End Date
Tuesday 29 September 2026Salary Range
£0 - £0We support flexible working – click here for more information on flexible working options
Flexible Working Options
Hybrid WorkingJob Description Summary
We're passionate about looking after our customers. Are you?Job Description
JOB TITLE: SME Area Director (Midlands & East)
SALARY: Competitive- will be discussed at interview stage
LOCATION(S): Birmingham (Midlands & East)
HOURS: Full-time
WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least 1 day per week, or 20% of our time, at one of our office sites, at least 1 day per week, or 20% of your time with clients and the remaining 60% of your week can be spent working from home. As this is a senior leadership role, we'd expect you to manage your diary to suit business needs.
About this Opportunity:
You'll be expected to build powerful networks to support the team to bring the whole bank to customers and will mentor, develop and support your team to be the most capable and effective they can be for our clients. You'll have a key external focus too, being a positive high-profile ambassador for the Group in the local market.
Our Relationship Management division has a rich heritage of supporting businesses and the economic prosperity of the nation, passionate about businesses and those with strong links across the city. We provide customers with the support they need to help them grow, handle risk, and improve efficiency, and we continue to invest in our relationship teams and deepen our product expertise to deliver a first-class service.
What you’ll be doing:
Contribute, as a board member of Midlands & East of England SME Leadership Team, to the strategic leadership and planning of the Sector in partnership with other senior colleagues under the overall direction of the Regional Director.
Through inspiring leadership and promotion of Equal Opportunities, motivate, develop, mentor and appraise team members, so that individual and collective performance delivers stretching business goals.
Develop the capability of the Relationship team and utilise specialist knowledge to support them in all aspects of their work, specifically developing their own local business plans and run their client portfolio to ensure full adherence with all policy and compliance requirements.
Provide oversight to developing, structuring, and assessing client proposals to meet customer requirements and find opportunities to further develop income, guiding, recommending, and supporting implementation of the appropriate solutions.
Regularly evaluate the team’s performance against business objectives, including the supervision of regulated products (where the role requires), recognising individual / team achievement and taking corrective action where appropriate.
Provide the appropriate support to the relationship management of clients and key business introducers in and across client segments, ensuring effective response to their business needs through all the available offers. Regularly interacting with complex clients at MDs, FDs and Boards of Director level.
Promote the bank’s image as a key figurehead in the local community and the Midlands & East of England marketplace with a range of partners including influential, high value clients and city professionals to support development of new business opportunities.
Why join us?
We’re on an exciting journey to transform our Group and the way we’re shaping finance for good. We’re focusing on the future, investing in our technologies, workplaces, and colleagues to make our Group a great place for everyone.
What we’re looking for?
Proven SME or commercial banking leader, with accountability for a significant client portfolio and team performance.
Strong track record of managing and growing a mature client book, with responsibility for income generation and balance sheet performance.
Experience leading Relationship Director and Relationship Manager teams, driving consistent performance outcomes.
Demonstrated experience managing senior client relationships, influencing effectively at senior leader level.
Expertise in credit, risk and trading, including oversight of complex client structures and proposals.
Strong understanding of operating within a regulated environment, with a focus on governance and risk management.
We know that great talent comes from many backgrounds. Whilst this job advert may reference specific experience, we recognise that skills are developed in many ways, so if you have relevant, transferable experience, we encourage you to apply.
This is a place for you:
Our ambition is to be the leading UK business for diversity, equity and inclusion supporting our customers, colleagues and communities, and we’re committed to creating an environment in which everyone can thrive, learn and develop.
We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer Initiative.
We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. And, as a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role with a disability, long-term health or neurodivergent condition through the Disability Confident Scheme.
We provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to reduce or remove barriers. Just let us know what you need.
We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes:
A generous pension contribution of up to 15%
An annual performance-related bonus
Share schemes including free shares
Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
30 days’ holiday, with bank holidays on top
A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies
Ready for a career where you’ll learn and thrive? Apply today and find out more.
At Lloyds Banking Group, we're driven by a clear purpose; to help Britain prosper. Across the Group, our colleagues are focused on making a difference to customers, businesses and communities. With us you'll have a key role to play in shaping the financial services of the future, whilst the scale and reach of our Group means you'll have many opportunities to learn, grow and develop.
We keep your data safe. So, we'll only ever ask you to provide confidential or sensitive information once you have formally been invited along to an interview or accepted a verbal offer to join us which is when we run our background checks. We'll always explain what we need and why, with any request coming from a trusted Lloyds Banking Group person.
