Director Business Development

We want you to reach your full potential, and we’ll do anything we can to get you there. Developing our own makes great sense – and we know you can make an even bigger difference. Exciting opportunities exist within our Strategic Finance team. Our Strategic Finance team supports commercial, corporate, PLC and private equity backed businesses in our region and across the UK. If you're passionate about playing a key role in helping shape and grow our business, then please read on.

As a Business Development Director, you will play an important role in maintaining a strong market presence, originating and executing new Commercial Business and Mid Corporate opportunities. You will be responsible for working with the Relationship Directors to generate additional income and strong returns for the organisation, whilst always delivering a simply brilliant customer experience. We are looking for proactive people, who are ready to make a real difference and win new customers. In return, we’ll encourage and reward you, helping you deliver a Simply Brilliant Experience whilst building a successful career.

We are happy to consider flexible working approaches to help you perform at your best. For this job you'll be covering the Northeast of Scotland region, including Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh so will need to be based locally to the area as you will be expected to regularly travel to meet customers across this region. Additionally, there will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration events in one of our office sites. This is anticipated to be monthly in Edinburgh; however, the location will vary. 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. 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. If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so please apply as soon as you can.

What you’ll be doing:

• As a Business Development Director, you’ll be responsible for generating new opportunities targeted and focussed on large commercial and mid-sized corporate businesses within the Northeast of Scotland.
• You’ll be acting according to our strategy and growth plan to optimise income and build a targeted portfolio through effective origination and the execution of high-quality lending opportunities.
• A critical part of the role will be the establishment and continued management of external professional relationships adopting a two-way relationship model that produces quality referrals from your own professional network.
• With knowledge of the current economic climate and the Business Banking market, you’ll need to apply your business acumen and demonstrate commerciality and excellent presentation and negotiation skills to identify and win opportunities to lend on a bilateral or club basis and generate ancillary income for us.
• You’ll be experienced in analysing and interpreting accounts to enable you to make informed decisions related to new deals. This will include calculating key ratios, interpreting cash flow forecasts, credit modelling and assessing management teams according to the best practice in Strategic Finance in line with the Dilligencia Training methodology.
• Additionally, you’ll structure lending proposals for credit decisioning for our customers.
• By taking responsibility for risk and compliance, you’ll identify signs of stress and risk, which will enable you to minimise our exposure to bad and doubtful debt whilst ensuring we remain within our risk appetite.
• You’ll possess good self-awareness and be able to bring our brand and values to life through the demonstration of exceptional behaviours.

About you:

• As a minimum requirement, you’ll have experience working within a Business Banking team.
• A proven track record in originating and securing commercial lending opportunities.
• Some experience in managing all aspects of a deal process from inception to completion – including preparation of detailed and well-researched credit papers, leading negotiations with Management Teams, Advisors and Funding Partners, the instruction and review of detailed Due Diligence reports, overseeing of complex legal processes and the management of all aspects of a deal completion process.
• Experience of maximising media relations and opportunities, including writing for journals and publications.
• A business degree or financial services experience within a Business Lending Environment.
• Detailed and up-to-date knowledge of UK financial markets with the focus on the Commercial Banking segment.
• Expert knowledge of banking products and services.
• Up-to-date knowledge of financial analysis and modelling tools and techniques.

The following behaviours are important in our organization:

• 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.

The 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.