Planning & Strategy Manager in Swindon

We require an experienced Planning & Strategy Manager to work within our Planning Centre of Excellence in the Customer Marketing team, which is part of the wider Group Customer & Communications function. You’ll play a critical role in driving forward our 121-marketing planning capability, providing specialist support for the wider planning community to develop planning capability, ensuring the delivery of robust marketing plans which align marketing strategies, commercial objectives and customer priorities. You’ll be instrumental in ensuring efficiency in all aspects of the planning remit, with a continuous focus on target setting, performance and budget management principles to ensure return on investment thresholds are maintained along with the ongoing optimisation of plans, activities and operational planning processes.

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 9-month Fixed Term Contract. 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 hub. 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 one of our office locations.

If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works. 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.

In this role, you’ll lead the development of the strategic marketing roadmap, shaping both long and short-term plans that align to business goals, strategic priorities and customer needs, with a strong focus on 121-marketing performance and reporting. You’ll take ownership of performance oversight, ensuring key marketing metrics are tracked, understood and translated into timely, accurate and actionable insights that inform decision making. Drawing on your commercial and financial acumen, you’ll use your understanding of the financial services market to influence marketing planning strategies, working closely with cross-functional teams to deliver strong customer and commercial outcomes. You’ll build and maintain effective relationships with senior stakeholders, leadership teams and business partners, ensuring marketing strategies are joined up and aligned to wider organisational priorities. Alongside this, you’ll oversee the production of executive level reporting, ensuring performance updates and planning priorities are clearly communicated and delivered on time. You’ll also play a key role in strengthening planning capability across Customer Marketing squads, raising standards and creating more consistent, high-quality planning across the function. With a strong focus on operational control, you’ll oversee core planning processes to ensure they are robust, well governed and delivered effectively.

For this role, you will have:

• Experience in the field of performance (121) marketing planning, developing effective direct marketing plans, driven from deep business and commercial acumen
• Experience in understanding, analysing and interpreting complex performance data and insight to inform performance marketing strategy and decision making
• Strong strategic and operational planning and organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities and deliverables
• Excellent stakeholder management skills
• Experience in leading and coaching, either direct line management or coaching of wider colleagues/stakeholders
• Knowledge and understanding of personalisation strategies within performance marketing
• Experience in the understanding of 121 marketing channels, trends, tools and technologies
• A good understanding of financial services, business strategy, performance marketing and communications strategy
• Excellent decision making and critical thinking skills
• A curious mind-set and a passion for innovation in the performance marketing space

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:

• 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.

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.