Product Lead, Customer Data and Platforms

Role overview 

Lead the strategy and delivery of the bank’s customer data, CRM and customer operations platforms, including AI-supported customer service. Improve customer data quality and consistency, and ensure platforms and processes are scalable, well controlled and clearly owned. 

Own product direction, the domain roadmap and customer data requirements, working with Engineering, Data and business owners on design and delivery. Lead and develop the Product Manager and Business Analyst, delegating platform prioritisation and continuous improvement to the PM and requirements analysis and delivery support to the BA. 

Work closely with Engineering, Data, Compliance, Risk and Customer Operations. Deliver agreed data and platform dependencies for AFC, segment onboarding, Single Customer View (SCV), tax reporting and data retention programmes, while ownership of those areas remains with the relevant teams. 

This is a hands-on leadership role in a small bank, combining strategic direction with practical delivery through clear delegation and effective partnerships. 

Key accountabilities 

• Own and deliver the domain strategy and roadmap, balancing customer needs, business value, regulatory requirements, risk and available capacity. 

• Own the customer data model, requirements and quality standards, working with Engineering, Data and business owners to standardise definitions, control changes and prioritise improvements across business lines. 

• Establish clear ownership, intake, prioritisation, processes and controls across the domain, managing and escalating risks within agreed authority. 

• Embed relevant data protection, financial crime and Consumer Duty requirements into product design and delivery, working with accountable business and control owners. 

• Lead the product direction and controlled adoption of AI-supported customer service, agreeing use cases, monitoring, human escalation and fallback arrangements with relevant teams. 

• Guide platform investment and lifecycle decisions, assessing whether to extend, buy, build, consolidate or retire solutions based on evidence, cost, risk and long-term value. 

• Define and monitor measures of data quality, platform adoption, customer outcomes and operational efficiency, using findings to prioritise improvements and assess supplier performance. 

• Build alignment across business lines, technical teams and senior stakeholders, securing agreement on priorities, investment and dependencies, including potential group-wide harmonisation or migration. 

• Lead and develop the PM and BA, setting clear expectations, delegating responsibility and coaching them to deliver agreed outcomes. 

Experience 

Essential 

• Experience owning a product area and roadmap, applying discovery, prioritisation and outcome measurement to deliver measurable improvements. 

• Experience leading and developing people through effective delegation, coaching and clear accountability. 

• Ownership of a CRM or customer operations platform in a regulated environment. 

• Strong understanding of customer data models, quality, integrations and change control, with sufficient technical confidence to challenge proposals and assess trade-offs with Engineering and Data. 

• Practical experience applying UK financial services and data protection requirements to customer data or customer operations products. 

• Experience establishing clear ownership, prioritisation and governance across teams, and influencing senior stakeholders across business, technical and control functions. 

• Evidence of balancing strategic priorities with hands-on delivery in a changing environment with competing demands and limited resources. 

 Desirable 

• Salesforce experience. 

• Experience with AI-supported customer service or automation. 

• Experience of data migration or group-wide harmonisation.