About the roleWe're hiring a
Data Science Manager, Strategic Finance Analytics to lead one of the most cross-functional and high-leverage analytics functions at Cleo.
You'll manage the Strategic Finance sub-team - data scientists embedded across FP&A, Core Finance, Capital Markets, and Operations - and the senior relationships that keep these functions genuinely data-led.
This is a people management role as much as a technical one - you'll be responsible for performance, development, career growth and hiring while staying close enough to the work to have a real point of view.The day-to-day split is roughly 70% people leadership and 30% hands-on yourself: jumping into the highest-leverage analyses, presenting at exec forums, and shaping the analytical roadmap across all four domains.
You'll partner closely with the Heads and Directors across each department, sitting at the heart of commercial decision-making at Cleo. Reporting into the Director of Commercial Analytics, this role touches some of the most consequential decisions made across the business.
What You'll Be Doing- Lead the Strategic Finance Analytics team - 5 data scientists across FP&A, Core Finance, Capital Markets, and Operations. Own their growth, performance, and hiring.
- Set and ruthlessly prioritise the analytical roadmap across all four domains, directing the team's time to the work that moves the business most.
- Be the senior analytical partner to Heads of department - shaping decisions at exec level, not just delivering numbers to them.
- Stay hands-on where it matters: high-stakes analysis, sensitive work, or decisions that need to move fast.
- Own the quality bar - metric definitions, documentation, peer review, and trust in the numbers across internal and external reporting.
- Raise the craft of the team through feedback, pairing, and playbooks - so output scales beyond what 5 people can deliver directly.
- Partner with Analytics and Data Engineering on the data foundations the team relies on.
- Run team rituals and represent the team in cross-functional forums.
What We're Looking For- 7+ years in data analytics, data science, BI engineering, analytics engineering, or hybrid data/finance roles - including 2+ years line managing data scientists or analysts, with experience handling performance management
- Track record of partnering senior business stakeholders - ideally across Finance, Strategic Finance, Capital Markets, or Operations - and shaping decisions at exec level.
- Familiarity and some working experience with forecasting and predictive models; enough to interpret outputs, pressure-test assumptions, and direct ICs working in this space
- Strong commercial instincts: deep grasp of financial and operational metrics, and quick to pick up the levers in a new domain.
- Comfortable being the most senior voice in the room on data, and pushing back constructively when the analysis doesn't support the ask.
- Expert SQL, hands-on with BI tools (e.g. Looker, Mode, Tableau) and dbt.
- A builder's instinct: bias for automation, ownership, and shipping - and the leadership instinct to scale that across a team through delegation, templates, and systems rather than doing more yourself.
- Comfortable using AI tools (Claude, Cursor) as leverage - with the judgement to know when to trust output and when to verify.
- Interest in fintech and Cleo's mission to make money easier and more human.
Nice To Have- Exposure to capital markets, debt facility reporting, or lender-side analytics.
- Prior experience automating or supporting investor-facing reporting or board materials.
- Experience working in environments with a blend of consumer tech and financial services (e.g. AI, lending, credit, payments).
- Extensive hands-on experience building and/or monitoring forecasting or predictive models in production.
- Python (or similar) for scripting and automation.
- Workflow orchestration tooling (e.g. Airflow).
What do you get for all your hard work ?- A competitive compensation package (base + equity) with 3 annual reviews, aligned to our termly OKR planning cycles.
- Manager (L4) banding: £95,000 - £120,000 Hybrid London / £87,000 - £110,000 UK Remote
- Work at one of the fastest-growing tech startups, backed by top VC firms, Balderton & EQT Ventures
- A clear progression plan. We want you to keep growing. That means trying new things, leading others, challenging the status quo and owning your impact. Always with our complete support.
- Flexibility. We can't fight for the world's financial health if we're not healthy ourselves. We work with everyone to make sure they have the balance they need to do their best work
- Work where you work best. We're a globally distributed team. If you live in London we have a hybrid approach, we'd love you to spend one day a week or more in our beautiful office. If you're outside of London, we'll encourage you to spend a couple of days with us a few times per year. And we'll cover your travel costs, naturally.
- Company-wide performance reviews every 4 months
- Generous pay increases for high-performing team members
- Equity top-ups awarded across all levels in performance reviews
- 25 days annual leave a year + public holidays (+ an additional day for every year you spend at Cleo, up to 30 days)
- 1 month paid sabbatical after 4 years at Cleo
- 6% employer-matched pension in the UK
- Private Medical Insurance via Vitality, dental cover, and life assurance
- Online mental health support via Spill
- Enhanced parental leave
- Workplace Nursery Scheme
- Paid for access to multiple AI platforms (ChatGPT, Codex, Claude)
- Access to the latest AI coding models
- Pick your kit - choose between a Windows or an Apple computer
- Regular socials and activities, online and in-person
- And many more!
