Credit Risk Director

Key Accountabilities

Strategic & Business Outcomes

• You will define and deliver the credit risk strategy for Tesco Bank’s £4bn Personal Loans portfolio, driving sustainable growth, good customer outcomes and optimising portfolio performance within the Bank's approved risk appetite.
• You will shape portfolio direction through proactive assessment of market, economic and regulatory developments, ensuring the business remains resilient, competitive and positioned for long-term success.

Delivery, Change & Transformation

• You will lead the evolution of lending decisioning strategies across the customer lifecycle, leveraging credit policy, scorecards, and automated risk controls to improve decision quality, portfolio performance and operational efficiency.
• You will sponsor and deliver strategic change initiatives that modernise risk management capabilities and enable scalable, data-driven decision making.

Commercial, Customer or Colleague Impact

• You will balance commercial growth ambitions with responsible lending principles, ensuring customers have access to appropriate borrowing solutions while protecting long-term portfolio profitability and resilience.

Risk, Governance & Control

• You will maintain robust governance and oversight of lending policies, risk frameworks and regulatory obligations, ensuring the Personal Loans portfolio remains well controlled, compliant and aligned to Barclays’ risk appetite.

Leadership, Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

• You will lead, inspire and develop a high-performing team of credit risk professionals, partnering closely with Product, Finance, Analytics and Risk colleagues to align portfolio strategy, deliver business objectives and support informed decision-making.
• You will foster a culture of accountability, innovation and continuous improvement, engaging confidently with senior executives, providing clear insight on portfolio performance, risks and strategic recommendations.

Capability, Innovation & Future Readiness

• You will strengthen the organisation’s credit risk capabilities through the adoption of advanced analytics, automation and evolving data sources, ensuring strategies remain effective in a changing economic and regulatory environment.

Purpose of the role

To support the Risk Function in delivering it’s objective of safeguarding the bank's financial and operational stability by proactively identifying, assessing, mitigating, and monitoring risks across various business units and activities.

Accountabilities

• Development of strategic direction for risk, including the implementation of up-to-date methodologies and processes.
• Management of the risk department, including oversight of risk colleagues and their performance, implementation of risk priorities and objectives, oversight of department efficiency and effectiveness.
• Relationship management of risk stakeholders, including identifying relevant stakeholders, and maintenance of the quality of external third-party services.
• Adherence to the Risk policy, standards and frameworks, and maintaining a robust control environment.

Director Expectations

• To manage a business function, providing significant input to function wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policy and procedures for the function and plan, manage and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business wide.
• They manage the direction of a large team or sub-function, leading other people managers and embedding a performance culture aligned to the values of the business. Or for an individual contributor, they lead organisation wide projects and act as deep technical expert and thought leader, identifying new ways of working and collaborating cross functionally. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions.
• Provide expert advice to senior functional management and committees to influence decisions made outside of own function, offering significant input to function wide strategic initiatives.
• Manage, coordinate and enable resourcing, budgeting and policy creation for a significant sub-function.
• Escalates breaches of policies / procedure appropriately.
• Foster and guide compliance, ensure regulations are observed that relevant processes in place to facilitate adherence.
• Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to both monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays, when appropriate.
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of how the function integrates with the business division / Group to achieve the overall business objectives.
• Maintain broad and comprehensive knowledge of industry theories and practices within own discipline alongside up-to-date relevant sector / functional knowledge, and insight into external market developments / initiatives.
• Use interpretative thinking and advanced analytical skills to solve problems and design solutions in often complex/ sensitive situations.
• Exercise management authority to make significant decisions and certain strategic decisions or recommendations within own area.
• Negotiate with and influence stakeholders at a senior level both internally and externally.
• Act as principal contact point for key clients and counterparts in other functions/ businesses divisions.
• Mandated as a spokesperson for the function and business division.

All Senior 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.

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.