Overview
Hello, we’re Starling. We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had the power to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way. We’re a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We’re a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,000 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.
The Senior Internal Communications Partner Operations will be a strategic partner to the Operations leadership team, responsible for developing and delivering a best-in-class internal communications strategy.
This role is crucial for enabling large-scale transformation and change management initiatives in our Operations division (approx. 2k people) by ensuring all communications are clear, timely, and aligned with the strategic priorities and wider company goals.
The aim is to inform, engage, and empower colleagues, building a strong narrative around Operations’ critical role in the business and guiding them through periods of significant change.
You’ll be working directly with our Chief Operating Officer and their immediate leadership team.
Key Responsibilities include:
Transformation & Change Management:
- Serve as a change communications expert: Design and implement communications plans and assets that effectively manage the people-side of change. This includes anticipating colleague reactions, addressing resistance, and reinforcing new behaviours through communications.
- Translate complex changes into simple, compelling messages: Ensure that the rationale, vision, and benefits of transformation initiatives are clearly understood by all Operations colleagues, helping them navigate and embrace the change.
Stakeholder Management & Collaboration:
- Partner with Operations leadership: Build strong, trusted relationships with senior leaders in Operations to co-create communications plans, surface compelling stories, and ensure a unified voice. Effectively manage diverse stakeholder needs and expectations to ensure alignment and buy-in on communications strategies.
- Collaborate across the organisation: Work closely with Internal Communications, People, and other departments to ensure Operations’ communications are aligned with corporate messaging and to share best practices and resources.
Content & Channel Management:
- Deliver impactful, concise, and relevant messaging: Craft and distribute communications across various channels (e.g., email, intranet, town halls, video) that build colleague understanding of key priorities and leadership messages.
- Optimise and develop Operations channels: Continuously improve existing communication channels and explore new ones to enhance engagement and reach, ensuring they align with audience needs and broader company platforms.
Strategy & Planning:
- Develop and execute the Operations communications strategy: Create a clear communications plan with a defined calendar and cadence of messages that support the Operations journey, specifically focusing on the transition through major initiatives like “Fit for the Future” and into business-as-usual (BAU).
Measurement & Improvement:
- Measure communications impact: Implement a data-driven approach to track and analyse the effectiveness of all communications, using metrics like open rates, attendance, and survey results (e.g., Pulse/Peakon).
Requirements
- Significant experience in leading internal communications for a large multi-skilled function or team – including specific experience designing and implementing communications strategies for large-scale functions/businesses going through transformation.
- A proven track record in understanding, simplifying, and communicating complex topics.
- Demonstrable success in delivering effective communications that result in tangible change, adoption, or understanding of projects.
- Excellent stakeholder management and relationship building skills, with a proven ability to work collaboratively and exert influence with senior leaders, particularly within our Operations division.
- Demonstrable project management skills to help subject matter experts deliver their internal communications effectively.
- Excellent written and verbal communications skills, with superior ability to draft, copy, edit, and proofread content, demonstrating initiative in translating complex information into accessible language.
- This role has no direct reports and will need to both strategise but equally create the content and own the messaging.
- Not afraid to ask questions and contribute ideas
- Experience of using a CMS
- Adobe Creative Suite knowledge
- Knowledge of sprint planning
- Extensive experience in managing change communications and internal communication.
Benefits
- 25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you)
- An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
- Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
- 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
- Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
- Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection
- Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
- Generous family-friendly policies
- Incentivised refer a friend scheme
- Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
- Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing
About Us
You may be put off applying for a role because you don’t tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’re always open to discussion. So, if you’re excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you’re 100% there yet, get in touch anyway.
We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.
Starling is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
By submitting your application, you agree that Starling may collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we may process, where we may process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
