OakNorth
DIRECTOR OF GROWTH & DISTRIBUTION – PERSONAL SAVINGS
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Director, Growth & Distribution
At OakNorth, we’re on a mission to empower the UK’s most ambitious businesses. Since 2015, we’ve lent over $21bn across the UK and US, helped create more than 58,000 new homes and 36,000 jobs, and supported hundreds of thousands of personal savers — all while operating in one of the most highly regulated environments in financial services.
Our products sit at the intersection of innovation, customer outcomes, and regulatory scrutiny. Getting this balance right is non-negotiable.
About the Role
We are seeking a Director, Growth & Distribution to own and scale customer acquisition and deposit distribution for OakNorth’s Personal Savings business.
This is a senior commercial leadership role with end-to-end accountability for:
- Growing direct customer acquisition beyond rate-tables
- Building and scaling introducer, affiliate, and strategic brand partnerships
- Expanding OakNorth’s third-party distribution footprint as a deposit-taking partner
- Leading and developing growth marketing and partnerships teams
- Ensuring growth is capital-efficient, compliant, and aligned with treasury needs
You will report directly to the Chief Product Officer and operate as a peer to Product and Engineering Directors, Operations Directors, and as a close partner to Finance and Treasury.
Key Responsibilities
Direct Growth Strategy & Execution
- Own the direct customer growth strategy for Personal Savings, with clearly defined targets for volume, cost of acquisition, and customer quality.
- Diversify our acquisition mix by:
- Identifying and launching new acquisition channels (e.g., paid search, affiliates, introducers, brand partnerships).
- Building scalable referral and introducer models delivering customers OakNorth can market to directly.
- Collaborate closely with Product and Engineering to:
- Optimise conversion across acquisition journeys.
- Improve onboarding, funding rates, and early-life retention.
- Establish performance management across channels, grounded in data—not vanity metrics.
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Distribution & Partnerships
- Identify, prioritise, and develop new distribution channels and partnerships that significantly increase both customer acquisition and deposit volumes.
- Lead commercial negotiations to structure partnerships that balance:
- Volume and stability of deposits
- Margin and pricing discipline
- Operational and regulatory complexity
- Originate, negotiate, and scale partnerships across introducers, platforms, and brand relationships.
- Own ongoing partner performance management, including growth, economics, risk, and relationship health.
- Continuously review partnerships to ensure they remain profitable and aligned with OakNorth’s strategic goals.
Leadership & Team Management
- Lead and grow our growth/direct marketing specialists and partnerships team.
- Define clear objectives, accountability mechanisms, and development plans for the team.
- Foster a culture that is commercial, data-driven, and outcome-focused—not channel-centric.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Partner with:
- Product & Engineering to ensure growth and distribution needs inform product roadmaps.
- Finance & Treasury to align strategies with funding requirements and balance sheet constraints.
- Operations, Risk, and Compliance to ensure Personal Savings is designed, operated, and regulated robustly.
- Act as a senior leader within the Personal Savings unit, contributing to overall strategy, prioritisation, and decision-making.
What Success Looks Like
- A significantly diversified acquisition mix, reducing dependency on any single channel.
- Scalable introducer and affiliate partnerships delivering high-quality, directly marketable customers.
- An expanded distribution portfolio, driving greater volume and partnership impact.
- Clear visibility and balance over acquisition economics and financial health.
- Strong, aligned collaborations with Product, Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Treasury.
- A high-performing, commercially experienced growth and partnerships team.
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Requirements
You should bring:
- Senior leadership experience in growth, distribution, or commercial roles within:
- Retail banking, fintech, savings/investment platforms, or similar regulated environments.
- A proven track record of:
- Building new acquisition channels or partnerships from zero to scale (not merely optimising existing channels).
- Scaling customer acquisition beyond dependence on a single dominant channel.
- Managing introducer, affiliate, or platform partnerships effectively.
- Strong commercial judgement, including acumen in customer acquisition economics (e.g., CAC, lifetime value, pricing trade-offs, and volume optimisation).
- Experience collaborating closely with product and engineering teams in fast-paced, iterative environments.
- Experience navigating regulated environments, with the ability to recognise and adhere to non-negotiable compliance constraints.
- The capability to operate effectively as both a strategic leader and hands-on practitioner.
The impact of this role is critical: Deposit growth is fundamental for OakNorth’s ability to fund lending, manage cost efficiency, and build a sustainable consumer franchise.
If you are excited by this mandate—and comfortable making hard trade-offs to achieve it—this role is tailored for you.
You are not merely overseeing a channel—you are building the engine.
Benefits and Perks
- Equity.
- 25 days holiday.
- Personalised benefits – opt-in to choices that matter most to you.
- Subsidised Private Medical Insurance with Bupa.
- Enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
- Wellbeing and social events.
- Volunteering time off to support causes that resonate with you.
- Salary sacrifice schemes (Cycle to work, nursery, gym, electric car scheme).
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