Hello, we’re Starling. We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had thepower to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way. We’re a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We’re a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,500 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.
We are looking for a Senior Manager to drive the Group’s inorganic and organic growth agenda. This is a high-impact role for a seasoned strategy consultant or investment banker looking to move into an in-house strategic role. You will leverage your strategic project experience and/or transaction experience to lead strategic projects, M&A execution, capital markets activities, and long-term strategic planning for both the Bank and our global SaaS business, Engine.
Please apply by: 5th January 2026
Key Accountabilities:
Strategic Leadership & Transaction Execution
Lead Strategy Projects: Structure, lead and execute complex strategic projects from problem definition and hypothesis generation to value realisation
Deal Leadership: Manage the end-to-end transaction lifecycle for M&A, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships. This includes leading origination, thesis generation, rigorous valuation, and definitive agreement negotiation. You will act as a primary interface with external advisors (investment banks, legal counsel, diligence providers)
C-Suite Advisory: Act as a trusted advisor to the Group CEO and Group CFO. You will translate complex financial data into "Board-ready" strategic recommendations, often under tight timelines
Quality Control: Own the quality of all strategic output. Ensure papers, board decks, and external investor materials are flawless and compelling
Analysis & Financial Planning
Commercial & Financial Oversight: Oversee and develop detailed financial models and business cases. Ensure rigorous testing of assumptions for models relating to organic and inorganic corporate activity, and have a clear understanding of the Starling’s key business drivers
Valuation & Modelling: Oversee the construction of complex financial models working closely with the Financial Modelling team. You must be able to develop and audit models line-by-line and own the integrity of the outputs
Capital Allocation: Assist in developing the Group’s approach to assessing the ROI of various capital deployment options
Market Intelligence: Monitor the Fintech and Banking landscape for valuation benchmarks, precedent transactions, and emerging competitor threats to inform the Group’s strategy
Data Analysis: Be comfortable analysing unstructured data sets to derive clear messages
Team Development
Mentorship: Actively mentor Associates and Analysts in best practices, across strategy and corporate development activities
Mindset: Champion a first-principles thinking approach in the team and across the wider business
Culture: Exemplify the Strategy team’s high-performing culture
Collaboration: Develop strong working relationships with teams across the Group
Process Rigour: Own the culture of high-velocity execution and delivery within the team
Experience & Background
Extensive experience, with a significant portion spent in:
Strategy Consulting Firm: Demonstrable experience leading strategy complex strategic projects, with a focus on leveraging technical skills
Investment Banking (Associate to VP level): Ideally within a FIG, Fintech, or TMT coverage group at a top-tier bulge bracket or elite boutique bank
Private Equity: Experience on the deal team of a mid-to-large cap fund is also highly relevant
Transaction Track Record: Ideally you could demonstrate a range of transaction experience. You should be able to discuss your specific role in executing M&A, capital raising, commercial due diligence projects or joint ventures
Technical Skills
Problem Solving: Ability to disaggregate complex, undefined problems into manageable work streams using hypothesis-driven methodologies
Financial Modelling: Highly competent modelling, with a clear ability to debating the nuances of cost of capital, terminal value assumptions, and synergy phasing
Transaction Mechanics: Understanding of the high level legal and structural components of a deal
Presentation Skills: You must be able to create presentations that tell a compelling, data-backed commercial story suitable for the Group Board and external investors
Soft Skills & Attributes
Ambiguity Tolerance: Comfort working in a fast-paced, fluid environment where priorities shift rapidly. You maintain high standards under pressure
First Principles: You take a logical and data-driven approach to any task, even if it’s something you’ve never done before
Commercial Instinct: You focus on value drivers and the bottom-line impact of every strategic decision
Execution Focus: You have a bias for action. You are comfortable managing multiple live work streams and driving them to conclusion with autonomy when required. You are focussed not on just setting the direction of projects and providing advice to junior team members, but driving forward various work streams
Stakeholder Management: Exceptional interpersonal skills with the confidence to challenge senior stakeholders and influence decision-making
Resilience: Comfort working in a high-pressure, fluid environment where priorities shift rapidly
Low Ego: The ability to successfully work as part of a team with little hierarchy
25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you)
An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
16 hours paid volunteering time a year
Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection
Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
Generous family-friendly policies
Incentives refer a friend scheme
Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing
About us:
You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway.We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.
Starling is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. When you provide us with this information, you are doing so at your own consent, with full knowledge that we will process this personal data in accordance with our Privacy Notice. By submitting your application, you agree that Starling will collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we will process, where we will process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.
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