Senior Governance Manager

At Nationwide we aim to get things right first time but sometimes things go wrong and when this happens, we pride ourselves in putting it right for our customers quickly and efficiently. As our name suggests, the Customer Resolution function is a multi-discipline capability responsible for ensuring our customers receive the right outcomes through end-to-end management and execution of complaints processes, delivery of remediation programmes and maintenance of customer data.

The Senior Governance Manager is a pivotal role within Customer Resolution to ensure we achieve our strategic objective of ensuring customers receive the correct response in a safe and controlled environment. The successful candidate will be responsible for leading a team of governance, risk and control colleagues to manage and evolve the function’s overall risk and control environment, maintain compliance with internal and external policy, ensure our processes continue to meet the expectations of our regulators, provide SME knowledge to operational areas in matters of policy change, adherence and creation of bespoke customer treatments and orchestrating organisational response to professional bodies and third-parties. The Senior Governance Manager will be responsible for maintaining and evolving the function’s over-arching governance framework to evidence appropriate control and oversight of all activity to provide good customer outcomes.

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 either our Swindon or Northampton 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

As a Senior Governance Reporting Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring the function can demonstrate effective oversight, risk and control management, and the delivery of positive customer outcomes through the ongoing management and development of the overarching customer resolution governance framework. Collaborating across the wider function you will ensure that complaints processes, reporting, and customer treatment remains aligned with regulatory expectations through continuous review and updates to policies and procedures. In addition, you will lead a team of Policy and Regulation Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), providing real-time support to emerging issues across the function and alongside providing embedded expertise within strategic change initiatives.

The role also involves providing function-wide support to identify, monitor, and mitigate risks, issues, and events through engagement with colleagues across all three lines of defence, ensuring timely resolution and effective control management. You will oversee a centralised capability responsible for maintaining relationships with regulators, industry bodies, and third-party organisations, coordinating responses to information requests, industry consultations, and collective complaint claims. You will also be accountable for ensuring adherence to internal and external policy requirements, including GDPR, Business Continuity Planning (BCP), End User Computing, and Conflicts of Interest compliance. This includes supporting and monitoring colleague completion of mandatory activities to enable accurate Senior Manager attestations.

A key aspect of the role is developing and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders and Material Risk Takers (MRTs) across the organisation, fostering collaboration and a strong governance culture. You will ensure the customer remains at the centre of everything Customer Resolutions delivers, maintaining and enhancing the customer experience by driving effective resolutions and putting things right wherever possible. In addition, you will attract, develop, and retain a highly skilled team of governance, risk, and control professionals, creating a high-performing environment that promotes continuous learning, development, and improvement.

About you

The minimum requirements for the role as:

• Proven experience in governance, risk and control environments managing, evolving and simplifying over-arching frameworks to demonstrate safe delivery of large function objectives in a highly regulated and controlled industry, alongside a working knowledge of risk management across multiple disciplines, control design and testing and issue management
• Experience of working in, and the expectations of, regulatory frameworks ideally customer-centric regulations such as FCA Dispute Management, Consumer Duty or similar. Ideally with experience of creating treatments or delivery processes in line with regulatory requirements
• Experience and understanding of change delivery initiatives and a robust understanding of change management
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, experience of leading a high performing team, providing performance feedback, career guidance and coaching to help staff be their best and deliver efficiently to the highest quality
• A confident storyteller with the ability to transform complex information from multiple sources and stakeholders into concise and easily digestible updates or responses to multiple audience including Executive Committees, Auditors and the Regulators alike
• Proven problem solving, with tenacity and curiosity to proactively identify issues or improvements, supporting your colleagues with decisions or insight to achieve a collective uplift or mitigation
• Excellent relationship management and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to provide constructive advice and challenge to senior stakeholders across the function and the wider organisation, whilst managing expectations

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.

The hiring manager for this role is Karl Wheatley, and the main recruitment contact is Jemma Ives.