Learning and Development Manager in Swindon

We are Retail and Customer Operations Learning & Development (L&D), a people-centred team focused on building colleague capability and creating simply brilliant customer experiences. As our business and the technology landscape continue to evolve, the scale and complexity of the learning we deliver is growing. We’re looking for an inspiring L&D leader to drive impact in a fast-paced environment. This is not an entry-level role. You’ll bring judgement and credibility - trusted to lead end-to-end learning solutions, influence senior stakeholders, and apply your expertise to support a business navigating change and transformation.

You’ll play a critical role in delivering practical high-quality learning experiences that help our Retail and Customer Operations colleagues perform at their best. You’ll be accountable for the whole learning cycle, from needs analysis through to design, delivery and evaluation, using data, technology and AI to enhance learner experience, efficiency and capability. L&D sits within Colleague Engagement and Enablement, supporting around 13,000 colleagues across a diverse range of customer-facing and operational teams. This position is suited to an experienced L&D leader ready to make an immediate impact, or someone who has been proactively developing themselves towards a leadership career in learning and development.

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 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 assigned to our nearest regional hub. There will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration events in one of our office sites.

If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works. 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: Our Blueprint will underpin everything you do as you lead, motivate, and manage a remote team of L&D Trainers to perform at their best. You’ll align capabilities to priorities, quickly identify gaps, and put plans in place to address them. You’ll also be accountable for end-to-end demand management, leading design and delivery through matrix teams, optimising resources and driving continuous improvement. In addition, you will lead the development of learning solutions that build future-ready capability and enable strategic and operational change across Retail and Customer Operations. Furthermore, you’ll act as a trusted learning partner, providing expert consultancy and also confidently challenge and influence stakeholders at all levels to shape thinking and ensure learning delivers meaningful business outcomes.

You will have/be:

• A strong understanding of our Blueprint and the role L&D plays in delivering it
• Proven leadership, including improving performance, remote and matrix management
• Resilience and you’ll be comfortable working in ambiguity within a fast-paced, changing environment
• Strong problem-solving skills, using data and root cause analysis to inform decisions
• Excellent stakeholder management, with the ability to build effective relationships across the business
• Expert L&D consultancy and make commercially focused recommendations
• A collaborative approach, with a genuine curiosity to keep learning
• A proactive approach, exploring how technology and AI can shape the future of learning

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:

• 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. The hiring manager for this role is Sam Horrocks (holiday 11th-18th June – Vicky Richards deputising), and the main recruitment contact is Angela Darbar.