---
title: 'Director of Group Operations Strategy & Development at Referrals Only'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-group-operations-strategy-development-referrals-only-united-kingdom-hw62rmp1nywq'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-12'
---

# Director of Group Operations Strategy & Development at Referrals Only

- **Company:** Referrals Only
- **Location:** United Kingdom
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-10-08
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/monzoreferrals/jobs/8264002

## Job description

📍London / Remote | 💰£112,200 - £151,800, L70 on the Operations Framework + Incentive Awards tied to your performance +[Benefits](https://monzo.com/careers/) ✨

⭐️ Our team

Our North Star in Operations is to deliver seamless support that builds trust, deepens loyalty, and powers Monzo’s sustainable, profitable growth.

Sitting at the very heart of Monzo Global Operations, you will work within our Group COO team, partnering closely with the Global Operations Leadership team and key Monzo stakeholders to tackle our biggest strategic priorities in pursuit of our challenging goals. You will bridge the gap between bold ambition and rigorous operational execution - turning complex challenges and priorities into clear, measurable actions to progress across UK Operations, EU Operations and Controls. In this role you will build strong relationships with leadership across Customer Operations, EU Operations, Controls, Finance, Tech disciplines and the wider Monzo team, working collaboratively to help build and deliver on our Group COO strategy and operating model.

🔑 You’ll play a key role by...

Setting the GCOO Strategy

- Shape and own the big picture: You’ll define, align, and maintain a clear strategy for the Group COO team. Making sure it covers everything across UK Ops, EU Ops, and Controls, so everyone knows where we’re heading and why.

Goal Setting & Alignment

- Align our goals: you’ll lead the goal-setting process for the GCOO area. Making sure our top-level objectives fit seamlessly with the goals of each sub-function, keeping all our teams rowing in the same direction.

Financial Control & Insight

- Keep us on budget with clear insights: You’ll partner closely with Finance to build and embed a simple, dependable monthly reporting process. Bringing real rigour and clear forecasting to the numbers so we always understand our financial health.

Global Operating Model

- Design for a global Monzo: you’ll lead the shift as GCOO transitions into a fully functioning global operating model - building everything with a "global by design" mindset from day one. You’ll help architect how we scale by balancing global efficiency with local market operational requirements, always ensuring we think “global first”.

Strategic Project Delivery

- Deliver key projects: You’ll take full accountability for a range of high-impact short and medium-term strategic projects, collaborating with teams across all of Monzo to get them over the line.

Tracking & Governance

- Keep everyone informed: You’ll track our progress against the GCOO strategy and make sure key updates are clearly communicated - whether that’s for CEO reporting, the PRA 90-Day Plan, or our own GCOO Leadership Team.

🤩 We’d love to hear from you if…

- You have extensive experience operating at a senior strategic level (ideally within fintech, or complex operational environments). You have a track record of shaping business strategy through structured problem-solving, data, and deep business insight.
- You are a proven executor, able to turn strategy into executable projects, ensuring those projects deliver to time and quality.  You switch between the strategic and practical with ease, analysing issues strategically but also being able to ‘do the detail’ to ensure successful execution
- You excel in highly matrixed environments where ownership is shared. You know how to build alignment, resolve trade-offs, and hold cross-functional teams accountable without needing direct reporting lines.
- You speak the language of Operations, Finance, Technology and Controls. You can comfortably translate complex operational or technical signals into clear executive narratives for both technical and non-technical audiences.
- You thrive in unstructured environments where no playbook exists. You enjoy establishing governance, clear communication strategies and moving fluidly between strategic vision and hands-on operational delivery.
- You bring financial discipline and analytical capability, with hands-on experience partnering with Finance to connect operational levers directly to commercial performance.
- You have experience and strong aptitude for navigating complex global versus local operational structures and managing trade-offs across multiple markets
- You have superb communication skills with a proven ability to distill complex ideas and metrics into actionable insights through effective story-telling, high-impact board decks, and clear leadership updates.

🌈 The application journey has 3* key steps

- Application questions - we have some guidelines on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ace an application and interview at Monzo.[You can read them here.](https://monzo.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-on-using-ai-to-ace-an-interview-at-monzo)
- Recruiter Call - 30 mins
- 1st stage Technical Interview - 1 hour
- *potential additional stage to be decided.

The closing date for applications is 9am Monday 19th October

If you're successful in applying for this role, the standard release period is 8 weeks. This gives your current team time to plan for your move and ensures a smooth handover, while setting you up for success in your new role.

Sometimes teams may be able to release people sooner, and if that’s the case, Hiring will work with your current manager to agree to a shorter release period. Whatever the timeline, we’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop and supported throughout.

