Business Support Manager in Chester

Help shape the future of Protect as our Business Support Manager. Protect is a vital part of Group Customer Operations, supporting customers and colleagues through some of life's most important moments. We're looking for an exceptional Business Support Manager to become a trusted partner to the Director of Protect and the Protect Leadership Team, playing a central role in keeping priorities on track, driving coordination across the function, and ensuring the smooth delivery of key business objectives.

This is a highly visible position where you'll act as a key liaison, providing the structure, insight and support that enables leaders to focus on what matters most. You'll thrive in this role if you're highly organised, commercially aware and passionate about helping others succeed. With experience supporting senior leaders in a strategic business support, PMO, Chief of Staff or governance capacity, you'll bring outstanding communication skills, sound judgement and absolute discretion.

You'll be confident creating impactful briefings and presentations, managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment, and driving business improvement, transformation and change initiatives that deliver meaningful results. This is an exciting opportunity to bring clarity to complexity, influence decision making and help turn strategy into action. In return, you'll gain significant exposure to senior leaders, work within a rapidly growing and customer-focused area of the business and play a pivotal role in shaping outcomes for customers, colleagues and the wider organisation while opening the door to future career opportunities.

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 be located at our nearest regional office or hub. There will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration and in some locations you’ll be expected to spend at least two days a week, or if part time you'll spend 40% of your working time, in the office.

If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works. Virgin Money is now part of Nationwide. Nationwide acquired Virgin Money in October 2024. Virgin Money continues to serve customers on the high street, and there will be a phased and considered integration over the coming years. You’ll be employed by Nationwide from day one, delivering real impact and benefitting from a highly competitive range of benefits. We’re a workplace where you’re rewarded, recognised and celebrated.

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.

The extras you’ll get:

• 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

What you’ll be doing:

As a trusted partner to the Director of Protect, you'll play a key role in driving organisational effectiveness across the function. Working at the heart of the leadership team, you'll provide strategic and operational support, helping to coordinate activity, inform decision-making and ensure priorities remain aligned and on track. From preparing high-quality briefings and business insights to supporting key meetings, events and leadership forums, you'll help create the clarity and focus needed to deliver successful outcomes.

You'll work closely with the Protect Leadership Team to strengthen governance, drive accountability and monitor progress against strategic objectives, while identifying emerging risks, challenges and opportunities across the business. You'll lead communication and engagement activity, supporting colleagues through ongoing change and integration, champion continuous improvement in ways of working, and help optimise leadership capacity and prioritisation. Partnering with Finance, you'll also support planning and performance activity, ensuring resources, budgets and business plans are aligned to deliver the greatest value for customers, colleagues and the organisation.

About you:

You'll be a confident relationship builder who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys working closely with senior leaders and has a proven ability to influence across a diverse stakeholder landscape. Bringing a proactive mindset, sound judgement and strong commercial awareness, you'll be skilled at creating structure, driving progress and turning complex challenges into clear, actionable outcomes.

We're looking for someone who can demonstrate:

• Proven experience supporting senior leaders and leadership teams in a Business Support, PMO, Chief of Staff, Executive Support or Governance capacity
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the confidence to challenge constructively and build credibility at all levels
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the creation of executive briefings, board papers, presentations and leadership communications
• Exceptional organisational, planning and project coordination skills, with a track record of managing multiple priorities and delivering against demanding deadlines
• Experience leading business improvement, transformation or change initiatives, delivering measurable outcomes and operational efficiencies
• Strong analytical and MI reporting capabilities, with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, produce meaningful insights and make evidence-based recommendations
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach with the ability to take ownership, drive accountability and maintain momentum across complex programmes and strategic priorities

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.