Senior Change Lead

It’s an exciting time to be joining Group Customer & Communications (GCC) at Nationwide as we have an important journey ahead of us; both for our core Nationwide brand, as well as for the integration of Virgin Money.

As a Senior Change Lead you’ll provide experienced, flexible change leadership for complex and strategically significant assignments requiring dedicated senior oversight.

You’ll lead selected change initiatives characterised by significant complexity, risk, organisational impact or cross-functional dependency, taking direct accountability for successful delivery from mobilisation through to implementation and outcomes.

This role sits within the Group Customer & Communications Function at Nationwide. The function’s purpose is to understand our customers and design meaningful engagement opportunities, together with building compelling experiences and communications. Customer strategy, marketing, brand, website and legal, regulatory & mandatory communications all sit within GCC, alongside a focus on communities with our social impact agenda.

Working in GCC, you’ll be part of a Change Team who ensure programme deliverables are aligned with broader integration and Society plans; lead milestones through key stages, mobilise resource and unify project teams behind a common goal, outcome and shared programme plan. The key focus for this role is the integration change activity that’s owned by GCC to bring together the Nationwide and Virgin Money brands and customers.

At Nationwide we offer hybrid working wherever possible. More rewarding relationships are supported through our hybrid approach, bringing colleagues together across our UK wide estate, whilst also supporting generous access to home working. We value our time in the office to solve problems, to learn, and to feel connected.

For this job, you'll spend at least two days per week, or if part-time, you'll spend 40% of your working time, based at our Swindon, London or Bournemouth office. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works.

You can also find out more about our approach to hybrid working here.

Nationwide is committed to the redeployment of our employees impacted by change, as such applications for redeployment candidates will be prioritised in this recruitment process.

If you’re a colleague on long-term absence (for example, on parental leave) or a temporary worker, please use your personal email address to submit an application.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll take on some of our most complex change assignments, providing dedicated senior leadership where the nature of the work demands significant experience, judgement and hands-on delivery leadership. Rather than owning a standing portfolio or team, you’ll move to where your expertise is most needed – leading major assignments, mobilising new activity or stepping into challenging delivery situations.

On one day you might be establishing the approach and governance for a complex new initiative; on another you could be bringing together multiple teams to resolve a significant cross-portfolio dependency or helping recover an initiative that has lost momentum. You’ll be comfortable operating where there is ambiguity, significant organisational impact or heightened delivery risk, quickly creating clarity and moving work forward.

You’ll also act as a trusted senior partner to the Head of Change, providing additional leadership capacity across emerging priorities and representing the Change function when needed. Alongside your own delivery assignments, you’ll share your experience with colleagues across the team, coaching others and helping strengthen the way we deliver complex change.

About you

To be successful in this role, as a minimum, you will need:

• Extensive experience personally leading large-scale, complex and high-impact change, with accountability for successful delivery in environments involving significant ambiguity, risk and organisational dependency

• Demonstrable experience leading change with significant colleague and organisational impacts, with a strong understanding of the human dimensions of change and how these are integrated with programme and delivery activity

• Strong track record of mobilising complex or ambiguous initiatives, establishing structure, governance, plans and delivery momentum where the route forward is not initially clear

• Experience leading cross-functional and cross-portfolio change, operating effectively where delivery requires coordination across multiple senior stakeholders, business areas and specialist capabilities

• Proven experience diagnosing and recovering challenged change, identifying root causes of delivery difficulties and establishing pragmatic interventions that restore control and confidence

• Strong command of change and programme delivery disciplines, including planning, governance, risk, dependency management, resource management, business readiness and implementation

• Experience operating with significant autonomy and accountability, able to move between strategic thinking and hands-on delivery leadership according to the needs of an assignment

• Credibility operating with senior and executive stakeholders in complex environments, able to provide clear delivery insight, challenge constructively and lead through difficult or sensitive situations

Our customer first behaviours put customers and members at the heart of how we work together. They are the set of behaviours that every colleague needs to display, in every role:

• Feel what customers feel - We step into our customers’ shoes, using their feedback and insights to empathise with them and to understand their needs, so that every decision we make starts and finishes with our customers in mind
• Say it straight - We are brave in speaking out and saying what we think – we’re honest and direct with good intent, openly sharing diverse perspectives to reach the best conclusions and using language everyone can understand
• Push for better - We don’t settle for mediocrity, we challenge the status quo, taking responsibility for continuous improvement and personal development
• Get it done - We prioritise what will have the greatest impact, we are decisive, and we take accountability for delivering brilliant customer outcomes

You can strengthen your application by showing how our customer first behaviours resonate with you, and where you may have already demonstrated these.

The extras you'll get

There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:

• 30 days holiday, pro rata
• Private medical insurance
• A highly competitive pension to help you build a strong foundation for retirement
• Access to an annual performance-related bonus
• Training and development to help you progress your career
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Life assurance to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones in the event of your death
• Wellhub – access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year

Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society

We forge our own path at Nationwide.

As a mutual, we’re owned by our members - those customers who bank, save or have a mortgage with us. We challenge the financial sector status quo. We don’t see customers as the engine of our own profit. We share our profits with them and put their needs first. Always there when they need us. Supporting them and their lives.

If you’re inspired by fairer finances, passionate about making a meaningful impact, and truly care about our customers, you’re one of us.

At Nationwide, you are challenged to grow and rewarded for doing so. Valued. Recognised. Inspired to be your best. As a community, we want our working lives to count. As a team, we celebrate what we achieve. As a standard-setter, we work for the good of customers, communities, and broader society.

We are purpose-driven. Uncompromisingly customer. Unstoppably Nationwide.

What to do next

If this role is for you, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button. You’ll need to attach your up-to-date CV and answer a few quick questions for us.

We respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application.

Keeping your data and personal information confidential is important to us. To find out more about how we use and process your data, please read our Privacy policy.

If you want to find out more about using AI in our recruitment process, please read more here.

Disability Confident

We’re not just guided by data, we’re driven by the real experiences of our people. We’re a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader, the highest level.

That’s why we’re constantly evolving our policies and practices to make sure everyone feels genuinely supported, valued, and empowered to champion inclusion. Whatever your needs, we’re here to support you. If you need any additional support throughout your application journey, email our team at Recruitment Support.

Apply safely with Nationwide

Recruitment scams can look convincing, so take a moment to check the role is listed on our official careers site and read our guidance on Don’t be conned by a job scam.

The hiring manager for this role is Laura Cain, and the main recruitment contact is Sameena Rehman.

Interviews for this position are expected to take place on 26th November. We will let you know the outcome of your application shortly after the closing date. If you are shortlisted, we will share further details with you about the interview process.