Senior Manager Discovery & Solution Readiness

M&G Plc; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services firm is seeking a Senior Manager for Discovery & Solution Readiness. In this pivotal role, you will lead a team focused on operational change and readiness, ensuring alignment with customer needs and regulatory standards. The firm emphasizes continuous improvement and requires a strong leader with experience in operational analysis within a regulated environment. Flexible working arrangements are available, and the role supports significant transformation initiatives focusing on customer experience and emerging technologies.

Benefits

Valuable pension scheme

38 days annual leave

Comprehensive health cover

Paid parental leave

Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading operational analysis in a regulated environment.
• Strong people leadership skills with a record of developing teams.
• Deep understanding of operational processes.
• Experience managing outsourced service providers.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of analysts.
• Conduct operational analysis and solution design.
• Oversee business readiness for change initiatives.
• Provide strategic oversight of continuous improvement teams.
• Engage with stakeholders and ensure compliance.

Skills

Operational analysis

Leadership skills

Customer service delivery

Stakeholder engagement

Strategic thinking

Tools

Agile methodologies

Job description

Our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. With a heritage dating back more than 175 years, we have a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions.

Our two distinct operating segments, Asset Management and Life, work together to provide access to balanced, long-term investment and savings solutions.

Through telling it like it is, owning it now, and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.

We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and also offer workplace accommodations to ensure you have what you need to effectively deliver in your role.

The Role: Senior Manager Discovery & Solution Readiness

M&G Life in its current form was created in October 2024 with the merger of what was formerly the closed book operation and the M&G Wealth Business (open book). M&G Life now covers over 5 million customers with more than £300 Bn invested across all of its products and wrappers and has an ambitious growth plan for 2025 and beyond. M&G Life operations work with a number of partners including Equiniti, Diligenta, Waystone, Paragon, Willis Towers Watson, as well as M&G Global Services supporting our in-house operation. M&G Life also has international presence with teams in Ireland and Poland, using a mix of insourcing and outsourcing service operations to sell to domestic and international markets.

In this role, you will lead a team of operational change professionals, acting as a senior operational representative in shaping and delivering change across the organisation. You will be accountable for business discovery, gap analysis, operational readiness and defining solution requirements in collaboration with operational teams, ensuring that all change initiatives are aligned with customer needs, regulatory expectations, and operational excellence.

You will also provide strategic oversight of outsourced continuous improvement and business readiness functions, ensuring they deliver value, mitigate risk, and support seamless implementation of change. This role is critical in ensuring that operational readiness is embedded into the change lifecycle and that the business is fully prepared to adopt and sustain change.

This is an exciting and significant role where we will be delivering significant transformation for our customers, advisers and operational colleagues as we strive to improve our customer experience and adopt emerging technologies including AI. You will need to understand our processes and strategic intent to a significant level to ensure output is of the highest standard.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership & People Management – Lead, coach and develop a team of analysts and readiness professionals. Foster a high-performance culture that supports inclusion, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Operational Analysis & Solution Design – Lead discovery and gap analysis activities to identify operational impacts and opportunities. Define and document solution requirements in partnership with operational teams and change delivery functions. Represent the voice of operations in cross-functional design forums and governance.
• Operational Readiness & Change Delivery – Oversee business readiness planning and execution for change initiatives, including regulatory, strategic, and incident-driven change. Ensure outsourced readiness partners deliver to agreed standards and timelines. Lead operational elements of UAT and post-implementation reviews.
• Continuous Improvement Oversight – Provide governance and strategic direction to outsourced continuous improvement teams. Ensure improvement initiatives are aligned to business priorities and deliver measurable outcomes.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Governance – Act as a senior liaison between operations, transformation, technology, and third-party providers. Provide senior leadership with regular updates on readiness status, risks, and mitigation plans.
• Risk & Compliance – Ensure all change and readiness activities comply with internal policies and external regulations. Identify and mitigate operational risks associated with change delivery.

Key Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in leading operational analysis and readiness in a regulated financial services environment.
• Strong people leadership skills with a track record of developing high-performing teams.
• Deep understanding of operational processes and customer service delivery.
• Experience managing outsourced service providers and holding them to account.
• Skilled in strategic thinking, problem-solving, and influencing at senior levels.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery methodologies and tools.
• Strong stakeholder engagement across all levels, including external partners.
• Effective leadership and team development capabilities.
• Excellent organisation and project management skills.
• Experience in designing and implementing process improvement strategies.
• Ability to work across in-house and outsourced delivery models.

Work Level : Manager/Expert

Recruiter: Phoebe Ewers

Closing Date : 12th January 2026

Location: The preferred location for this role is our Stirling office on a hybrid basis. We can also consider home working.

What we offer:

At M&G, we’re committed to helping you thrive and supporting your wellbeing, both at work and beyond. Our benefits are designed to help you balance your professional and personal life, while planning confidently for your future. Our UK benefits include:

• As a savings and Investments firm we are proud to offer a valuable pension scheme of 18%, with 13% made up of Employer Contributions and 5% Employee Contributions. We also offer Share Save and our Share Incentive Plan, together with access to financial wellbeing and support services – to help give you real confidence to put your money to work.
• Enjoy 38 days annual leave including bank holidays, with the opportunity to purchase up to 5 extra days and additional flexibility through our Time Off When You Need It policy – to balance your work and personal commitments.
• Our market leading Inspiring Families policy includes comprehensive support and paid parental leave covering maternity, adoption, surrogacy, and paternity leave – as supporting families is a core aspect of our inclusive culture.
• Health & Protection cover including Private Healthcare, Critical Illness cover and Life Assurance for you, with family options – for peace of mind.

To explore more about life at M&G and our full benefits offering, visit Life at M&G.

We have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture at M&G, underpinned by our policies and our employee‑led networks who provide networking opportunities, advice and support for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nationality, disability or long‑term condition, we are looking to attract, promote and retain exceptional people. We also welcome those who take part in military service and those returning from career breaks.

M&G is also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader, and we welcome applications from candidates with long‑term health conditions, disabilities, or neuro‑divergent conditions.

If you need assistance or an alternative means of applying for a role due to a disability or additional need, please let us know by contacting us at [e-mail]