Head of Customer Experience - Automation

As we accelerate the next phase of Group Customer Operations, aligned to the Nationwide Blueprint, our Modern Mutual ambition and our strategic priorities, we are advertising a maternity cover opportunity for a high-performing Head of Customer Experience, Intelligence and Automation.

This is a high-impact leadership role at the centre of journey ownership, GCO performance, customer intelligence, automation and AI. The agenda is clear, strategically important and outcome-led: we need to maintain pace, strengthen delivery and continue turning insight, journey performance and intelligent automation into measurable improvements for customers, colleagues and the Society.

This role brings together three critical parts of our GCO agenda: Group Customer Journey Ownership, GCO journey performance, and AI & Automation. It will help set the Society-wide journey ownership framework, make that framework practical, lead the day-to-day performance rhythm in GCO, and drive the business automation agenda by joining up opportunities across journeys, processes, business lines and technology teams.

The measure of success is simple: this role must help GCO improve customer outcomes, reduce failure demand, simplify colleague experience, strengthen operational resilience and unlock productivity through intelligent automation and AI. It will create the performance and prioritisation discipline to move opportunities out of discussion and into customer delivery.

This is not a governance or reporting role. It is an execution-focused leadership role for someone who can connect strategy to delivery, challenge constructively, simplify complexity and get things done.

The successful candidate will lead the performance rhythm for GCO and the continued development of the Group Customer Journey Owner model. They will make sure the Group framework is clear, outcome-led and consistently understood, while also driving the practical GCO delivery agenda across customer experience intelligence, journey performance, automation, AI and operational improvement.

A major part of the role will be leading the business-wide AI and Automation agenda from a GCO perspective. This means joining the dots between opportunities emerging from business lines, customer journeys, process performance, colleague pain points and operational data. You will work closely with Technology to shape the opportunity pipeline, challenge prioritisation, build confidence in the case for change and ensure automation is delivered against clear customer, colleague, productivity, resilience and control outcomes.

The role will also continue to mature the Group Customer Journey Owner framework. This means setting clear expectations on ownership, measures, outcomes and performance, while ensuring the model is practical, embedded and connected to real delivery. The aim is not to add another layer of process; it is to create clarity, accountability and momentum across end-to-end journeys.

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 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.

What you’ll be doing

You will need to be comfortable operating in ambiguity, influencing senior stakeholders and working across a complex, regulated organisation. This role will suit someone who can think strategically, operate commercially and stay close to the work; someone who can shape the agenda, but also make sure it lands.

This is a high-impact opportunity to lead one of GCO’s most important outcome capabilities — connecting journey ownership, customer intelligence, performance, automation and AI to deliver measurable improvements in service, resilience, productivity and customer outcomes across Nationwide.

About you

As a minimum requirement, you will have:

• Proven experience leading customer experience, customer journey, automation, AI, customer intelligence or operational performance capabilities in a complex organisation.

• A strong track record of turning customer, colleague and operational insight into measurable business outcomes.

• Experience building or embedding customer journey ownership, performance management or continuous improvement models.

• Practical understanding of intelligent automation, AI and digital enablement, with the ability to identify opportunities and translate them into deliverable outcomes.

• Strong commercial and operational judgement, with the ability to connect customer experience, efficiency, risk, control, resilience and colleague impact.

• The ability to influence senior stakeholders, challenge constructively and create momentum across teams.

• Strong execution discipline, with evidence of moving work from strategy and design into delivery and measurable impact.

• Experience working in regulated environments, ideally financial services.

• A leadership style that is curious, collaborative, outcome-led and comfortable operating across both detail and strategy.

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

• 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.

The hiring manager for this role is Simon Separghan, and the main recruitment contact is Charlotte Hall.