As a Risk Manager in Credit Risk Oversight, you will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of credit quality across Nationwide’s lending portfolios. You will work within a team of Credit Risk professionals who oversee the credit risk profile and strategy, ensuring that criteria and analysis are robust. You will be required to act as an SME on the unsecured portfolio across the Credit Management Lifecycle.
You will oversee the setting of credit risk strategy, ensuring alignment with Nationwide’s strategic direction and that credit risk is managed in line with risk appetite. You will ensure credit risk strategies deliver the desired balance between caution—protecting our members’ money—while also delivering the necessary economic returns to strengthen our financial position.
You will oversee the setting of credit policy and the performance of the credit risk profile. You will review and interpret analysis to ensure sound and robust credit risk proposals, as well as generate independent insights to support challenges and shape proposals. Through this activity, you will provide an independent opinion on proposals to ensure a full understanding of end-to-end credit risk management.
You will be responsible for leading analytical insight through regular deep dives into credit policy, risk management, and mitigants, ensuring these are appropriate and effective in managing identified risks, emerging risks, and opportunities, while maintaining the right balance of risk and reward.
You will oversee and provide analysis to support the assessment of IFRS 9 provisions, reviewing proposals on provisioning and post-model adjustments to ensure that provisions are adequate and reflect Nationwide’s exposure to current and future risks. This includes ensuring sensible forecasts of provisions and risk profiles are incorporated into financial forecasts for both financial planning and stress testing purposes.
This is a broad role, and your input, analysis, and review will be instrumental in shaping credit risk management across the Society.
As an experienced credit risk professional with a working knowledge of all facets of credit risk management, you will ensure that model approvals take into account the operating and risk environment in which they are used.
This is a fantastic opportunity for a risk manager and deep technical expert in credit risk to provide insight, support strategic direction, and promote Nationwide Building Society for the benefit of its members, employees, and stakeholders.
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.
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. This is anticipated to be Swindon. 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.
Responsibilities
What you’ll be doing
This role sits at the heart of our Credit Risk agenda, with a broad remit spanning secured oversight and cross-portfolio leadership to provide a clear group-wide view across Risk Appetite, Financial Planning, and Risk Measurement. While acting as the unsecured oversight SME you will also be required to lead work across all portfolios. You will leverage your expertise and analytical capability to shape credit risk strategy, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and effective identification and mitigation of key risks. You will analyse risk profiles, review proposals, and deliver independent insights to support robust decision-making and ensure transparency around risks and mitigants.
The role also involves active engagement in credit model development, deep dives into credit policy and strategy, and oversight of credit risk measurement to ensure accurate reporting and effective management of emerging and evolving risks. In addition, you will support provisioning and financial forecasting activities, including IFRS 9, ensuring that credit provisions and loss forecasts are robust, reflect economic conditions, and appropriately capture current and future risks.
About you
You will have:
Proven experience in risk management roles within the financial sector, covering the management and oversight of secured, unsecured, and business credit portfolios across areas such as policy, strategy, risk management, and risk measurement (including provisioning, forecasting, and stress testing).
Additional credit risk experience across other portfolios, secured/business is beneficial.
Strong experience in leading credit and financial analysis, with a clear understanding of how to develop robust credit risk proposals and the ability to challenge using data-driven insight.
Ability to approach complex problems logically and draw out meaningful and appropriate insights.
Highly analytical, with experience in data manipulation using SAS or an equivalent programming language to deliver risk insights.
Capable of objectively reviewing proposals and designing and producing analysis to assess and measure the risks they present to the Society.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
Ability to build credibility as a Secured Credit Risk SME, using strong interpersonal and communication skills to ensure Second Line opinions are understood, respected, and appropriately considered.
Skilled in identifying key stakeholders and developing strategies to build and maintain strong, effective relationships.
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.
Qualifications
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 Nisha Babbar and the main recruitment contact is Sameena Rehman
Please note that should you be successful in securing this role, the job title on our internal systems will be Risk Manager.
Contact Details:
Nationwide Building Society Recruitment Team
