minutes speaking to one of our recruiters learning more about the role and ClearBank, and we’ll get it know more about you, your experience and how your skills align with the role (this will be via phone or Teams video call). You can expect to hear back from us within seven days following this meeting (if things are taking longer than expected, we’ll let you know that too);

First Interview: You’ll spend one hour with a member of our hiring team focusing on your skills, competencies and your ways of working at the same time we’ll give you time to ask more questions about the role, the team and learn more about the ClearBank culture. This will be via Teams.

Second Interview: This will be a competency-based interview with one or more members of our team.

Final Stage: You will have a final meeting with the Head of Department. This will be around 45-60 minutes.

Offer: Congratulations! Get ready to transform banking forever!

Our commitment to you as a candidate:

We will always try our best to get back to you within seven days of your interview whether you’ve been successful or not and provide you with feedback. Sometimes things take a little longer, so we may not have a decision to share but we will get it touch to let you know we need a little more time.

We’re unable to provide specific individual feedback at the application or screening stage but know that your application was reviewed and considered carefully.

We wish you the best of luck with your application and maybe we’ll be celebrating your new role at ClearBank soon!

Equal Opportunities

ClearBank is committed to ensuring equal opportunities throughout every stage of the recruitment process. ClearBank recognises that diversity is vital to the long-term success of the business in the communities and markets in which it operates. ClearBank is also a firm believer that an inclusive culture fosters greater employee engagement and collaboration.

ClearBank strives for diversity and inclusion of all forms, including (but not limited to): gender, age, educational and professional background, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

As part of the Company’s commitment to equal employment opportunity, we provide reasonable adjustments, to candidates during the recruitment process, including to individuals with disabilities. We want to create a safe space that welcomes everyone so please let us know how we can accommodate you. In case you have any accessibility requirements you can share that with our Talent Acquisition team prior to your interview stage, if applicable.

The legal bit

By submitting your CV to ClearBank Limited you are providing your consent for us to use the information you provide for recruitment purposes. For more information on how we manage your data go and check out our Candidate Privacy Notice on the ClearBank website to see how we process, manage and look after your data. You are also allowing us to communicate with you by email and telephone for recruitment purposes.