Business Development Manager

Virgin Money; Basingstoke; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A financial services organization based in Basingstoke is seeking an experienced professional to manage and support the design and implementation of credit standards for their Business Banking portfolio. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in business banking lending and a strong track record in credit risk management. Responsibilities include leading the development of credit standards, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements, and building relationships with key stakeholders. Competitive benefits and a commitment to inclusive culture are part of the offer.

Benefits

25 days holiday per year

Private medical insurance

Competitive pension

Annual performance-related bonus

Training and development

Flexible benefits scheme

Life assurance

Paid volunteering days

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in developing, implementing or maintaining lending criteria.
• Clear understanding of how lending criteria underpin sound credit decisions.
• Ability to translate complex requirements into actionable lending criteria.
• Experience writing or overseeing lending criteria for multiple sectors.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and maintenance of business banking credit standards.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders across Risk and Operations.
• Monitor adherence to credit policies and escalate gaps as needed.
• Prepare and present standards updates to governance forums.

Skills

Experience in business banking lending

Strong track record in credit risk

Excellent communication skills

Leadership and people-management

Attention to detail

Job description

Overview

Business Credit Risk Insight & Innovation supports key activity across the organisation to ensure end-to-end credit risk is managed effectively. Our function covers business credit automation decisioning, lending standards, credit strategy, and portfolio analysis and insight. We work collaboratively across the 1st and 2nd Lines of Defence, supporting robust credit risk management and standards compliance.

Responsibilities

• Reporting to the Head of Business Credit Insight and Innovation, manage, maintain and support design and implementation of credit standards for the Business Banking portfolio.
• Lead development, maintenance and review of business banking credit standards and delegated authority frameworks, ensuring alignment with risk appetite, strategic objectives and regulatory requirements.
• Oversee credit standards design, governance and education initiatives through CCO, Credit and relevant committees and forums.
• Drive effective implementation of credit standards changes, ensuring clear communication and consistent application.
• Monitor adherence to credit policies, frameworks and standards, escalating gaps or control weaknesses as needed.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders across Risk, Business Banking and Operations.
• Act as a key contact for regulatory bodies and internal audit, supporting responses to reviews and audits.
• Regularly assess and update credit policies and education programmes to reflect changing requirements.
• Prepare and present standards updates, compliance insights and trend analysis to governance forums.
• Contribute to simplification of credit policies and decisioning authorities, supporting digital transformation and operational efficiency.
• Design and deliver bank-wide credit education and training strategies.
• Ensure controls and risk log are maintained for all matters relating to Business Credit Insight & Innovation (BC I&I), working across the function to ensure adherence to the enterprise-wide control framework.
• Support governance adherence within the agreed governance framework as required for all BC I&I matters.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in business banking lending, ideally with direct responsibility for developing, implementing or maintaining lending criteria across a range of sectors and customer segments.
• Strong track record in roles focused on credit risk, lending standards or credit policy – demonstrating a clear understanding of how lending criteria underpin sound credit decisions.
• Deep knowledge of business banking products, customer needs and the regulatory environment affecting lending criteria.
• Proven ability to translate complex regulatory and strategic requirements into clear, actionable lending criteria and standards.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage, influence and educate stakeholders at all levels on the rationale and application of lending criteria.
• Strong leadership and people‑management skills, with experience building high-performing teams and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• A collaborative approach, working effectively across functions to ensure lending criteria are consistently applied and understood.
• High attention to detail and a commitment to maintaining robust controls and governance in all aspects of credit risk management.
• Experience writing or overseeing lending criteria for multiple business banking sectors and segments, including specialist or complex lending areas.
• Demonstrated success in simplifying and streamlining lending criteria and related processes, supporting digital transformation and operational efficiency.
• Experience engaging with regulators, auditors and industry bodies on matters relating to lending criteria, credit policy or standards.
• Familiarity with delegated credit authority frameworks and their application to business banking portfolios.
• Successfully held a Credit Lending DCA.

Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Statement

At Virgin Money, we celebrate everyone. We have fun, think big and relentlessly include each other, all in pursuit of our purpose: Banking – but fairer, more rewarding and for the good of society. We’re committed to creating an inclusive culture where colleagues feel safe and inspired to contribute, speak up and be heard. As a Disability Confident Leader, we’re committed to removing any obstacles to inclusion. If you need any reasonable adjustments or support making your application, contact our Talent Acquisition team at [e-mail].

Legal and Transfer Notice

We’re in the process of bringing Virgin Money and Nationwide together which, subject to Court approval, will happen on 2 April 2026. If you’re successful with us, your employment will move automatically to Nationwide when this transfer goes ahead. You’ll need to confirm your right to work in the UK and complete credit, criminal record checks and references. For senior roles, enhanced pre‑employment checks will apply.

Benefits

• 25 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 over time (with optional purchase of additional days).
• Private medical insurance.
• A highly competitive pension.
• Annual performance‑related bonus.
• Training and development.
• Access to a flexible benefits scheme.
• Life assurance.
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering per year.