Service Design & Improvement Architect in Swindon

Help shape the future of People services at Nationwide. As a Service Design and Improvement Architect, you'll lead the design and continuous improvement of services that support colleagues throughout their career journey. You'll use data, insight and colleague feedback to simplify processes, enhance experiences and drive operational excellence across the People function.

Working with stakeholders across People, Digital and the wider business, you'll identify opportunities to modernise services, increase the use of digital tools and self-service solutions, and deliver meaningful improvements that make it easier for colleagues to access support and information. This is an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about service design, continuous improvement and innovation. You'll play a key role in creating simpler, smarter and more colleague-focused services, while helping shape the future of People operations through digital transformation and emerging technologies, including AI. Join us and make a real impact by designing services that are efficient, intuitive and built around colleague needs.

This role sits within the recently formed People Operational Excellence team, part of the People Chief Operating Office (People COO), which leads operational excellence, service design, continuous improvement and digital innovation across the People function. The team is focused on creating simpler, smarter and more effective People services that support colleagues and business success.

As a Service Design and Improvement Architect, you'll lead the design and improvement of People services, driven by insights and colleague feedback. You will work to simplify processes, enhance digital experiences and deliver meaningful change. You'll partner with a range of People teams to create services that are intuitive, efficient and future-ready.

The services you shape will make it easier for colleagues to access support, information and guidance throughout their career journey. By improving experiences, reducing complexity and increasing the use of digital solutions, you'll help colleagues spend less time navigating processes and more time focusing on what matters most. 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 role, you'll be based at your nearest regional office or hub. We value time spent together to connect with colleagues for collaboration so there will be a regular requirement to attend our Swindon site approximately once per quarter. If you are based at an office location, you'll be expected to meet our hybrid working requirement of at least two days a week, or 40% of your working time if part-time, in the office.

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

Every day brings the chance to make life a little easier for colleagues across Nationwide. You'll spend time talking to people, understanding what's working well and where services could be simpler, then turning those insights into practical improvements. Partnering with teams from across the People function, you'll help shape better digital experiences, streamline processes and introduce new ways of working. It's a varied, collaborative role where your ideas can have a real impact on how colleagues access support throughout their career journey.

About you

Essential skills and experience

• Demonstrable experience of designing and improving end-to-end services, processes or customer journeys, in a Human Resources/People function.
• Experience using data, feedback and performance measures to identify improvement opportunities and deliver measurable service improvements.
• Proven track record of leading or delivering service improvement, process redesign or operational excellence initiatives.
• Experience working with digital tools, self-service solutions or digital service channels to improve user experience and reduce manual effort.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with evidence of influencing and delivering outcomes across multiple teams/business areas.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify root causes, develop solutions and implement sustainable improvements.
• A positive mindset, and a ‘can do’ and collaborative approach.

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.
• 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.

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. Keeping your data and personal information confidential is important to us.

If you want to find out more about using AI in our recruitment process, please read more here.

Disability Confident

We’re not just guided by data, we’re driven by the real experiences of our people. We’re a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader, the highest level. That’s why we’re constantly evolving our policies and practices to make sure everyone feels genuinely supported, valued, and empowered to champion inclusion. Whatever your needs, we’re here to support you. If you need any additional support throughout your application journey, email our team at Recruitment Support.

Apply safely with Nationwide

Recruitment scams can look convincing, so take a moment to check the role is listed on our official careers site and read our guidance on Don’t be conned by a job scam.

The hiring manager for this role is Anna Kerr, and the main recruitment contact is Bhavit Panchmatia.