Senior Delivery Manager (Financial Services Experience Required)

The Senior Delivery Manager (SDM) plays a critical leadership role within Shawbrook’s delivery function. You will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of technology-enabled change across a defined tribe, domain or large-scale initiative. This includes shaping delivery strategies, managing risk, and coaching cross-functional squads to operate at pace — while remaining compliant, value-driven, and resilient. You will operate within the Shawbrook Change Framework v14, support the Bank’s compliance with PRA expectations, and embed agile and hybrid delivery approaches within a regulated environment. This role is suited to someone with deep experience in leading multi-team delivery, navigating complex stakeholder landscapes, and uplifting delivery maturity. Key Responsibilities Delivery & Execution - Lead end-to-end delivery across 2–4 squads within a defined business or technical domain. - Own the tribe-level delivery roadmap, ensuring timely execution of epics, initiatives and releases. - Coordinate cross-squad dependencies and facilitate quarterly planning activities. - Maintain accurate RAID logs, proactively managing risk in line with the Risk Management Standard. - Ensure governance artefacts are completed to a high standard, including Impact Assessments, Steering Committee packs, and Go/No-Go readiness for Material Releases. People & Culture - Line manage and coach Delivery Managers and other delivery talent across squads. - Foster a psychologically safe and high-performing environment that reflects Shawbrook’s cultural anchors: Explore, Grow, Respond Quickly, and Have Fun. - Promote inclusive team behaviours and support the career development of emerging leaders. Cross-Functional Collaboration - Operate at the intersection of Product, Engineering, Architecture and Change, translating across disciplines to drive alignment and unblock delivery. - Act as a trusted delivery partner to Heads of Product, Heads of Engineering, and Control Functions. - Collaborate with Risk and Governance teams to ensure audit readiness and compliance throughout delivery. Value & Outcomes - Ensure all initiatives under your remit link to defined business value or OKRs. - Partner with Product Leads to shape roadmaps that balance commercial, customer and technical priorities. - Facilitate quarterly playback sessions to evidence outcomes and value realisation. Governance & Risk - Ensure all delivery activities adhere to the Change Delivery Policy v14 and associated standards (Testing, Release, Risk, Initiation, BRD). - Lead or contribute to regular Steering Committees, ensuring packs are complete and risks are surfaced in advance. - Escalate delivery risks and blockers early with clarity, using data and narrative to drive decisions. Skills & Experience - Proven experience in multi-squad delivery leadership, ideally in a regulated environment such as financial services. - Strong understanding of agile and hybrid delivery methodologies with an AI first mentality, hands-on experience in delivery planning, ceremonies, dependency management and release readiness. - Ability to lead across complex business or technical change — including systems integration, data migration, platform uplift or regulatory initiatives. - Demonstrable experience integrating or supporting AI, data science or machine learning initiatives — or working in squads that leverage AI models to drive automation, insight or personalisation. - Able to challenge teams on responsible AI use, data quality, explainability, and model governance. - Confident navigating technical trade-offs related to AI product delivery, including MLOps, model retraining, or ethical risk mitigation. - Experience in budget oversight, resource forecasting, and vendor coordination. - Adept at coaching and developing delivery managers, product owners and squads. - Clear communicator who builds trust quickly, challenges constructively, and leads with empathy. - Comfortable driving delivery in AI-enabled product teams, including workstreams that use LLMs, NLP, or data-driven decisioning systems. Key Attributes - Pragmatic and outcome-focused, not process-driven. - Data- and AI-aware — able to guide squads and stakeholders on AI opportunity areas, delivery risks, and ethical boundaries. - Resilient under pressure; calm and structured in the face of risk or failure. - Curious mindset — always looking to improve systems, people, and outcomes. - Comfortable leading up, across and down — with strong stakeholder influence at Head of Function level. - Strong delivery hygiene, but flexible in approach — adapts governance and tooling based on risk, scope, and technology maturity.