--- title: 'Director of Operational Planning & Value Realisation at Zilch' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-operational-planning-value-realisation-zilch-zilch-evr2b1kpj525' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-06' --- # Director of Operational Planning & Value Realisation at Zilch - **Company:** Zilch - **Location:** Zilch, United Kingdom - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-08-19 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/zilch/bb56f3c3-0759-406d-9b72-2fe36b0296ad ## Job description Who we are: We're one of Europe's fastest-growing fintech companies – on a mission to create the world's most empowering way to pay. We launched the product in 2020 and achieved double unicorn status, valued at $2 billion, and since then have taken on more than 6 million customers. Our mission is to become the best way to pay for anything, anywhere and say goodbye to credit costs for everyone. This is huge. Want to join us? About the role. The Director of Operational Planning & Value Realisation is responsible for the commercial stewardship of Service Operations. The role provides executive ownership for the planning, analytical and commercial disciplines that ensure operational investment, AI adoption, workforce strategy and transformation activity translate into measurable improvements in customer outcomes, operational efficiency and financial performance. Working alongside Operational Excellence, the Director ensures Service Operations not only creates value through continuous improvement, but consistently realises that value through disciplined planning, commercial governance and operational optimisation. Primary Accountabilities The Director is accountable for ensuring Service Operations continues to improve its economic contribution to the wider business. This includes executive ownership for: - Operational planning - Workforce strategy - Supplier strategy - Business Analysis - Commercial modelling - Operational investment appraisal - Benefits realisation - Cost-to-serve optimisation - Productivity improvement - Efficient growth - Commercial governance of operational transformation The role ensures Service Operations remains commercially efficient as customer volumes, AI capability and product complexity continue to grow. Day to day responsibilities. Commercial Stewardship - Provide executive ownership for the commercial performance of Service Operations. - Ensure operational investment decisions maximise customer outcomes alongside financial performance. - Develop robust commercial frameworks supporting operational decision making. - Partner with Finance to improve visibility of operational economics. - Ensure Service Operations contributes positively to broader business performance. Operational Planning Lead long-term operational planning. Develop strategies covering: - Workforce capacity - AI adoption - Outsourcing - International expansion - Operational resilience - Resource allocation Ensure Service Operations remains scalable as the business grows. Business Analysis & Value Realisation Lead the Business Analysis function. Develop robust business cases supporting operational investment. Establish consistent approaches to: - opportunity sizing - commercial modelling - investment appraisal - benefits realisation Ensure every significant operational initiative has clearly defined success measures and measurable financial outcomes. Track realised benefits and challenge initiatives that fail to deliver expected value. Workforce Strategy Lead Workforce Management. Develop long-term workforce strategies that balance: - customer demand - AI capability - automation - internal capability - outsourced delivery - operational resilience Ensure workforce planning evolves beyond forecasting into strategic operational capacity planning. Supplier Strategy Lead Supplier Management. Develop long-term sourcing strategies that balance: - customer outcomes - operational resilience - commercial performance - scalability Ensure supplier strategy evolves alongside increasing automation and international growth. Lead executive supplier governance. Executive Decision Support Provide analytical support for executive operational decision making. Develop executive dashboards covering: - cost-to-serve - productivity - operational investment - benefits realisation - workforce strategy - supplier performance Support prioritisation of operational investment. Provide evidence-based recommendations to the Operations Leadership Team. Leadership Responsibilities Lead the teams responsible for: - Workforce Management - Business Analysis - Supplier Management Develop a culture of commercial thinking. Embed disciplined planning and evidence-based decision making. Build organisational capability in commercial modelling, investment appraisal and benefits realisation. Coach leaders to understand the economic impact of operational decisions. Success Measures The Director will be accountable for improvements in: Commercial - Cost-to-serve - Productivity - Return on operational investment - Benefits realisation - Financial contribution of Service Operations - Operational efficiency Planning - Forecast accuracy - Capacity utilisation - Workforce planning maturity - Supplier performance - Operational scalability Strategic - Financial value realised from transformation - Quality of investment decisions - Readiness for international expansion - Readiness for AI-enabled operating models - Commercial sustainability of Service Operations What does success look like The successful candidate is likely to have experience leading commercial, planning or strategy functions within an operational environment. Likely backgrounds include: - Director of Business Planning - Director of Commercial Operations - Director of Operational Planning - Director of Value Realisation - Head of Operational Finance - COO of a business unit - Operations Strategy leader within consulting The individual will bring experience in: - commercial leadership - financial modelling - operational planning - workforce strategy - supplier management - business case development - investment appraisal - benefits realisation - executive stakeholder management Experience supporting AI-enabled operational transformation and large-scale operational change would be advantageous. Leadership Profile The successful candidate will be: - Commercially astute with strong financial acumen. - Highly analytical and numerate. - Comfortable operating at executive level. - Curious, pragmatic and outcome focused. - Able to balance customer outcomes with commercial priorities. - Comfortable making complex investment recommendations. - Confident influencing without relying on hierarchy. - A strong systems thinker capable of connecting operational decisions to wider business performance. What Success Looks Like Within 12 months the Director will have: - Established a single operational planning framework across workforce, supplier strategy and transformation. - Introduced a consistent benefits realisation framework across Service Operations. - Embedded commercial governance across all significant operational investment decisions. - Improved cost-to-serve whilst maintaining or improving customer outcomes. - Developed a long-term workforce strategy supporting AI adoption and international growth. - Created executive visibility of the economics of Service Operations. - Demonstrated measurable financial value from operational transformation. - Positioned Service Operations as a commercially disciplined function that consistently converts operational improvement into measurable business value. Benefits. Compensation & Savings: - Pension scheme. - Death in Service scheme. - Income Protection. - Permanent employees enjoy access to our Share Options Scheme. - 5% back on in-app purchases. - £200 for WFH Setup. Health & Wellbeing: - Private Medical Insurance including; - GP consultations (video, telephone or face-to-face). - Prescribed medication. - In-patient, day-patient and out-patient care. - Mental health support. - Optical, dental & audiological cover. - Physiotherapy. - Advanced cancer cover. - Menopause support. - Employee Assistance Programme including: - Unlimited mental health sessions. - 24/7 remote GP & physiotherapy. - 24/7 helpline for emotional & practical support. - Savings & discounts on everyday shopping. - 1:1 personalised well-being consultations. - Gym membership discounts. Family Friendly Policies: - Enhanced maternity pay. - Enhanced paternity pay. - Enhanced adoption pay. - Enhanced shared parental leave. Learning & Development: - Professional Qualifications. - Professional Memberships. - Learning Suite for e-courses. - Internal Training Programmes. - FCA & Regulatory training. Workplace Perks: - Hybrid working: office-based Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; remote working Tuesday and Friday - Casual dress code. - Workplace socials. - Healthy snacks. ## About Zilch ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Zilch is a London-based fintech that offers a direct-to-consumer, ad-enabled payments and credit platform, letting users pay now or over time with no interest while earning rewards. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series C; last extended in 2022 to £122m total) - **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom (with an innovation and technology hub in Krakow, Poland) - **Founded**: 2018 - **Founders**: Philip Belamant (CEO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Financial technology (Fintech) – payments, consumer credit, and advertising. - **Target customers**: B2C – consumers across the credit spectrum (subprime to prime). Also B2B – merchants who pay for high-intent customer access through the Zilch app. - **Mission statement**: “To eliminate the high cost of consumer credit. For good.” ## Products & Services - **[Zilch Payments Platform]**: A virtual payments card (and soon a physical Visa card) enabling online and in-store purchases. - **Pay Now**: Pay upfront and earn up to 5% cashback in Zilch Rewards. - **Pay over 6 weeks**: Interest-free installment option. - **Pay over 3 months**: For larger purchases; no interest, no late fees. - **[Zilch Ad Network]**: An ad-enabled platform where merchants pay performance-based commissions for access to Zilch’s high-intent customer base. Revenue is shared with customers to subsidise credit costs. - **[Snooze]**: A feature allowing customers to delay payments by up to 8 days for flexibility. