Planning & Strategy Manager in Swindon

We require an experienced Planning & Strategy Manager to work within our Planning Centre of Excellence in the Customer Marketing team, which is part of the wider Group Customer & Communications function. You’ll play a critical role in driving forward our 121-marketing planning capability, providing specialist support for the wider planning community to develop planning capability, ensuring the delivery of robust marketing plans which align marketing strategies, commercial objectives and customer priorities.

You’ll be instrumental in ensuring efficiency in all aspects of the planning remit, with a continuous focus on target setting, performance and budget management principles to ensure return on investment thresholds are maintained along with the ongoing optimisation of plans, activities and operational planning processes. We are happy to consider flexible working approaches to help you perform at your best. The working hours (per week) for this role can be between 28 and 35 hours. This is a 9-month Fixed Term Contract. 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.

Extras you’ll get:

• Access to 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:

You’ll use your commercial and financial acumen to draw on established knowledge of financial services markets to inform marketing planning strategies and shape measurement approaches. You’ll partner with cross functional teams to ensure strategies and plans will deliver optimal customer and commercial outcomes. You’ll collaborate and manage stakeholders, building strong relationships with leadership, business partners and other key stakeholders to ensure marketing strategies and plans are effectively integrated and aligned with broader organisational goals and priorities.

You’ll lead the strategic roadmap development by overseeing the development of long-term and short-term marketing plans that align to business goals, strategic objectives and customer priorities whilst emphasising 121 marketing performance and reporting. You’ll need to understand performance as you’ll support the oversight of key performance indicators and timely, accurate and actionable reporting of marketing metrics and insights. You’ll manage the production of regular executive/leadership performance reporting ensuring smooth and timely provision of performance and planning priority updates.

Operational control and oversight will be critical within this role as you’ll oversee the core operation planning functions to ensure robust processes are in place and actioned on time.

About you:

For this role, you will have:

• A strong understanding of financial services, business strategy, performance marketing and communications strategy.
• Experience in performance (121) marketing planning, developing effective direct marketing plans, driven from deep business and commercial acumen.
• Experience in understanding, analysing and interpreting complex performance data and insight to inform performance marketing strategy and decision making.
• Strong strategic and operational planning and organisational skills and ability to manage competing priorities and deliverables.
• Knowledge and understanding of personalisation strategies within performance marketing and understanding of 121 marketing channels, trends, tools and technologies.
• Excellent stakeholder management and collaboration skills.
• Experience in leading and coaching, either direct line management or coaching of wider colleagues/stakeholders.
• Excellent decision making and critical thinking skills.
• A curious mind-set and a passion for innovation in the performance marketing space.

Our customer‑first behaviours:

• 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.