ClearBank has appointed Ken Johnstone as Chief Product Officer, a significant leadership hire as the company continues its transition from UK challenger to global financial infrastructure provider.

Following a period of rapid growth, profitability and continued international expansion, ClearBank is now focused on strengthening the product leadership required to support increasingly sophisticated client needs across the UK, Europe and future international markets. The appointment of a dedicated Chief Product Officer represents an important milestone in that journey, elevating the product as a strategic driver of growth, differentiation and commercial impact.

"Thanks for the support, [Faraday Partners]. A well-run process and good candidate experience."

- Ken Johnstone, Chief Product Officer of ClearBank.

Ken Johnstone joins with more than 20 years of experience building and scaling product organisations across fintech, banking, payments and enterprise technology. Most recently, he served as Chief Product Officer at both Mettle and NatWest Boxed, leading product strategy for digital banking and embedded finance platforms. Throughout his career, he has driven innovation across mobile, web, API and platform technologies, combining deep technical understanding with a strong commercial orientation.

As Chief Product Officer, Ken will lead ClearBank’s global product organisation, overseeing the roadmap across the UK and Europe while helping shape the company’s future expansion into new markets. He will work closely with the executive team to position the product as a key driver of growth, innovation and customer value as ClearBank continues to define the future of banking infrastructure.

This search assignment was led by Andrew Banks, Managing Partner, with support from William Batt, Associate at Faraday Partners, in partnership with Mark Fairless, Group CEO of ClearBank; Roshini Dhaliwal, Chief People Officer of ClearBank; Charlotte Lafferty, Head of Talent of ClearBank; as well as Mark Beith, Partner of Apax Partners LLP and John Nugent, Principal of Apax Partners LLP.

About ClearBank

ClearBank is a cloud-native financial infrastructure platform transforming how banks, fintechs and enterprises access clearing, payments and embedded banking services. Founded in 2015, the company combines direct access to major payment schemes with modern API-first technology, enabling customers to launch secure, regulated financial products without building the underlying banking infrastructure themselves. Backed by leading investors and serving more than 250 institutions across the UK and Europe, ClearBank is rapidly establishing itself as the infrastructure backbone for the next generation of financial services.

ClearBank is backed by Apax Digital (Mark Beith and John Nugent), Northern Private Capital, CFFI UK Ventures, Capability & Innovation Fund, PPF Group and NatWest Group.

About Faraday Partners

Faraday Partners is a global executive search firm supporting the most valuable companies in tech and their investors from early conviction to industry impact. We specialise in senior leadership appointments across all facets of leadership, helping organisations secure transformative leaders who scale businesses, drive innovation, and create long-term enterprise value.