Product Accessibility Specialist - job 1 of 2

Starling is the UK’s first and leading digital bank on a mission to fix banking! We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had the power to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way.

We’re a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We’re a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,000 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.

Our technologists are at the very heart of Starling and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment that is all about building things, creating new stuff, and disruptive technology that keeps us on the cutting edge of fintech. We operate a flat structure to empower you to make decisions regardless of what your primary responsibilities may be, innovation and collaboration will be at the core of everything you do. Help is never far away in our open culture, you will find support in your team and from across the business, we are in this together!

The way to thrive and shine within Starling is to be a self-driven individual and be able to take full ownership of everything around you: From building things, designing, discovering, to sharing knowledge with your colleagues and making sure all processes are efficient and productive to deliver the best possible results for our customers. Our purpose is underpinned by five Starling values: Listen, Keep It Simple, Do The Right Thing, Own It, and Aim For Greatness.

Hybrid Working

We have a Hybrid approach to working here at Starling - our preference is that you're located within a commutable distance of one of our offices so that we're able to interact and collaborate in person.

Our Engineering Environment

Starling engineers are excited about helping us deliver new features, regardless of what their primary tech stack may be. Hear from the team in our latest blogs or our case studies with Women in Tech.

As a product accessibility Specialist here at Starling you will play a key role in pushing us to the next level of providing a great customer experience to everyone. We want someone who is passionate and proactive to join our team and help review our mobile and web applications and provide us with feedback and guidance through collaborating with our wider project teams, including designers, product and engineering, to ensure we are getting it right the first time.

Responsibilities: 

• Independently audit our mobile and web applications and feedback to relevant teams  your findings as well as guidance on how best to improve
• Advocate for accessibility by knowledge sharing with wider teams on best practises and challenges we face
• Work with our product and engineering teams to accessibility test features and find solutions
• Keep up to date with latest guidelines regarding accessibility and related standards
• Help us expand our in life user experience knowledge so we better understand how real customers are using our app and unique obstacles they may be facing

• Comfortable auditing/ testing an application independently with a focus on accessibility to drive improvements using manual testing and tools 
• Identify gaps in teams knowledge and our product lifecycle that will help improve the accessibility of our applications
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve customers experience
• Analyse risk, severity, and impact of issues identified and work constructively with the wider team to help us prioritise and resolve them
• Enjoys working with ambiguity to define best approach to projects and challenges
• Maintain an adaptable and pragmatic approach to testing, switching modes to meet the needs of the bank
• Ability to work autonomously and use initiative to help us focus on the most important elements 
• An understanding of WCAG, particularly its influence regarding mobile applications 
• A strong understanding of user experience best practices, inclusive design and UX testing
• Experience mentoring other teams and junior team members in accessibility

Nice to have:

• 2+ years of experience in specialising in accessibility 
• Experience driving accessibility forward in companies through strategy 
• Experience auditing/ testing specifically with native mobile applications

Interview process

Interviewing is a two way process and we want you to have the time and opportunity to get to know us, as much as we are getting to know you! Our interviews are conversational and we want to get the best from you, so come with questions and be curious. In general you can expect the below, following a chat with one of our Talent Team:

• 45 minute video call interview with one of the product team
• 1 hour video call interview with two members of the product team
• Executive interview (45 min): Interview with our Head of Product and an executive member of the team.

• 25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you)

• An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
• Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family-friendly policies
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway.

We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.

Starling Bank is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling Bank are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

By submitting your application, you agree that Starling Bank may collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we may process, where we may process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.