If you have any queries, please reach out to @Neens (please note I am on annual leave 6th to 19th October)

Good luck 🍀

## About Referrals Only

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Marqeta is the world’s first modern card issuing platform, providing open APIs that enable businesses to create, manage, and scale customized payment card programs.
- **Entity Type**: Public (Ticker: MQ on NASDAQ)
- **Headquarters**: Oakland, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2010
- **Founders**: Jason Gardner (Founder & Executive Chairman)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Financial Technology (Fintech) — Modern Card Issuing & Payment Solutions
- **Target customers**: B2B; serves a wide range of industries including digital banking, on-demand delivery, buy now, pay later, expense management, retail, and workforce payments. Customers include Square, DoorDash, and other high-growth fintech and enterprise companies.
- **Mission or purpose statement**: To simplify payments and enable any company to deliver delightful payment experiences natively, powering more flexible, engaging, and innovative payment products.

## Products & Services
- **Modern Card Issuing Platform (SaaS/API)**: Fully open API platform that allows developers to launch new credit and debit card programs with speed, flexibility, and scale. Supports instant wage access, embedded finance, and custom card products.
- **Compliance & Risk Management (Service)**: Integrated fraud detection, spend control, and compliance tools to ensure high levels of security and uptime.
- **Global Expansion Capabilities (Platform)**: Certified to operate in over 40 countries across the US, Europe, and Asia, enabling businesses to scale globally.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: As a public company, market cap fluctuates. As of mid-2026, Marqeta is a publicly traded company valued in the multi-billion dollar range (exact figure varies with market conditions).
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue — $383 billion+ in total volume processed in 2025; 80x volume growth since 2017; 99.99% platform uptime in 2025.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Key customers include Square (Block), DoorDash, and other leading fintech and enterprise firms. Partners include issuing banks, networks (e.g., Visa, Mastercard), and card fulfillment providers.
- **Growth Signals**: Recognized as a CNBC Disruptor (top 50 in 2021 award); consistent expansion into new geographies (EU, UK, Asia); continued hiring across multiple departments and regions (US, Canada, UK).

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-mover & category leader**: Marqeta defined the modern card issuing category with its open API platform, giving it a decade-plus head start over competitors.
- **Scalability & reliability**: Proven track record of 99.99% uptime and handling massive transaction volumes (80x growth since 2017) — critical for enterprise customers.
- **Deep integration with major networks**: Pre-existing relationships with Visa, Mastercard, and issuing banks shorten time-to-market for customers.
- **Developer-first approach**: Open APIs and developer tools make it easy for engineering teams to build custom payment experiences quickly.

## Strategic Focus
- **Global expansion**: Continuing to expand its certified operations into new countries (currently 40+) to serve multinational customers.
- **Embedded finance & new use cases**: Driving adoption in instant wage access, embedded finance, and enterprise expense management.
- **AI & automation**: Investing in AI-powered fraud detection, risk management, and product automation (e.g., hiring for Principal Security Engineer, Product & AI; Lead Product Manager, Enterprise AI & Automation).
- **Platform stability & security**: Maintaining industry-leading uptime and security compliance as core differentiators.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & values**: Marqeta emphasizes a culture of “Simplify and Innovate,” “Solve for the Customer,” “Do What’s Right,” “Make it Count,” and “Win as a Team.” Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) include BlackCard, HOLA, RepresentAsian, Desi, MQ-Proud, Vets@MQ, Women’s Group, Parents’ Group, and Marqetaglots.
- **Remote/hybrid policy**: Many roles are remote (US, Canada, UK), with some positions based in Oakland, CA or London, UK. The company supports flexible work arrangements.
- **Notable perks & engineering culture**: Fast-paced, purpose-driven environment; strong focus on developer experience and open APIs; opportunities to work on cutting-edge payment infrastructure at massive scale. The company invests heavily in early career talent and internal mobility.
- **Award-winning workplace**: Recognized as a top workplace (e.g., CNBC Disruptor) and offers a collaborative, inclusive environment.

## Sources
1. [Marqeta About Us](https://www.marqeta.com/company/about-us)
2. [Marqeta Careers Page](https://www.marqeta.com/company/careers)
3. [Marqeta Homepage](https://www.marqeta.com/)
4. [Greenhouse Job Board](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/marqeta)
5. [MQ Referrals Job Board](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mqreferrals/jobs/7743043)

## Other roles at Referrals Only

- [Data Science Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/data-science-manager-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-qy9svbyf8q50) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom
- [Product Manager, Subscriptions](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-subscriptions-referrals-only-barcelona-0jkx6zdsjnj7) — Barcelona, Spain
- [Director of Product Design](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-product-design-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-8ca0hy3vyc09) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom
- [Staff Backend Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-backend-engineer-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-6w1n8z0gktm9) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom
- [Senior Backend Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-backend-engineer-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-0weyav3xnjw9) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom
- [Backend Engineer III](https://feeny.ai/job/backend-engineer-iii-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-awnc2afx215n) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom
- [Android Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/android-engineer-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-zgy3wbdg3pyh) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom
- [Lead Analytics Engineer, Borrowing](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-analytics-engineer-borrowing-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-emnq8zdzbsy5) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom
- [Senior Data Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-data-scientist-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-0kc4ker4rkr4) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom
- [Lead Data Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-data-scientist-referrals-only-cardiff-london-or-5f4sv8dv8nvh) — Cardiff London OR, United Kingdom