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed (Zilch is a private unicorn, named UK’s fastest-growing tech unicorn by the Financial Times in 2025). - **Key Metric**: **Total funding** – £122m (Series C extended, closed in 2022 from a £42m extension on the initial £83m Series B round). Also secured a £150m securitised debt facility led by Deutsche Bank in 2025. - **Recent Financials (FY 2025)**: - Revenue: **£110.3m** (93% increase YoY) - Gross Merchandise Value (GMV): **£1.9bn** (73% increase YoY) - Net losses reduced by 79% year-over-year; achieved first quarter of operating profit in July 2024. - 5-year CAGR: 378% on revenue, 285% on GMV. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: - Debt facility from **Goldman Sachs Asset Management** and **Deutsche Bank**. - Multi-year strategic partnership with **Visa** (expanding acceptance to over 150 million merchants). - All major UK credit referencing agencies. - **Growth Signals**: - Nearly **5 million registered customers**. - Monthly GMV exceeded £200m for the first time in 2024. - Pay over 3 months product, launched in 2024, now represents 14% of total volume. - Spend per active user up 27% compared to FY 2024. - Ranked UK’s fastest-growing tech unicorn by the Financial Times, Deloitte, and The Sunday Times in 2025. ## Competitive Advantages - **Ad-enabled business model**: Zilch subsidises the cost of credit through merchant commissions, creating a two-sided network that rewards both customers and merchants. - **No interest, no late fees, no penalties**: A genuinely consumer-friendly credit product that aligns the company’s success with customer wellbeing (they do not profit from customer debt). - **Direct-to-consumer model**: Zilch owns the customer relationship end-to-end (not a white-label product), allowing them to generate first-party data and optimise for conversion rates that far exceed traditional digital ads. - **Strong unit economics**: Revenue take rate of 6.08% on GMV, and gross profit margin of 49%. Massive growth with improving profitability. ## Strategic Focus - **Expanding acceptance and usage**: Launching a physical Visa card in the UK in September 2025 to increase wallet share and everyday spend. - **Growing product breadth**: The new Pay over 3 months product is seeing strong repeat behaviour, and Snooze is being rolled out across all credit purchases. - **Geographic expansion**: Growing across Europe, with a tech hub in Poland for innovation. - **Capital efficiency**: Focused on profitability and reducing net losses, leveraging a £150m securitisation facility to scale GMV towards £8bn annually. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Values-driven with a focus on “doing it for our customers,” “doing it the right way,” and “doing it brilliantly.” Emphasis on trust and autonomy. - **Hybrid working**: Zilch operates a hybrid model, reducing daily commuting. - **Benefits**: Private medical insurance, enhanced parental leave, free snacks and drinks, 5% back on purchases via Zilch Rewards, training budget, learning platform, and online therapy/mental health support. - **Growth & development**: Regular reviews, hackathons, a training budget, and an internal learning platform. Zilch invests in employee career progression. - **Team size**: 289 employees (including contractors) as of March 2025. Flat, impact-focused structure. - **Inclusive environment**: Zero-tolerance for discrimination; equal opportunities policy for all applicants and employees, including disabled persons. ## Sources 1. [Zilch – Careers Page](https://www.zilch.com/uk/careers/) 2. [Zilch – About Us](https://www.zilch.com/uk/about-us/) 3. [Zilch – Homepage](https://www.zilch.com/uk/) 4. [Zilch – Open Roles on Ashby](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/zilch) 5. [Zilch Holdings Limited FY 2025 Annual Report](https://www.zilch.com/pdf/financial-statements/zilch-technology-limited-annual-report-and-financial-statements-FY-2025.pdf) ## Other roles at Zilch - [UX Copywriter](https://feeny.ai/job/ux-copywriter-zilch-zilch-cd46g7b79bhn) — Zilch, United Kingdom - [Midweight Creative Artworker](https://feeny.ai/job/midweight-creative-artworker-zilch-zilch-9tdgxb6xqyje) — Zilch, United Kingdom - [Application Support Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/application-support-analyst-zilch-zilch-j83jpjk14qx9) — Zilch, United Kingdom - [Finance Director](https://feeny.ai/job/finance-director-zilch-zilch-8f5t90tev844) — Zilch, United Kingdom - [Product Analytics Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/product-analytics-manager-zilch-zilch-46aht9jtrzn6) — Zilch, United Kingdom - [Application Support Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/application-support-analyst-zilch-lithuania-5nxkrqnyreka) — Lithuania - [Performance Marketing Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/performance-marketing-lead-zilch-zilch-nsf0ha9smg3s) — Zilch, United Kingdom - [Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-director-of-strategic-partnerships-zilch-zilch-d5p9kry7v34z) — Zilch, United Kingdom - [Senior Analytics Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-analytics-engineer-zilch-zilch-c7tgff0wqmae) — Zilch, United Kingdom