Job Description

Purpose of the role

To manage and drive the innovation strategy to meet customer needs and ensure the bank's long-term success and competitive edge.

Role and Responsibilities:

• Set the HR AI and automation strategy, translating enterprise AI direction into a clear HR roadmap linked to HR strategy, enterprise transformation, scaled automation, agentic delivery and personal productivity
• Define and evolve the HR AI architecture in partnership with Enterprise Architecture, CDO, Digital Channels, HR Technology and control functions, ensuring solutions are coherent, governed, reusable and aligned to the wider technology landscape
• Own the AI vendor strategy for HR, shaping how platforms such as Microsoft, Workday and ServiceNow are used as part of a joined-up approach
• Surface, shape and challenge vendor AI roadmaps, ensuring emerging capabilities are understood early and aligned to Barclays’ architecture, priorities and risk appetite
• Act as a visible enterprise leader for AI in HR, building confidence and momentum by connecting strategy to tangible use cases, scaled enablement and measurable outcomes
• Define and drive the AI adoption model across HR, separating broad colleague adoption from targeted “power user” enablement and scaling both effectively
• Build capability across HR, improving AI literacy, confidence and practical application at all levels
• Design and operationalise AI governance for HR, setting clear guardrails for risk, ethics, data use and controls while enabling delivery pace
• Act as the link into enterprise AI governance, translating central standards into practical, usable guidance for HR teams
• Bring hands-on technical credibility, working closely with delivery teams to understand code, data, orchestration and design, and challenge decisions to avoid over-engineered or fragmented solutions
• Partner with the Foundry and Federated AI teams, where they lead build and run, while this role owns use case definition, AI patterns and reuse across HR
• Bring forward new AI use cases and reusable patterns, testing, proving and scaling them across HR
• Identify and drive reuse of AI components and patterns, reducing duplication and accelerating scale
• Act as the primary interface into the Portfolio Office, improving the quality, consistency and alignment of AI demand into prioritisation and funding decisions
• Shape and assure the AI demand pipeline, challenging whether use cases solve the right problems and use the right solutions, aligned to platform capability
• Set strategic plans and delivery objectives for the AI and automation portfolio, aligning backlog to enterprise priorities, journey outcomes, control requirements and capacity creation goals
• Drive execution through clear operating rhythms, governance and decision points to convert ideas into live services and sustained value
• Track benefits and value realisation, with Journey reporting first and AI second, covering efficiency, capacity creation, experience, quality and control outcomes
• Build strong partnerships across HR, Technology, Data, Risk, Compliance and external partners to remove blockers, accelerate delivery and maintain control alignment

Accountabilities

• Execution of market research to understand customer needs, pain points, and emerging trends to support the analysis of profitability, market size and positioning for new products compared to existing offerings, and to identify opportunities for diversification to gain a competitive advantage.
• Collaboration with stakeholders across departments and teams including marketing, sales, technology, engineers, designers etc to generate innovative and feasible product ideas and prototypes for testing aligned with customer needs and strategic goals.
• Development of concepts and specifications which define features, functionalities, target market, user interface, technical specifications and potential revenue models of new products.
• Evaluation of the technical feasibility, legal compliance, and potential risks associated with the development and launch of the new product.
• Monitoring of market trends and analysis feedback from internal employees and target customers through prototypes, user testing sessions, and beta programs to identify areas for improvement to refine the product before launch.
• Management of comprehensive launch plans and technical deployments for products that establish rollout timelines, marketing strategies, training initiatives and communication channels to promote the launch new products effectively.
• Monitoring of key metrics such as adoption rates, usage patterns, customer satisfaction, and revenue generation to assess the product's performance against set goals.

Director Expectations

• To manage a business function, providing significant input to function wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policy and procedures for the function and plan, manage and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business wide..
• They manage the direction of a large team or sub-function, leading other people managers and embedding a performance culture aligned to the values of the business. Or for an individual contributor, they lead organisation wide projects and act as deep technical expert and thought leader, identifying new ways of working and collaborating cross functionally. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Provide expert advice to senior functional management and committees to influence decisions made outside of own function, offering significant input to function wide strategic initiatives.
• Manage, coordinate and enable resourcing, budgeting and policy creation for a significant sub-function.
• Escalates breaches of policies / procedure appropriately.
• Foster and guide compliance, ensure regulations are observed that relevant processes in place to facilitate adherence.
• Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to both monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays, when appropriate.
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of how the function integrates with the business division / Group to achieve the overall business objectives.
• Maintain broad and comprehensive knowledge of industry theories and practices within own discipline alongside up-to-date relevant sector / functional knowledge, and insight into external market developments / initiatives.
• Use interpretative thinking and advanced analytical skills to solve problems and design solutions in often complex/ sensitive situations.
• Exercise management authority to make significant decisions and certain strategic decisions or recommendations within own area.
• Negotiate with and influence stakeholders at a senior level both internally and externally.
• Act as principal contact point for key clients and counterparts in other functions/ businesses divisions.
• Mandated as a spokesperson for the function and business division.

All Senior 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.

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.

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