Strategic Business Manager; FTC), RS&AM

Job Description

Job Type: Secondment / Fixed Term Contract (12 months parental cover)

Location: This role will be based in our London office, with some flexibility to work between the office locations and home. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about flexible working here.

Salary and Benefits: From £100,000 (pro-rated) subject to experience, plus bonus, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more.

If you're a Strategic Business Manager who brings commercial thinking, curiosity and can navigate in a growth environment, then our team, Business Development & Origination (BD&O) would love to meet you.

We're Standard Life, a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement savings and income. We champion the belief that everyone's journey to and through retirement can be better, and for more than 200 years, we've been helping our customers plan and prepare for their financial futures.

Life today is increasingly complicated, uncertain and unpredictable. People move through different careers, face unexpected moments, and navigate important choices. We offer our colleagues flexibility, trust and benefits that work for whatever life brings. In return we expect curiosity, connection, accountability and high standards. We make room for what matters - so you can bring your best, every day.

This role provides strategic leadership across BD&O, with a particular focus on supporting Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) strategy and executive-level decision making.

Acting as a trusted partner to the Director of BD&O, the role combines strategy, business management, and senior stakeholder support. It ensures alignment with corporate objectives through effective governance, financial oversight, and workforce planning. Acting as a central coordination point, it enhances organisational effectiveness and supports sustainable growth across BD&O.

• Drive overall strategy and key business-focused initiatives for BD&O, working with functional leadership and broader strategy team.
• Lead functional specific initiatives as required, working with key leaders within the BD&O function.
• Lead functional specific senior leadership team (SLT) and team meetings ensuring downwards cascade of relevant management information.
• Support external engagement and comms as required (e.g. PR and Public Affairs, regulatory engagement, investor relations).
• Own communications on strategy and business topics (e.g. those listed below) within their functional areas.

• Work with Finance to determine and report on KPIs/metrics/objectives/outcomes associated with BD&O.
• Work with Finance to manage the BAU expense budgets (people and non-people) and relevant allocations.
• Drive and deliver cost savings/synergies as required.
• Own the functional cost base, with detailed understanding of cost base drivers to enable efficient scaling and evolution as business strategy changes.
• Define and collaborate on the functional contribution to AOP.

• Working with business leads and HR to coordinate the overall org design and people capability for the function.
• Support as required for business HR tasks.
• Drive functional specific people initiatives.

• Coordinate BD&O engagement into RS&AM wide and Enterprise / Board governance.
• Oversee enterprise and board paper submissions relevant to the function for quality & accuracy.
• Support delivery of delegated authority documentation for relevant SMFs.
• Coordinate and produce functional specific papers into relevant committees (e.g. BIC, Group ExCo).
• Lead coordination of RSPTC meetings.

• Own roles and responsibilities for BD&O function.
• Interface into broader RS&AM and Standard Life organisation, with the aim of simplifying and streamlining handoffs – making processes, governance, and broader organisation more efficient and slicker.
• Lead on operating model development within functional areas, including…