Operations Manager in Bournemouth

Join The Mortgage Works (TMW) as an Operations Manager and take the lead in driving a high-performing, customer-focused contact centre environment where excellence is the standard. Leading a large, multi-site team of up to 125 colleagues through 7–10 Team Managers, you’ll play a pivotal role in delivering outstanding customer outcomes, embedding a strong performance culture, and ensuring regulatory excellence. This is a unique opportunity to influence at scale balancing operational delivery with continuous improvement and forward-thinking strategy.

This is a 12-month secondment opportunity. 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 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.

Responsibilities

• Deliver stretching operational objectives, ensuring the effective management of resources across multiple locations to consistently meet key departmental targets and maintaining service levels, including forward planning for demand fluctuations.
• Own and manage headcount and discretionary budgets, aligning resource levels with workload requirements and financial plans.
• Embed a high-performance culture through reward and recognition, training and development, robust performance management, and effective recruitment and succession planning.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement through in-depth root cause analysis, using insights from complaints, customer experience, and colleague feedback to identify opportunities and implement best practice.
• Ensure full compliance with regulatory requirements, policies, and conduct risk expectations, including delivering good customer outcomes in line with Consumer Duty.
• Build strong internal networks to influence change, enhance the reputation of your team, and support broader business objectives while playing an active role in delivering strategic projects and change initiatives to time, cost, and quality expectations.
• Provide strong leadership during incidents, applying appropriate governance and maintaining a calm, structured approach at all times.

About you

• Proven experience leading large contact centre teams within a mortgages environment.
• A demonstrable track record of strong people leadership, with the ability to coach, develop, and inspire high-performing teams.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and engage stakeholders at all levels.
• Strong planning, organisational, and forecasting capabilities, with the ability to manage competing priorities effectively.
• A solid understanding of risk, compliance, and operational controls within a regulated environment.
• The ability to think strategically, solve complex problems, and adapt quickly to changing business needs.

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.

Qualifications

The extras you’ll get

• 25 days holiday, pro rata.
• 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.

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.