We're focused on creating a values-led culture and are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve. Together we’re building a truly inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference.
We're changing financial services, and we want you to join us.
We're the UK's largest financial services group, with our 25 million customers and a history stretching back more than 300 years.
We pride ourselves on creating a great environment for colleagues to work in, one which is inclusive and driven by our values. This is critical to our business success as we know that colleagues who can show up to work as themselves are those that bring their best.
We're an inclusive and open organisation with a scale that creates a vast range of roles and opportunities. We offer a plenty of options for continual personal growth and you'll be part of a culture which embraces diversity of talent, creativity, skills and thinking among our teams.

Workplace Initiatives
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Opportunities for people returning from a career break |
Yes our Returner opportunities offer a career path to candidates with a 18 month year break in their career’ with ‘Yes, our Returner opportunities are aimed at candidates who have had a 18 month or more career break |
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Leadership development programmes? |
Yes |
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Mentoring programmes? |
Yes |
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Coaching programmes? |
Yes |
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Employee-led diversity networks? |
Yes |
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Internal women’s networking groups? |
Yes |
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Open to discussing flexible work arrangements at interview stage? |
Yes |
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No. of weeks paid maternity leave at full salary: |
20 weeks based on full pay + 19 weeks at the current statutory maternity pay rate |
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Minimum weeks tenure required to be eligible for paid maternity leave: |
No qualifying service period |
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No. of weeks paid paternity leave at full salary: |
6 weeks |
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Minimum tenure required to be eligible for paid paternity leave: |
No qualifying service period |
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Gender pay gap reporting information (insert year) (UK): 2022 |
|
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Average pay gap: |
30.5% |
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Median pay gap: |
33.6% |
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Average bonus gap: |
62.5% |
|
Median bonus gap: |
69.5% |
|
Signatory of the UK Women in Finance Charter? |
Yes |
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Targets to raise the number of women in leadership? |
Yes |
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Targets to raise the number of BAME individuals in leadership? |
Yes |
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Listed in the Bloomberg Diversity & Inclusion Index? |
Yes |
Flexible Working Policy
We take pride in being a leader in flexibility and offer a wide array of flexible working options for different circumstances. How you work and the options available will depend on the role you're in, but we aim to offer the flexibility needed by everyone.
For many of our office-based roles, we work in hybrid ways, which involves spending at least two days per week or 40% of their time at one of our office sites. Dependent on your role, other flexible options may be available, such as part-time or compressed hours, complete home-working or job share. ‘Find out how flexible working can work for you’.
Flexible Working Policy
We take pride in being a leader in flexibility and offer a wide array of flexible working options for different circumstances. How you work and the options available will depend on the role you're in, but we aim to offer the flexibility needed by everyone.
For many of our office-based roles, we work in hybrid ways, which involves spending at least two days per week or 40% of their time at one of our office sites. Dependent on your role, other flexible options may be available, such as part-time or compressed hours, complete home-working or job share. ‘Find out how flexible working can work for you’.
Returner opportunities
Returning to work after time away can be challenging. That’s why we offer Returner opportunities that are designed to assist people returning to work after a career break of 18 months or more and our roles are permanent from the day one. Whether you’ve been away from work due to parenthood, illness, or even travel, we’re looking forward to hearing from you as we continue to grow!
What can you expect?
Coming back into the world of work after a career break can be really daunting – and we therefore know how important flexibility is. We’re very aware that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t always doable, so will happily have the discussion about different working patterns with you.
These roles have been created with your career break in mind, making sure we are there to support you in your transition back to work. You will be brought in on a permanent contract and given meaningful work from day one. Plus, you’ll be paired with a buddy or mentor from your team to help guide you along the way. You’ll also benefit from being part of the wider Returners Community and have the chance to create a personal development plan that works for you.
Who are we looking for?
While banking or professional services experience is desirable, especially for some roles, we care more about the transferable skills you can bring to our business.
Testimonials
I had a good network of colleagues already working for Lloyds Banking Group, who were all very passionate about their roles - so it felt the right choice for me and gave me the courage to apply for a Business Analyst role through the Returners. It was a seamless recruitment experience and I was offered a role in the work I wanted to do.
Olufunke Oladinni, Business Analyst
I love being a Project Manager, and I can’t recommend the Lloyds Banking Group Returners enough. It’ll springboard your career, giving you the best opportunity to relaunch yourself and maximise your full potential.
Justin Pierce, Project Manager