Divisional Chief Financial Officer — Digital Lending Portfolio

The mandate

Following two years of uneven execution, the board is addressing a division requiring independent economics before a strategic transaction within a multinational-owned diversified financial-services platform. The immediate arena is the digital lending portfolio during margin compression. For mandate 024, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Divisional Chief Financial Officer operating perimeter covers approximately £5,100 million in assets under oversight, with activity spanning several digital lending portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Divisional Chief Financial Officer Financial Services remit carries direct influence over roughly 250 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The group board and the relevant risk and people committees want a Divisional Chief Financial Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the digital lending portfolio. The Divisional Chief Financial Officer Financial Services seat must resolve margin compression, while preserving the underlying strengths of the digital lending portfolio. For mandate 024, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Divisional Chief Financial Officer’s first year on the digital lending portfolio is expected to end with stand-alone controls, value visibility and transaction readiness. In mandate 024, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created Divisional Chief Financial Officer — Digital Lending Portfolio seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the digital lending portfolio remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the Divisional Chief Financial Officer value-creation thesis for the digital lending portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately £5,100 million in assets under oversight, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Divisional Chief Financial Officer Financial Services organisation of about 250 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the digital lending portfolio economics and execution constraints created by margin compression, with Divisional Chief Financial Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Divisional Chief Financial Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the digital lending portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have signed or directly owned board financial statements, liquidity decisions and investment cases at the stated scale in mandate 024.
• Build the Divisional Chief Financial Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the digital lending portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Financial Services organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the digital lending portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a division requiring independent economics before a strategic transaction, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Divisional Chief Financial Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the digital lending portfolio, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable digital lending portfolio trend against stand-alone controls, value visibility and transaction readiness, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Divisional Chief Financial Officer’s agreed first-year digital lending portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Divisional Chief Financial Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the digital lending portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Divisional Chief Financial Officer mandate’s highest-priority digital lending portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical digital lending portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Divisional Chief Financial Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Divisional Chief Financial Officer-owned improvement in the digital lending portfolio operating constraint behind margin compression, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 024: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Divisional CFO, Business CFO or Finance Director in a multinational-owned Financial Services or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the digital lending portfolio, your Divisional Chief Financial Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Divisional Chief Financial Officer brief.

As a Divisional Chief Financial Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Financial Services or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of £2,950 million and led an organisation of at least 175 people.

For mandate 024, the board wants two transitions: a difficult digital lending portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during margin compression. As the prospective Divisional Chief Financial Officer for this digital lending portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 024 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Divisional Chief Financial Officer must be based in London; international relocation is supported, but this Financial Services role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Divisional CFO, Business CFO or Finance Director, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Financial Services governance forum.
• Proven Divisional Chief Financial Officer ownership of at least £2,950 million and leadership of no fewer than 175 employees in a comparable digital lending portfolio context.
• One completed Financial Services or adjacent-sector example of a division requiring independent economics before a strategic transaction with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks Divisional Chief Financial Officer-level digital lending portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the London location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 024.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Divisional Chief Financial Officer package is £290,000–390,000 base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final digital lending portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 024 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Divisional Chief Financial Officer appointment in London, centred on the digital lending portfolio, offers regular exposure to the group board and the relevant risk and people committees. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 024.

Confidentiality

The client name, precise footprint and transaction history are outside this brief for mandate 024. They will be shared with qualified candidates under a mutual undertaking, and the composite facts here must not be reverse-engineered or circulated for mandate 024.