Chief Commercial Officer — Digital Lending Portfolio

The mandate

Customer and operating evidence now point to commercial execution varying materially across markets within a multinational-owned diversified financial-services platform. The immediate arena is the digital lending portfolio during a channel migration. For mandate 048, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Commercial Officer operating perimeter covers approximately £3,050 million in assets under oversight, with activity spanning several digital lending portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Commercial Officer Financial Services remit carries direct influence over roughly 600 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The group board and the relevant risk and people committees want a Chief Commercial Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the digital lending portfolio. The Chief Commercial Officer Financial Services seat must resolve a channel migration, while preserving the underlying strengths of the digital lending portfolio. For mandate 048, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Commercial Officer’s first year on the digital lending portfolio is expected to end with repeatable growth, price realisation and strategic-account depth. In mandate 048, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is an urgent replacement for the Chief Commercial Officer — Digital Lending Portfolio seat following an accelerated leadership transition. Interim accountability is in place for the digital lending portfolio, but the board wants a permanent appointment within 6–8 weeks because a channel migration cannot remain under split ownership. The predecessor’s outcome is being handled neutrally and professionally. The external search remains confidential until the preferred candidate and transition plan are agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Commercial 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 £3,050 million in assets under oversight, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Commercial Officer Financial Services organisation of about 600 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 a channel migration, with Chief Commercial Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Commercial Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the digital lending portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have led price, pipeline and strategic-account decisions with direct responsibility for profitable revenue in mandate 048.
• Build the Chief Commercial 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 commercial execution varying materially across markets, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Commercial 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 repeatable growth, price realisation and strategic-account depth, 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 Chief Commercial 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 Chief Commercial 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 Chief Commercial 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 Chief Commercial Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Commercial Officer-owned improvement in the digital lending portfolio operating constraint behind a channel migration, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 048: 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 Chief Commercial Officer, Sales President or Business Unit Head in a multinational-owned Financial Services or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the digital lending portfolio, your Chief Commercial 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 Chief Commercial Officer brief.

As a Chief Commercial 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 £1,750 million and led an organisation of at least 600 people.

For mandate 048, the board wants two transitions: a difficult digital lending portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a channel migration. As the prospective Chief Commercial Officer for this digital lending portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 048 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Commercial 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 Chief Commercial Officer, Sales President or Business Unit Head, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Financial Services governance forum.
• Proven Chief Commercial Officer ownership of at least £1,750 million and leadership of no fewer than 600 employees in a comparable digital lending portfolio context.
• One completed Financial Services or adjacent-sector example of commercial execution varying materially across markets 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 Chief Commercial 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 048.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Commercial 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 048 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Commercial 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 048.

Confidentiality

This search is being conducted without naming the client for mandate 048. Identifying information will follow only when both sides elect to proceed under confidentiality; nothing in the published mandate should be treated as a clue to ownership or brand for mandate 048.