Consumer Innovation Lead, Cleo AI
£102.5-127.7k
Compensation package (base + equity) with reviews every 8 months.
1-2 days a week in office
AI personal finance assistant
Job no longer available
AI personal finance assistant
201-500 employees
Job no longer available
£102.5-127.7k
Compensation package (base + equity) with reviews every 8 months.
1-2 days a week in office
201-500 employees
Company mission
To change the world’s relationship with money.
Role
Who you are
- We’re especially looking for someone who lives and breathes consumer innovation: someone with a deep understanding of how to influence behaviour, who’s passionate about AI, and who’s constantly plugged into the latest in consumer product design, social apps, games, wellness tools, and everything in between
- Creative Visionary: You’re constantly exploring ideas—through reading, talking, building, or experimenting—and have a strong point of view on what’s coming next in the consumer product landscape
- Behavioural Designer: You understand how to nudge, motivate, and support users towards healthy long-term habits—and can build products that do exactly that
- Plugged Into Consumer Culture: You’re across emerging formats—from wellness tech to social tools, gamified finance, AI companions and more
- Thrives in Complexity: You bring clarity and focus to undefined challenges and aren’t afraid to explore unfamiliar terrain
- Dynamic Collaborator: You co-create easily with product, design, engineering, and insight teams—bringing energy, inspiration, and direction
- 0→1 Experience: You’ve developed novel ideas from scratch and driven them to successful outcomes
- Action-Oriented: You don’t just dream—you build. You know how to test quickly, learn, and keep momentum up
- A proven track record of originating and developing breakthrough consumer product ideas—especially those focused on behaviour, engagement, or virality
- Exceptional communication and storytelling skills to inspire and align stakeholders
- A mix of creative instinct and rigorous problem-solving to balance ambition with feasibility
- Deep experience in consumer-facing apps (B2C), especially those focused on behavioural outcomes or community experiences
- Curiosity and fluency in emerging technologies, particularly AI
- Familiarity with customer research, market analysis, and rapid validation methods
What the job involves
- As Innovation Lead, you’ll be at the forefront of driving Cleo’s diversification strategy, leading the discovery of high-impact New Bets that redefine our product offering and expand our reach into new experiences and customer behaviours
- You’ll thrive in ambiguity, combining creative firepower with sharp strategic thinking to generate and validate ideas that push boundaries—and shape the future of Cleo. This role isn’t just about iterating on what exists—it’s about imagining what could be. You’ll bring bold, unconventional ideas to life and foster a culture of experimentation across the business
- Develop deep understanding of user problems, the competitive landscape, and Cleo’s right to win in new space
- Run ideation and brainstorming sessions to generate early-stage concepts focused on consumer behaviour change, gamification, AI interaction, and new modes of engagement
- Engage with internal and external experts to sharpen thinking and improve the quality of concepts
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners (design, research, engineering, analytics, commercial) to shape and evolve ideas
- Map key assumptions and coordinate scrappy testing plans with research and analytics to validate early-stage concepts
- Build compelling, data-informed cases for why Cleo should invest in the concepts you’ve developed
- Challenge conventional thinking and surface bold ideas aligned with Cleo’s mission and the emerging needs of our customers
- Uncover opportunities by partnering with Research and Product Marketing to identify unmet needs, whitespace, and emerging trends—particularly around AI, social experiences, and new consumer patterns
- Prototype new ideas that tap into social dynamics, personalisation, and habit formation—helping Cleo go from assistant to indispensable
- Draw on the expertise of our cross-functional teams to refine and strengthen concepts throughout the process
Application process
- Usually 2-3 weeks is enough time for us all to get to know each other
- Step 1: 30 mins video call with a member of our Talent Team to find out more about your experience and why you’re potentially interested in Cleo
- Step 2: 1 hour with the Hiring Manager - Tom May, Product Director - New Ventures
- Step 3: Take home task interview, presented to two of our Product team
- Step 4: 45 minutes each with two cross-functional peers
Salary benchmarks
Our take
People are increasingly not satisfied with the products being offered by traditional banks, which have proven slow to react to the needs of younger consumers who expect more from their everyday experiences.
Cleo was one of the first companies to make great use of chatbots that sit within Facebook's messenger app. This chatbot-first approach and Gen Z user base have given it strong virality. It now has millions of registered users, 99% of which are based in the US, leading to a decision to take a year break from the UK market to focus on its US Gen Z customers. And after a successful year in the US its now eyeing up a return to the UK.
Its Series C funding will help the company to double down in the US, where it will make a significant increase in employee headcount, and enable Cleo to maintain and expand its service during an economic downturn.
Financial advice delivered via bots is a crowded space, so Cleo benefits from having a strong brand presence. It has gone for very bold, fun, Gen Z-focused messaging which helps it to stand out from competitors such as Emma, Plum, and Chip.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Jun 2022
$80m
SERIES C
Dec 2020
$44m
SERIES B
Total funding: $137.5m
Company benefits
- Meaningful equity with early exercise, plus top-ups on promotion
- Up to 26 weeks’ parental leave
- Paid 1-month sabbatical every 4 years
- Comprehensive health, dental & vision insurance
- Pension/401K match up to 6%
- Learning & development budget
- Mental health support via Spill
- Flexible working for a healthy work–life balance
- Work remotely from one of our hiring locations, with a hybrid option in our London office (1+ day/week)
- Annual company off-sites
- Company-wide performance reviews every 6 months
- Clear progression plans with opportunities to lead, grow, and challenge the status quo
- We’ll cover your OpenAI subscription
Company values
- Make it Happen - Own the outcome. Lend a hand, take a hand. Fast execution.
- No bullsh*t - Intellectually honest. Go hard on problems, not people. Data-backed decision making.
- Learn at Speed - Jump in and figure it out. Dig deep, do it right. Learn what matters.
- Bring Good Vibes - Read the room, lift the room. Show up for others. Keep it real, keep it positive.
Company HQ
London, UK
Leadership
Barnaby Hussey-Yeo
(Founder & CEO)Previously a Data Scientist at Wonga, one of the companies that pioneered the smart use of data for loan decisions. Joined Entrepreneur First where Cleo was formed.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Cleo AI
- We’ve set up an internal committee of truly passionate people that are dedicated to ensuring Diversity and Inclusion is embedded in how we all operate as a team. We agree on meaningful actions, and get on with implementing them. We have three main focuses right now, which are:
- 1) Improving SocioEconomic diversity across the company
- 2) Increasing the number of women in Leadership roles
- 3) More community outreach
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