Overview

Senior Strategy & Corporate Development Manager | S4 | CFO Strategy & Corporate Development | Unity Place, Milton Keynes

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This high-impact role reporting into the Chief Strategy Officer offers a unique opportunity to work at the heart of strategic decision‑making at Santander UK. The purpose of the role is to facilitate top management decision making and shaping of Santander’s overall strategic direction, identifying and evaluating growth options collaborating closely with senior leadership to drive long-term business advancement and value creation.

The difference you’ll make

• Shape and evolve Santander’s long-term strategic plan in alignment with business and Group priorities.
• Facilitate strategic planning with senior leadership, driving initiative prioritisation and resource allocation.
• Track the execution of strategic initiatives, flagging risks and adapting plans to ensure delivery and value realisation.
• Conduct deep market and competitive analysis to uncover trends and growth opportunities.
• Lead analysis of macroeconomic trends, customer behaviours, and emerging technologies to anticipate market shifts and define future business models.
• Translate complex insights into actionable strategies that inform investment, growth, and transformation initiatives.
• Take end-to-end ownership of strategic projects assigned to ensure on-time, in-full delivery.
• Evaluate corporate development opportunities.
• Prepare high quality materials to facilitate discussions with the senior management, the Board and key external stakeholders.
• Play a central role in communicating the bank’s strategy, ensuring clarity, alignment, and momentum across the organisation.

What you’ll bring

• The ideal candidate should have prior experience from a top-tier strategy consulting firm, leading investment bank, or a strategy / corporate development team within a major financial institution.
• Possess expert-level capabilities in strategic thinking, problem solving financial analysis, and executive engagement, and demonstrate deep sector expertise in financial services—particularly UK Retail and Commercial Banking.
• Strong influencing skills with a track record of shaping senior-level decision-making in complex, matrixed environments.
• Deep understanding of the UK financial services landscape, including macroeconomic, regulatory, and market dynamics.
• Solid grasp of UK banking business models and the financial levers driving performance across customer segments and markets.
• Advanced analytical and quantitative skills, with proficiency in data mining, AI-enabled insight generation, and use of visualisation tools.
• High-level proficiency in PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Outlook, with the ability to create clear, compelling, and executive-ready deliverables.
• Undergraduate or equivalent related degree in Finance, Business Administration or Economics, or substantial demonstrable work experience supported by professional training.

It would also be nice for you to have

• An understanding of Santander UK’s and Santander Group’s current strategic agenda (including financial plans / budgets, projects in train etc.) is expected
• Solid grasp of UK banking business models and the financial levers driving
• Deep understanding of the UK financial services landscape, including macroeconomic, regulatory, and market dynamics
• Hands-on experience in the end-to-end corporate development process—including deal evaluation, due diligence, and managing relationships with investment banks and advisors.

What else you need to know

This role is contractually based in Unity Place, and will be an office-based role working out Triton Square and Unity Place depending on executive requirements.

We want our people to thrive at work and home, and also be able to deliver the best outcomes for our customers and to help each other develop. To support this, we offer site-based contracts with a hybrid working pattern and our expected level of attendance in an office is at least 12 days per month (pro-rata for part-time roles).

If you apply for this role in any of these locations, it’s important you consider your travelling distance, time and cost from your home to the office location.

We’re happy to discuss specific working patterns and arrangement within this hybrid approach during the recruitment process.

Inclusion

At Santander we’re creating a thriving workplace where all colleagues feel they belong and are supported to succeed. We all help to make Santander a workplace that celebrates diversity and attracts, retains and develops the most talented and committed people through living our values of Simple, Personal, and Fair.

How we’ll reward you

As well as a competitive salary, you’ll enjoy a benefits package that you can tailor to your needs. For part-time / contract roles, your salary, bonus (where eligible) and certain benefits will be prorated to reflect your working hours / contract duration.

• Eligible for a discretionary performance-related annual bonus.
• We put 8% of salary into your pension, even if you don’t contribute yourself. We’ll pay in up to 12.5% of salary, if you contribute as well, and you can take some of our contribution in cash if you prefer.
• 30 days’ holiday plus bank holidays, which increases to 31 days after 5yrs service, with the option to purchase up to 5 contractual days per year.
• £6,000 car allowance per year.
• Company funded individual private medical insurance.
• Voluntary healthcare benefits at discounted rates such as private medical insurance for your family, dental insurance, and health assessments.
• Protection for you and your family, with company-funded death-in-service benefit and income protection insurance, and the option to take advantage of discounted rates for additional life assurance and critical illness cover.
• Share in Santander’s success by saving or investing in our shareplans.
• As a Santander UK employee, you are able to request staff versions of our products like our Edge Current Accounts and Credit Cards with no fees, as well as apply to many other deals and discounts in Santander products and services

Learn more about our benefits and family friendly policies

What to do next

If this sounds like a role you’re interested in, then please apply.

If there’s anything we can do in the recruitment process to help you achieve your best, get in touch. Whether it’s a copy of our application form in another format or additional assistance, we’re available through email. You can contact us at resourcing@santander.co.uk.