Policy Manager in Product Design Team

Who we are

Payments Directorate is at the heart of the financial system - operating the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) service and CHAPS - the wholesale payment service. Over £775 billion is settled each day across this critical national infrastructure. As part of an exciting and transformational programme to renew RTGS, we have just introduced a new core ledger and settlement engine, enhancing not just resilience but also promoting competition and innovation. We are leading policy work to understand future demand for payments and international efforts to enhance cross-border payments.

Because of the variety and immediacy of the work we do, Payments Directorate is one of the most outward-facing and fast-moving areas of the Bank. Our Directorate Vision is "We harness central bank money to make sterling payments work for everyone and shape the payments infrastructure of tomorrow".

Role and responsibilities

The role offers an exciting opportunity to shape the Bank's roadmap for the future of RTGS and to lead policy and high-level design work on one or more of the priority features.

This role will also contribute to supporting the wider Bank's strategy on innovation in money and payments.

Product Design Team within Payments Directorate

This role sits within the Product Design Team, which drives state of the art improvements to the Bank's payments infrastructure and ensures that the Bank stays at the forefront of innovation in payments. We are responsible for developing the design of innovative functionality for the renewed RTGS service. The team is developing the future product roadmap for RTGS - which represents the continuous RTGS service evolution - for the period after the introduction of the new RTGS earlier in 2025.

Your role

You will lead on or contribute to policy and product design work on one or more critical workstreams under our future product roadmap for RTGS.

We are currently assessing three key priority features - synchronisation, extended RTGS settlement hours and resilient channels to access RTGS. However, over time, we plan to hand these products over to delivery and do further discovery work with the industry to identify other new services to explore. Therefore, over time, your projects on the team could change.

The projects you would work on could include:

• Extended RTGS settlement hours. We are looking at how to extend RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours to increase the efficiency of domestic and cross-border payments, while also facilitating innovation in the payments landscape. In this role, you will support implementation of the first stage extension of CHAPS hours in the morning. You will lead and oversee the team's work to analyse and shape the high-level proposition for a longer-term extension, potentially moving toward near 24x7 settlement by the end of the decade. You will also be responsible for leading the engagement with the industry and other areas in the Bank to ensure alignment and gather insights, and drafting public consultations and policy statements.
• Synchronisation. This new functionality allows linking the transfer of funds in RTGS with the transfer of assets on external ledgers to achieve conditional settlement. It allows market participants to create innovative services backed by the security of central bank money. Your responsibility would include leading on co-creation work with the UK payments industry and internal analysis to assess business case and develop high-level design on the synchronisation functionality.
• Resilient channels to connect to RTGS. We are working to introduce new ways of accessing RTGS (via another network or Application Programming Interfaces - APIs), which would strengthen resilience and reduce reliance on third parties for settlement. Your responsibility would include leading on co-creation work with the UK payments industry and internal analysis to assess business case and develop high level design on these functionalities.
• Wider product discovery work. As part of continuous RTGS service evolution, you would be responsible for working with the industry to consider what other innovative services they would like RTGS to provide in the future, and which ones should be prioritised.

This is a thought leadership role. We are looking to appoint a candidate who can independently (with support) drive forward our thinking on complex strategic policy questions, develop concrete recommendations, and present them credibly to senior internal and external audiences.

You will be responsible for ensuring a wide range of tasks are delivered, including:

• Product design and development - Develop a thorough understanding of the industry and global developments in the payments landscape, user needs, behaviours and pain points, as well as industry best practice.
• Use qualitative user insights and quantitative data to back up assumptions and develop business cases that can be taken to implementation.
• Define product requirements, feature recommendations and design based on user research and analysis (via industry engagement).
• Oversee relationships with colleagues in other areas of the Bank to engage on both requirements and with end-users externally throughout the development process.
• Stakeholder management - Strong stakeholder management, the ability to rapidly build powerful collaborative relationships with a wide range of colleagues and external contacts.
• Subject matter expert - Understand the product portfolio well and be able to engage on content; know when to delegate to others in the team.
• People management - Directly or indirectly manage a group of analysts to accomplish established goals. Empowerment of the team will be critical to success as we seek to exploit the benefits of agile product development.

What we are looking for

Minimum criteria:

• Analytical and policy skills - you have a proven ability to produce and lead high quality analytical policy work positioned in the context of the Bank's core purposes of monetary and financial stability as well as the Bank's approach to innovation in money and payments.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills - you have a proven ability to build and lead relationships and liaise effectively and collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders. You know how to get buy-in from the team and your stakeholders for difficult decisions. You can explain difficult concepts in a way that your stakeholders at different levels of seniority can understand.
• Leadership - you have a proven ability and experience to lead teams and/or projects to deliver results.

Essential criteria:

• Strategy - you have a proven ability to think strategically, identify intended outcomes, and define at a high level the sequence of steps needed to achieve them. When shaping strategy, you consider the wider directorate strategy, Bank's public policy objectives and wider developments in the payments landscape.
• Flexibility and delivery skills - you are able to develop and deliver credible work plans that make the best use of available resource and expertise while also providing opportunities for personal development. You have experience of adapting to changing demands and timetables.

Desirable criteria:

While the below skills are not essential, having one or more of the below would be beneficial for the role holder. You should not be put off from applying if you do not meet these criteria as you would be given support to develop these skills and knowledge gaps.

Ability to lead and manage people effectively, with a strong ability to identify and address team members' longer term development needs and objectives.

• Understanding of how RTGS operates at high level, either from a business, policy or technical point of view.
• Experience in successfully planning and/or implementing experiments related to innovative technology.
• Understanding of any aspect of payment system operation, design, or regulation.
• Awareness of current developments in the payments industry, including development of innovative payment methods and/or new digital monies.

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.

At the Bank of England, we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it's by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we'll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.

For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders.

Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the 'Candidate Personal Information' under the 'Disability Confident Scheme' section of the application.

Salary and Benefits Information

We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.

Location: Leeds salary ranging from £65,440 - £73,620 (depending on skills and experience).

In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:

• Currently a non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/80th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/65th) or decrease (to 1/105th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year. The Bank has the discretion to vary standard accrual rates and dial up and dial down rates at any time and to withdraw dial up and dial down options at any time.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• An 8% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 26 days' annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

National Security Vetting Process

Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank's Privacy Notice.

The Bank of England welcomes applications from all candidates, but as a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approved sponsor, we have a responsibility to comply with the Immigration Rules and guidance. As such, our ability to employ individuals who require sponsorship for immigration purposes is limited. The Bank cannot guarantee that you and / or the role you are applying for will be eligible for sponsorship and that any application made to UKVI will be successful. Eligibility will therefore be considered on a case by case basis.

The Application Process

Important: Please ensure that you complete the 'work history' section and answer ALL the application questions fully. All candidate applications are anonymised to ensure that our hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information, including your CV, when reviewing your application details at the screening stage. It's therefore really important that you fill out the work history and application form questions, as your answers will form a critical part of the initial selection process.

The assessment process will comprise of two interview stages.

This role closes on 23 June 2025.

Please apply online, ensuring that you complete your work history and answer ALL the application questions fully and in detail as your application will not be considered if all mandatory questions are not fully completed.