Chief of Staff

Job Description

Purpose of the role

To enable the success of senior executives by helping navigate complex challenges, make informed decisions and deliver against their strategic objectives.

Accountabilities

• Strategic support to senior executives, such as the CEO or other top-level leaders including assistance in the development and execution of in year and multi-year business strategy, research, and analysis to support decision-making and act as delegate for the senior executive in specific situations.
• Management of Colleague engagement planning in line with the strategic direction, managing communication channels and ensuring effective coordination across different departments and teams.
• Management of key projects and strategic initiatives on behalf of senior executives, ensuring strategic projects are on track, monitoring of progress, and provision of regular updates to the executive team.
• Improvement of operational efficiency, alongside functional partners, within the organisation including the identification of areas for improvement, streamlining of processes, and implementation of consistently excellent best practices to enhance productivity and effectiveness.
• Development of performance reporting for key metrics that reinforce the strategic objectives of the division and support the external commitments made. Analyse and draw insight to drive performance. Involvement in aspects of financial analysis and budget management, including assistance in financial planning, forecasting, cost management and monitoring of financial performance against targets.
• Support to senior leadership to ensure appropriate resourcing across the business/function including planning and forecasting, partnering with HR to drive talent development and succession planning including the identification of high-potential employees, provision of mentorship and guidance, and support to leadership development and diversity initiatives.
• Support to the senior executive with risk and control oversight, escalation, crisis management and risk mitigation, support the development of contingency plans, coordination of responses to emergencies, and ensure business continuity.
• Implementation of a robust governance framework which supports the board of directors, executive forums and governance committees through the preparation of board materials, organisation of meetings, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

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.

Join us as a Chief of Staff - Investment Bank COO at Barclays, To enable the success of senior executives by helping navigate complex challenges, make informed decisions and deliver against their strategic objectives.

To be successful in this role, you should have sounded knowledge and skills in:

• Substantial experience in a Chief of Staff, COO, business management, strategy, transformation, portfolio-management, or executive-office role within a major financial institution
• Strong understanding of both Technology and Operations, ideally within an Investment Bank, Markets, Wholesale Banking, or another complex regulated environment
• Experience supporting an executive-level leader or senior management team, including preparation for executive committees, management reviews, strategic workshops, and senior decision forums
• Proven ability to translate broad strategic objectives into clear priorities, accountable owners, milestones, decisions, and measurable outcomes
• Experience coordinating complex, cross-functional agendas spanning business, Technology, Operations, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Controls, HR, and Transformation
• Strong delivery experience across multiple concurrent priorities, with the ability to identify dependencies, challenge slippage, escalate risks, and drive actions through to closure
• Experience producing high-quality executive materials, including briefing notes, management information, decision papers, strategic presentations, and concise written recommendations
• Strong knowledge of governance, risk, and control expectations in a regulated financial-services environment
• Commercial and financial acumen, including familiarity with budgets, workforce plans, investment prioritisation, benefits, cost management, and organisational trade-offs
• Experience working across global teams, cultures, time zones, and organisational boundaries
• A track record of exercising sound judgement with confidential, sensitive, or incomplete information

Some other highly valued skills may include:

• Direct experience within Investment Banking, Global Markets, Wholesale Lending, or a comparable institutional banking business
• Previous role supporting a COO, CIO, CTO, business head, or major transformation executive
• Experience spanning both front-office-aligned Technology and transaction-processing Operations
• Experience of organisation design, workforce strategy, location strategy, spans and layers, or operating-model transformation
• Familiarity with regulatory accountability requirements, including the Senior Managers Regime
• Experience of management reporting, portfolio governance, operational resilience, technology risk, or major remediation programmes
• Experience with external workforce, supplier, or commercial governance
• Experience simplifying governance, automating reporting, improving data quality, or deploying AI-enabled tools
• International experience and evidence of operating effectively across major global hubs

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 will be based out of Canary Wharf.