This is a strategically important new Portfolio CIO (Customer Experience Platforms) role leading the technology platforms that underpinhow we engage with customers and shaping the organisation’s approach to customer experience, personalisation and growth.
Reporting to the Lead Portfolio CIO, within the Data & Functions Technology Delivery leadership team (reporting to the Chief Data & Analytics Officer), you will operate as part of their leadership team and a broader peer group of Portfolio CIOs aligned to key enterprise domains.
As Portfolio CIO (Customer Experience Platforms), you will hold end-to-end accountability for technology, change and IT run across this domain.
Customer Experience Platforms sits within the Data & Functions Technology Delivery (D&FTD) function and supports the Group Customer experience function, including the modernisation of marketing technology, customer communications and automation platforms.
The portfolio spans a broad and complex set of platforms across communications, marketing, automation, collections, specialist customer support and retail & savings operations, forming a critical part of the organisation’s end-to-end customer proposition. It is central to how we engage with customers and underpins a wide range of business-critical capabilities.
As a key enterprise leader, you will lead, build and develop a large, multi-disciplinary team, delivering outcomes across technology, change and live services. You will be accountable for delivering value at pace, driving prioritisation and ensuring strong return on investment across a complex portfolio.
You will work closely with the COO Function and wider business stakeholders to deliver secure, resilient and scalable technology solutions aligned to business priorities, while owning the application portfolio and driving modernisation to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of change.
As a senior leader, you will build a high-performing and inclusive team, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation and continuous improvement. You will take accountability for live service (IT run), including first-line risk, ensuring strong governance, resilience and control across the portfolio.
We are seeking an inspiring, ambitious and commercial leader who will help shape a high-performing, collaborative and forward-looking technology organisation. As with all Career Family E roles across Nationwide, you will also play a key role in delivering the Society’s Inclusion and Diversity ambitions while embracing new ways of working.
Responsibilities
What you’ll be doing
In this new role within D&FTD you will:
- Own end-to-end accountability for technology, change and IT run across the Customer Experience Platforms domain, delivering outcomes aligned to the organisation’s strategic priorities, financial plans and risk appetite.
- Own and evolve the technology strategy and roadmap, ensuring delivery of a clear 1–3 year plan that aligns business objectives, investment priorities and platform evolution.
- Lead the delivery of a complex portfolio of change, shaping and prioritising initiatives to maximise value, efficiency and effectiveness, and making clear trade-offs across competing demands.
- Build and lead cross-functional, multi-disciplinary teams, bringing together technology, change and operational capability to deliver integrated, end-to-end outcomes.
- Work in close partnership with the COO Function and wider Portfolio CIO network, ensuring strong connectivity between portfolios and alignment to overall organisational strategy.
- Drive the adoption and continuous improvement of modern engineering practices, including DevSecOps and continuous delivery, to improve flow, increase delivery velocity and reduce time to value.
- Ensure the effective operation of live services, maintaining performance against agreed service measures and taking accountability for service stability, resilience and continuous improvement.
- Own the design, delivery and operation of technology platforms across the portfolio, balancing customer experience, operational performance, commercial outcomes and risk considerations.
- Embed robust governance, risk and control frameworks, taking accountability for first-line technology and change risk, and ensuring regulatory obligations and operational resilience are built into delivery.
- Manage the cost and efficiency of change and technology, driving productivity, removing duplication and ensuring effective use of investment across the portfolio.
- Lead with an organisation wide mindset, fostering collaboration, innovation and continuous improvement, and building a culture of accountability, transparency and high performance.
Qualifications
About you
We are looking for a senior technology leader with a strong focus on IT run and change management, and who recognises their critical importance in enabling organisational performance, resilience and customer outcomes. You will bring a clear and compelling vision and the ability to create and sustain a highly effective operating environment capable of delivering complex, large-scale portfolios with consistency and pace.
You will have extensive experience leading and inspiring large, multi-disciplinary technical teams (typically 100+ FTE) and managing significant in-year budget responsibility. You will demonstrate a strong track record of driving efficiency, value and commercial outcomes across complex and competing change priorities, making clear trade-offs to deliver optimal results.
Your experience must include delivering technology-led transformation within financial services or another highly regulated environment. You will have held sustained accountability for complex technology solutions where regulatory compliance, security, resilience and auditability are fundamental, and will be comfortable operating with accountability in highly scrutinised environments.
You will bring deep experience designing, building and operating cloud-based platforms end-to-end, with ownership of performance, scalability, resilience, security and cost. You will have worked directly with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure or GCP), evidencing ownership of architectural and delivery decisions within live production environments.
You will have strong expertise in modern software engineering and architecture, including APIs, event-driven and microservices-based design, alongside experience of DevOps operating models such as CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automated testing and observability, in always-on, customer facing environments.
A strong data and integration background is essential, with experience in modern data architectures, including streaming and event-driven patterns. You will understand how to support both near real-time and batch processing within controlled production environments.
You will bring strong experience of delivering technology change in regulated environments, working closely with risk, security and assurance teams. You will understand the impact of regulatory obligations, operational resilience, service continuity and customer outcomes, and ensure these are embedded by design within platform architecture and delivery models.
This role requires an individual with established technical credibility and a proven track record of delivery at scale. You will be a highly credible senior leader, able to translate complex technical concepts into clear, compelling narratives for executive stakeholders, and combine strategic thinking with strong delivery focus to drive alignment and execution.
You will bring presence and authority both internally and externally, engaging effectively with industry bodies and forums to represent the organisation’s interests and stay ahead of emerging trends. You will demonstrate strong learning agility and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
Finally, you will bring a highly commercial mindset, with experience of owning significant technology spend, shaping supplier and partner strategy, and delivering value through strong commercial governance and cost discipline.
About your rewards
We continually review and evaluate our offering to ensure we have a broad range of market competitive benefits available for our colleagues. When you put a lot in, it’s only fair to expect a lot out. So, when you help us do the right thing for our customers, we want to reward you.
There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:
- 30 days annual leave as standard, plus, you can ‘buy’ up to 10 extra days each year, giving you even more choice
- Opportunity to participate in a Green Car Scheme with access to an electric vehicle (EV) via monthly salary sacrifice payment
- Competitive pension contributions or a cash alternative
- Family private healthcare cover, plus executive health screening every 2 years
- Employee assistance programme - a free, confidential service offering counselling, wellbeing support, legal advice and debt guidance
- Life assurance - 4x your notional salary for peace of mind
- Opportunity to participate in our Annual Performance Pay plan – recognising your contribution to our success
- Wellhub - access to a wide range of free and paid wellness resources for you and your family
- Flexible Benefits - We currently operate a flexible benefits scheme that allows you to select from a fantastic range of benefits
- Up to 2 paid volunteering days annually to support causes close to your heart while making a difference
- You could also tailor your reward package with a great selection of voluntary benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
We also offer up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year and you could also tailor your reward package with a great selection of voluntary benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme.
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
To apply, simply click the ‘Apply Now’ button. Please ensure you attach your CV and complete a few short application questions.
If you’d like to find out more about the role or have any questions, feel free to contact Chris Royston – Executive Resourcing christopher.royston@nationwide.co.uk
Contact Details:
Nationwide Building Society Recruitment Team
