Senior Risk & Control Specialist in Swindon

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Branch Support & Enablement team in a pivotal role supporting safe and compliant branch operations. As a Senior Risk & Control Specialist, you will be at the heart of ensuring the branch network meets key controls, minimises risk, and fulfils regulatory requirements within an evolving risk landscape.

Working within an energetic and forward-thinking team, you will lead the design, implementation, and ongoing development of a robust risk framework, helping to protect customers, colleagues, and the wider organisation. This role offers a unique opportunity to not only maintain but shape and enhance the framework, embedding strong controls and a culture of risk awareness across the business.

We’re looking for a detail-focused and proactive professional who thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. You’ll work closely with senior stakeholders, Risk, and wider teams to strengthen controls, provide clear guidance, and drive continuous improvement, making a meaningful impact across the organisation. We are happy to consider flexible working approaches to help you perform at your best. 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 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.

You will be responsible for designing and managing the Branch Risk Specialist Framework and associated risk assessments for key branch controls, ensuring strong quality, oversight, and adherence to policies and processes. A key focus will be driving consistent testing practices across the branch network, aligned to the framework, to ensure requirements are met in a reliable and effective manner.

You will also take ownership of business unit policies and processes, ensuring they remain accurate, up to date, and regularly reviewed. In addition, you will implement and review correlation activities to evidence compliance with framework expectations and identify opportunities for improvement. By interpreting testing outputs, you will proactively identify emerging risks or control weaknesses, ensuring robust action plans are developed and escalated to senior leadership where appropriate.

Working collaboratively with stakeholders across the organisation, you will play a key role in strengthening the overall risk framework and enhancing branch risk management performance. You will also represent the branch network in senior stakeholder forums, including risk committees and leadership meetings, providing clear insight and direction.

For this role, you will have:

• Proven experience in building and implementing frameworks within a retail branch environment
• Strong understanding of branch risk management, including cash management and operational controls
• In-depth knowledge of branch processes and procedures, with the ability to identify gaps and drive improvements
• Experience working in a fast-paced, continually changing environment, with the ability to prioritise effectively and meet tight deadlines
• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills, enabling you to collaborate confidently across all areas of the organisation and ensure risk requirements are met
• Experience in Enterprise Outcome Testing, including assessing the effectiveness of controls, identifying ineffective controls, and producing clear, accurate reports on branch control performance
• A strong track record of performing under pressure and maintaining accuracy and attention to detail
• A proactive, flexible, and forward-thinking approach to managing risk and always seeking opportunities to improve ways of working

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.

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

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.