Operations Strategy Manager, iwoca
£70-90k
1-3 days a week in office
Online loans for small businesses
Posted today
Online loans for small businesses
201-500 employees
Posted today
£70-90k
1-3 days a week in office
201-500 employees
Company mission
To fund one million small businesses.
Role
Who you are
- Experience working in a top-tier strategy consultancy or a strategic role at a tech or finance company
- Analytical background, demonstrated through academic qualifications (such as a strong STEM degree) and through professional experience
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to challenge and recommend well thought-through and innovative solutions
- Proven ability to implement findings from your analysis; we need a ‘doer’ who is comfortable rolling up their sleeves and working across the business to see your work come to fruition
- Ability to distil complex information into key points so that it is succinct and engaging in both written and verbal forms, and accessible to a range of stakeholders (whether that’s Data Scientists, operations managers, C-level, etc.)
Desirable
- Experience with Python or SQL. If you don’t have commercial experience then we’d want you to have enthusiasm to learn on the job so that you can get the most out of iwoca’s vast amount of data!
- Proven experience driving operational excellence
What the job involves
- Our Operations teams strive to deliver exceptional customer service, each customer interaction is an opportunity for excellence and we want to ensure our teams are set up for success
- The Operations Strategy team helps to make this possible - we exist to understand Operations performance, drive efficiencies and improve customer service
- We work closely with teams such as Customer Success, Credit Analysts, Collections & Legal, and People Operations, to identify opportunities and drive meaningful impact
- As an Operations Strategy Manager, you will support the development and implementation of strategies to improve efficiency and service quality across our Operations teams, while adequately supporting iwoca's profitable growth
- Each day brings new challenges, and you’ll be involved in a variety of fast-paced projects, learning about new opportunities and implementing impactful changes
- Collaborating with Operations to solve critical business problems, such as:
- Exploring how we can make use of AI to make our teams more efficient and effective
- Forecasting capacity needs for each team to eliminate operational bottlenecks
- Evaluating the value of contacting customers at different points in the customer journey and testing these approaches
- Conducting data analysis to inform your work and shape effective solutions. This involves conducting your own analysis and working with our Operations Strategy Data Scientists to get even more analytical power from your data
- Take responsibility for implementing operational changes in close coordination with Operations and Tech teams
- Understanding strategic developments across the business, helping to assess their impact on Operations, and supporting the adaptation of our department’s processes to align with future strategies
- Using your problem solving skills to help shape iwoca’s People strategy. For example, by analysing our benefits backpage to ensure we’re getting bang-for-buck
Salary benchmarks
Our take
UK SMEs are the backbone of a complex economy that is constantly changing, so the need for fast and responsive access to finance is becoming more and more important to ensure their success and growth. iwoca allows SMEs access to business loans in less than a minute, with its API and business marketplace partnerships.
With offerings like iwoca's, gone are the days where waiting up to eight weeks for a loan decision was viable. Its simplified business loans of £1,000 - £500,000 come with no fees attached, and applying online takes no more than five minutes. The ready availability of iwoca loans gives business owners a level of certainty, so that they can make instant decisions to help their business grow.
iwoca has made a number of partnerships with other players in the business finance space, including an impressive industry-first invoice checkout integration with QuickBooks. Funding raised by the company, which is now operating at net profitability, will enable it to meet a recent surge in demand for corporate loans and offer more to larger SMB businesses. And the company has made several billion in funding available to over 100,000 businesses since launching, positioning itself as a leading European fintech.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Employee endorsements
Opportunities to learn
"Great opportunities available to learn from both individuals through shadowing, and teams through presentations and even secondment opportunities -..."
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Aug 2019
$13.6m
GRANT
Feb 2019
$27.2m
SERIES D
Total funding: $98.4m
Company benefits
- Work where you work best: Twice a year we rent houses in places like Sicily and the French Alps where each team can work together for a week poolside. We champion flexible working in all our teams
- Invest in iwoca: We want people to be invested in iwoca's success so after six months you'll be awarded share options
- Keep yourself healthy: We offer comprehensive health insurance and cash plans. You'll also get gym discounts and we host yoga classes in the office every week
- Start (and end) your day right: Each floor of iwoca HQ has a fully stocked fridge for breakfast and every Friday we unwind with beers and wine
- Life-work balance: We know your life outside of work comes first. We offer enhanced maternity and paternity leave for new parents plus a nursery benefit. We also have unlimited unpaid leave
- Learning and development: Whether you want to learn to code, experiment with motion design, or beat cognitive biases, you'll have time and budget to invest in your professional development
Company values
- Motivated: Going to work shouldn't feel like a slog, so we want everyone in the team to personally care about what they're working on. We stay motivated by celebrating our wins, learning from our mistakes, and always looking for new gaps to step into
- Smart: At iwoca being smart isn't about what you know, it's about how you think. Smart thinking means looking at each problem by asking ‘why’ first, then figuring out ‘how’
- Humble: We know all ideas are flawed, all code has bugs, and everyone makes mistakes - it’s how we learn. For us, being humble means you question yourself first, rather than your team
- Growth Mindset: We think there's always a better way to solve a problem. So we never let ourselves get comfortable with being good enough
Company HQ
Fitzrovia, London, UK
Articles
Leadership
Christoph Rieche
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously spent 7 years at Goldman Sachs as a Vice President before co-founding iwoca in 2011.
Joost Versteeg
(CMO)Joost initially joined iwoca in 2017 as an Intern. Since then, they have held a number of roles, from Growth Analyst to Head of Commercial Strategy and became CMO in 2024.
People progressing
Serita joined as a Customer Onboarder, before moving into the Broker Team. Most recently they have been promoted to Partnership Manager.
Leo joined in 2018 as a Client Onboarder. Since then, they have worked in a number of roles and now serve as the Product Manager.
Jenny originally joined the Client Onboarding team and now leads the Customer Success department for the German business.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at iwoca
- We work hard to make iwoca a place where everyone feels welcome, where you can confidently be yourself. We understand that diversity isn't an optional add-on, it's the core ingredient of what makes us great.
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