Relationship Development Director

Barclays

Barclays

Customer Service

Greater Manchester, UK

Posted on Apr 30, 2026

Join us as a Relationship Development Director, where you will build and onboard new clients to create a portfolio of high-value business banking relationships with a net worth exceeding £5 million. Acting as their primary point of contact, you will deliver a world-class client experience and provide the highest quality service to meet their evolving needs and financial ambitions. Working without an existing portfolio, you will take a strategic and driven approach to business development, identifying, acquiring, and onboarding new high-value clients from the ground up. You will work with highly complex businesses, offering expertise in sophisticated lending solutions such as cashflow lending, while building long-lasting, trusted relationships. This will involve attending customer events, actively networking to generate new opportunities, and visiting client premises to develop deep, in-person connections, ultimately establishing a robust portfolio and driving sustainable growth.

This role offers plenty of variety; you have the opportunity to work with the team in our Manchester Office, and the rest of your time will be split between travelling to visit clients and working from home.

To be successful as a Relationship Development Director, you should have experience with

  • Proven experience within Business Development.

  • Experience within a financial background including knowledge of complex Lending.

  • Proven experience building and maintaining relationships across both internal and external teams and clients with a confident, professional approach to client relationship management.

  • Networking - Expertise in developing and expanding a successful professional network to create new opportunities.

  • Experience in event management, including creating and delivering presentations to external partners.

  • Well-developed diary management skills, with the ability to prioritise and coordinate schedules effectively.

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills

This role will be based in Manchester Spinningfields, however, will require you to travel independently to visit client sites and attend events within the Greater Manchester Area.

Purpose of the role

To establish and nurture profitable partnerships with both corporate and individual clients. It's the bridge between the bank's offerings and clients' needs, ensuring mutual benefit and long-term success.

Accountabilities

  • Management of client relationships to identify the clients financial goals, challenges, and risk tolerance to support the analysis of data obtained from various sources, including the investment portfolio and cash flow, to identify trends, insights, areas for improvement and additional services to support client needs.
  • Research and understanding of the client's industry trends, regulatory landscape, and competitive environment to inform strategic recommendations.
  • Design of customised solutions that address the client's specific needs and objectives, incorporating a range of products and services from the bank's portfolio.
  • Communication of the value proposition of proposed solutions, justification of recommendations, and negotiation of terms that are beneficial for both the client and the bank.
  • Provision of guidance to clients to support their financial decisions, offering expert investment advice, risk management and wealth management strategies support, and updates on market trends to ensure a positive and continuous relationship.
  • Assessment of financial, legal, and operational risks associated with client relationships, and implementation of measures to minimise potential losses.
  • Documentation of all client interactions, transactions, and agreements to ensure transparency and auditability, and communicate findings effectively to support product development, service offerings, and the overall bank strategy.
  • Monitoring of client satisfaction, revenue generated, and other relevant metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of relationship management efforts.

Vice President Expectations

  • To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
  • If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
  • If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others..
  • OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
  • Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
  • Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
  • Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
  • Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
  • Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
  • Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
  • Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
  • Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.