
Get to know the leadership team
They bring a wealth of knowledge both from within the finance sector and outside of it but what they all have in common is the desire to put our customers' needs and doing what's right by them at the heart of everything we do.
Graham Robinson
Chief Risk Officer
With over 20 years of experience in leadership across credit risk, operations, and digital, Graham leads all risk management at Zopa as its Chief Risk Officer.
Prior to Zopa, Graham worked at Capital One for over 18 years across various senior risk positions and more recently built the credit risk management capability at Monzo to support its growing lending operation.
Graham ensures that Zopa’s risk management differentiates it from its peers and develops and scales at pace with the bank.
Jaidev Janardana
Group CEO
Devoted to creating simple and fair financial products and services, Jaidev joined Zopa in October 2014. Since then Zopa has more than quadrupled its loan volumes and revenues, achieved profitability, and secured its banking licence in order to offer its customers a wider range of financial products.
Before Zopa, Jaidev spent 12 years at Capital One. Starting out in McLean, Virginia, he was initially focused on the US card business. He then moved to the UK in 2007 with a big task at hand – to manage credit risk through the financial crisis as Chief Credit Officer for the UK business.
Having helped Capital One UK successfully navigate through the crisis, he took on the broader role of Chief Marketing Officer and was instrumental in returning the UK business back to profitability and growth.
Clare Gambardella
Chief Customer Officer
Clare is responsible for Zopa’s brand, customer experience, and communications, ensuring they all come together to make us the best place for people to borrow and save.
She also leads Product Design, Operations and cross-product channels like our App, ensuring our teams are delivering the award-winning experience Zopa is known for.
Prior to Zopa, Clare was the Group Chief Marketing Officer at Virgin Active overseeing brand and marketing for the group's international network. She began her career at Procter and Gamble and has also worked in Strategy Consulting at The Boston Consulting Group.
Merve Ferrero
Chief Strategy Officer
Merve oversees some of Zopa’s most important products and services such as deposits and partnerships, as well as the overall strategy and operational resilience of the business.
Merve led the Smart Saver launch for Zopa, a new savings product, and Zopa’s banking licence readiness which has allowed the company to grow and become profitable. As Chief Strategy Officer, Merve is responsible for ensuring Zopa has a clear view of its future and the strategy in place to get there.
Merve has over 15 years of experience across strategy, product and business development. Before she joined Zopa in 2015, Merve was in China building and scaling tech companies and in investment banking prior to that.
Steve Hulme
Chief Finance Officer
Steve leads Zopa's finance and legal teams. He was pivotal in Zopa achieving its banking licence, working tirelessly to successfully take the company from a P2P loan provider to a fully-fledged UK bank. In 2021 he led Zopa’s funding strategy that resulted in Softbank Vision Fund’s $300m equity investment.
He joined Zopa at the start of 2018 having spent nearly two decades in financial roles with a range of innovative financial services companies.
Prior to joining Zopa, Steve was CFO at Tandem Money, CFO for PayPal's global credit business and CFO for Capital One's UK and Canadian business.
Tim Waterman
Chief Commercial Officer
Tim is charged with leading on all of Zopa’s lending products, including its unsecured personal loans, credit card and secured car finance. He is responsible for customer acquisition, credit risk management, pricing and the growth strategy of the lending products.
Tim has over 14 years’ experience in consumer lending businesses specialising in data, analytic and technology led innovation. Before Zopa, Tim was Chief Marketing Officer at Lendable where he led the growth of its unsecured personal loan product and evaluation of new product opportunities. Prior to Lendable, Tim was Chief Analysis Officer at Oakbrook finance. Tim started his career at Capital One.
Helen Beurier
Chief People Officer
Helen has joined Zopa as its first Chief People Officer. Helen leads the design and delivery of Zopa’s people experience, strengthening Zopa’s unique culture as we grow our team and expand our strategic capabilities, solidifying our leading position as a key competitor in the banking sector.
Helen held progressively senior HR Executive roles at household names M&S, PepsiCo and GSK, leading the delivery of HR and transformational change initiatives across the globe. Helen has also partnered with founders and investors to develop people strategies for accelerated growth in the challenger brand space.
Graham Robinson
Chief Risk Officer
With over 20 years of experience in leadership across credit risk, operations, and digital, Graham leads all risk management at Zopa as its Chief Risk Officer.
Prior to Zopa, Graham worked at Capital One for over 18 years across various senior risk positions and more recently built the credit risk management capability at Monzo to support its growing lending operation.
Graham ensures that Zopa’s risk management differentiates it from its peers and develops and scales at pace with the bank.
Jaidev Janardana
Group CEO
Devoted to creating simple and fair financial products and services, Jaidev joined Zopa in October 2014. Since then Zopa has more than quadrupled its loan volumes and revenues, achieved profitability, and secured its banking licence in order to offer its customers a wider range of financial products.
Before Zopa, Jaidev spent 12 years at Capital One. Starting out in McLean, Virginia, he was initially focused on the US card business. He then moved to the UK in 2007 with a big task at hand – to manage credit risk through the financial crisis as Chief Credit Officer for the UK business.
Having helped Capital One UK successfully navigate through the crisis, he took on the broader role of Chief Marketing Officer and was instrumental in returning the UK business back to profitability and growth.