Customer & Service Excellence Development Programme - Retail

Nationwide; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 23,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Structured learning

25 days holiday

Annual bonus

Private medical insurance

Wellhub access

Salary sacrifice benefits

Volunteer hours

Life assurance

Job summary

Nationwide in Swindon or Northampton is launching the Customer & Service Excellence Development Programme – Retail, a two-year, structured route into a banking career. You’ll complete three customer-facing placements and learn through a Future Ready Core development programme to build skills you’ll use across Nationwide.

Hybrid working is offered; spend at least two days per week at Swindon or Northampton offices.

Qualifications

• Strong customer-service mindset and empathy.
• Willingness to learn in a structured graduate programme.
• Interest in banking and financial services, with good interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Complete three customer-facing placements across different teams.
• Engage in learning modules, workshops and hands-on projects.
• Support customers and contribute to fair, positive outcomes throughout the programme.

Skills

Customer service

Communication

Curiosity

Teamwork

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

• Swindon, United Kingdom
• Northampton, United Kingdom

Good things this way

If you're ambitious, curious and enjoy working with people, our Customer & Service Excellence Development Programme – Retail, provides a structured route into a rewarding career in banking.

Help create fair, positive outcomes for customers while developing the confidence, judgement and skills needed for a successful career in customer service.

Whether you're a graduate ready to make an impact, or a career changer looking for a new challenge, you'll gain hands‑on experience, develop future‑ready skills, and contribute to projects that deliver banking that's fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society.

You’ll follow a tailored learning pathway designed to build the skills you’ll need for the future of financial services. Through digital learning, interactive workshops, insights from leaders and industry experts, and hands‑on experience in your role, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to put your learning into practice. You’ll also learn alongside colleagues from across Nationwide, helping you build your network and understand more about how our business works.

We’ll support your development through structured learning, personalised development and hands‑on experience, helping you grow with confidence.

Looking for a rewarding career in banking? Good things this way.

Where you’ll be working

You’ll join our Retail, Customer Operations and Product function, where teams work together to support customers, improve experiences and deliver great outcomes.

Throughout the programme, you’ll complete three customer‑facing placements, giving you experience of supporting customers across different teams and environments. Each placement offers a different perspective on the customer journey, helping you understand how Nationwide supports customers both directly and indirectly.

Customer‑first thinking sits at the heart of everything we do. The programme is designed to help you build the knowledge, confidence and relationships needed for a successful career in customer service while understanding how different teams work together to deliver fair outcomes and a simply brilliant service.

Location

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 spend at least two days per week, based at our Swindon or Northampton offices.

Uncompromisingly Customer, whatever our role

The extras you’ll get

High performing and purpose‑driven colleagues deserve a rewarding career and competitive benefits to match. We offer you:

• Structured learning, personalised development and hands‑on experience to help you build future‑ready skills and progress your career in banking
• 25 days holiday each year, which increases over time to 30. Plus, you can ‘buy’ up to 10 extra days
• The opportunity to earn an annual bonus based on your performance
• Private medical insurance to help you access additional healthcare when you need it
• Wellhub access to a range of free and paid fitness and wellbeing options, plus free on‑site gyms at selected locations
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Up to 14 paid hours each year to volunteer for a cause that matters to you
• Life assurance to provide additional peace of mind for you and the people who matter to you

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.

We’ll send you our online assessments to complete and there will also be a short video interview to find out more about you. If you are successful, you could be selected to attend one of our assessment centres which run from January 2027.

As a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approved sponsor, we have a responsibility to comply with the applicable Immigration Rules and guidance (which are subject to change). The Skilled Worker route has specific requirements relating to skill level of the role and minimum salary expectations. As such, our ability to employ individuals who require sponsorship for immigration purposes is limited or may not be possible for some programmes.

VISA Sponsorship cannot be offered on this programme.

All successful applicants with need to demonstrate their right to work in the UK on commencement of employment and for the duration of the programme applied for without requiring sponsorship.

If you have any further questions, please contact us at [e-mail]

Banking - but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society

What you’ll be doing on the Customer & Service Excellence Development Programme - Retail

Our Customer & Service Excellence Development Programme begins on 6th September 2027.

Your programme begins with an induction, helping you learn more about Nationwide, connect with colleagues and build the foundations for your role.

Over two years, you’ll complete three customer‑facing placements across different teams and environments. You will learn about customer vulnerability and how we create positive outcomes for our customers, from complaints to fraud and general support.

Alongside on‑the‑job learning, you’ll take part in our Future Ready Core development programme. This combines development sessions, networking opportunities, self‑guided learning, reflective workbooks, customer immersion experiences and access to a wider early careers community.

Together, these experiences will help you develop the skills, confidence and connections needed for a successful career.

This role has a direct impact on the experiences and outcomes of Nationwide's customers. By listening to customers, understanding their circumstances and providing appropriate support, you'll help customers access the services and solutions they need.

No two days are the same. Activities could include speaking with customers, understanding their needs, responding to queries, helping find solutions, collaborating with colleagues, reviewing customer feedback and identifying opportunities to improve services and processes.

Through your placements, you’ll develop practical customer service skills alongside a broad range of transferable professional capabilities, including:

Communication and relationship building

Problem solving and decision making

Managing sensitive conversations

Customer journey understanding

Teamwork and collaboration

Adaptability and resilience

Customer insight and service improvement

The programme also provides valuable insight into operational processes and the importance of delivering fair outcomes. Along the way, you'll develop a deeper understanding of how customer needs, feedback and experiences help shape products, services and ways of working across Nationwide.

The pace of work is varied, with a mixture of planned activity and changing priorities. You’ll often need to balance different customer needs, adapt to new situations and respond confidently to challenges as they arise.

Who we’re looking for on the Customer & Service Excellence Development Programme – Retail

We're looking for driven, curious people with high standards and a genuine interest in Customer & Service Excellence. You’ll share our determination to push for better and put customers first, not just in what you deliver, but in every decision you make.

Whatever your route, our Customer & Service Excellence Development Programme will help you build the skills and experience needed for a rewarding career in banking.

To succeed on our Customer & Service Excellence Development Programme, you’ll need to show:

A genuine interest in helping and supporting customers.

Empathy and the ability to understand different perspectives.

Patience and confidence when managing challenging conversations.

• The ambition to keep growing, take on new challenges and build towards your next career step

A logical, methodical approach, with the ability to understand both the detail and the bigger picture

The confidence to build relationships and work with colleagues across the business

Drive, high performance and a commitment to learning from feedback and setbacks

A determination to push for better and put customers first in the decisions you make

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.

Job Info

• Job Identification 5646
• Apply Before 11/06/2026, 11:55 PM
• Locations Nationwide House, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN38 1NW, GB Kings Park Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN3 6NW, GB