Alison Rankin
North Lanarkshire,NLK
Summary
Product Manager and digital product delivery professional with extensive experience delivering and continuously improving consumer-facing financial products in highly regulated banking environments. Experienced in owning product roadmaps from discovery and ideation through development, launch, optimisation and ongoing service improvement. Currently responsible for the delivery and continuous improvement of a large-scale mobile banking application supporting more than two million customers. Strong track record of partnering with Design, UX, Engineering, Risk, Compliance and Operations to create simple, secure and customer-focused experiences while delivering measurable commercial and customer outcomes. Highly analytical and commercially aware, using customer insight, journey analytics, operational data and market research to identify problems, prioritise investment and measure product success. Experienced in managing complex backlogs, defining product vision and roadmaps, setting success metrics and communicating product narratives to senior stakeholders. A collaborative and hands-on product leader who thrives in fast-paced environments, comfortable navigating ambiguity, challenging assumptions and making evidence-based decisions. Combines strong UX awareness with technical understanding, business judgement and a strong focus on customer outcomes, product quality and measurable impact.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
Work history
Product Manager
Tesco Bank/Barclays
2023.03 - 2026.07
- Lead the delivery and continuous improvement of a large-scale mobile banking application supporting more than two million customers and processing millions of transactions each month. Own product priorities and delivery across the product lifecycle, working closely with Engineering, Design, UX, Risk, Compliance, Operations and business stakeholders.
- Own and manage a complex product roadmap and Jira backlog of more than 150 items, balancing customer needs, strategic priorities, regulatory change, new functionality, technical debt and operational improvements.
- Shape product direction using customer feedback, journey analytics, service performance data, operational insight and market intelligence to identify opportunities and prioritise high-value initiatives.
- Lead product initiatives from discovery and problem definition through design, development, release and post-launch optimisation, ensuring clear ownership throughout the product lifecycle.
- Partner closely with UX and Design teams to understand customer pain points, map journeys and simplify experiences while maintaining security, regulatory and operational requirements.
- Work collaboratively with Engineering to assess technical feasibility, define requirements, establish acceptance criteria and ensure effective delivery of product outcomes.
- Analysed customer journey data that identified a 27% drop-off at a key onboarding stage. Led discovery involving customer insight, user research and competitor analysis to identify root causes and shape the product response.
- Worked with Design and Engineering to simplify customer journeys and refine the experience, contributing to an 18% improvement in completion rates and a 22% reduction in related complaints.
- Define and track product success through customer, operational and delivery metrics, including journey completion, customer complaints, adoption, incidents, release stability and delivery predictability.
- Use structured prioritisation approaches to balance customer value, business impact, risk, technical feasibility and delivery capacity, ensuring investment is focused on the highest-value opportunities.
- Lead Agile delivery through sprint planning, backlog refinement, prioritisation sessions, reviews and cross-functional workshops, maintaining momentum from discovery through release.
- Act as the primary product escalation point for complex decisions, delivery blockers and competing priorities, providing clear recommendations and facilitating timely decision making.
- Communicate product direction, progress, risks and outcomes to senior stakeholders, creating clear narratives supported by customer and product data.
- Worked with senior stakeholders to reprioritise the product roadmap based on evidence and customer impact, accelerating delivery by one release cycle while maintaining appropriate governance and risk controls.
- Strengthened product acceptance criteria and release-readiness processes, reducing late rework by approximately 30% and improving product quality and release predictability.
- Support product adoption and continuous improvement by monitoring post-launch performance, analysing customer behaviour and using insight to inform subsequent iterations.
- Work within a highly regulated financial services environment, balancing customer experience and product growth with security, compliance, operational resilience and regulatory obligations.
Programme Manager
Morgan Stanley
2021.05 - 2023.02
- Led a portfolio of complex technology and cyber security programmes supporting regulatory and organisational change across multiple global locations.
- Led multidisciplinary teams delivering complex technology programmes within a fast-paced, highly regulated financial services environment.
- Developed programme roadmaps and delivery plans aligned to strategic objectives, business priorities and organisational risk appetite.
- Managed budgets exceeding £250,000 and coordinated multiple internal teams and third-party suppliers to deliver agreed outcomes.
- Worked closely with technology, business, risk and compliance stakeholders to identify and resolve risks, issues and dependencies affecting delivery.
- Provided senior stakeholders with clear reporting on delivery progress, risks, dependencies, financial performance and key decisions.
- Strengthened dependency management and stakeholder alignment, improving delivery predictability and reducing programme-level risk exposure.
- Prioritised initiatives according to business value, risk, strategic alignment, capacity and dependencies.
- Developed strong commercial and business judgement through balancing investment, risk, customer impact and delivery constraints.
- Led and supported multidisciplinary teams, creating clear accountability while coaching team members and encouraging collaborative problem solving.
IT Security Consultant
Morgan Stanley
2019.06 - 2021.05
- Delivered secure and controlled technology change in regulated production environments, working with engineering, infrastructure, risk, business and supplier teams.
- Coordinated complex technology change across technical and business stakeholders in a global environment.
- Assessed security, operational and service risks and prioritised remediation using incident trends, vulnerability data, business impact and regulatory exposure.
- Supported major incident response and complex technical issue resolution, maintaining clear communication with stakeholders.
- Coordinated engineering and supplier teams to resolve a recurring infrastructure failure, improving service stability and reducing repeat incidents.
- Contributed to improvements in access management and change governance, reducing unauthorised change and strengthening audit outcomes.
- Developed strong technical understanding and the ability to translate complex technology issues into clear business and customer implications.
Education
Glasgow Caledonian University
/2014 - /2018
Skills
- Product Vision, Strategy & Roadmaps
- Consumer Mobile Product Management
- UX & Customer Journey Optimisation
- Data-Driven Product Decisions
- Product Discovery & User Research
- Backlog & Prioritisation Management
- Agile Product Development
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership
- Engineering & Design Collaboration
- Product Analytics & Success Metrics
- Product Launch & Continuous Improvement
- Senior Stakeholder Communication
- Risk, Compliance & Operational Resilience
SELECTED PRODUCT IMPACT
- 18% Increase in Customer Journey Completion: Used journey analytics to identify a 27% onboarding drop-off, leading discovery and customer research with Design and Engineering teams to simplify the experience and improve completion rates by 18%.
- 22% Reduction in Related Complaints: Improved the onboarding experience and reduced customer friction, contributing to a 22% reduction in complaints associated with the journey.
- 30% Reduction in Late Rework: Strengthened acceptance criteria, product requirements and release-readiness processes, reducing late rework by approximately 30% and improving delivery predictability.
- 2M+ Consumer Users: Currently support the product delivery and continuous improvement of a large-scale mobile banking application serving more than two million customers.
- Roadmap & Portfolio Ownership: Manage a complex backlog of 100+ product initiatives, balancing customer improvements, new functionality, regulatory requirements, technical debt and operational priorities.
PRODUCT & DELIVERY TOOLKIT
- Product & Analytics: Jira | Adobe Analytics | Power BI | Excel | Customer Journey Analytics | Data-Driven Prioritisation
- Design & Collaboration: Figma | Microsoft Teams | SharePoint | Confluence
- Delivery: Agile | SAFe | Kanban | Sprint Planning | Backlog Management | Product Roadmapping | Product Discovery | Continuous Improvement
Timeline
Product Manager
Tesco Bank/Barclays
2023.03 - 2026.07
Programme Manager
Morgan Stanley
2021.05 - 2023.02
IT Security Consultant
Morgan Stanley
2019.06 - 2021.05
Glasgow Caledonian University
/2014 - /2018