Senior Manager Business Credit Standards

2022 - Chief Operating Office; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial institution in the UK is seeking a Chief Operating Officer to manage and implement credit standards for their Business Banking portfolio. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in business banking lending, a deep understanding of regulatory environments, and strong leadership abilities. Responsibilities include leading the development of lending criteria and maintaining stakeholder relations while ensuring adherence to governance frameworks. A competitive salary and benefits package is offered for this pivotal role.

Benefits

25 days holiday, increasing to 30

Private medical insurance

Competitive pension

Annual performance-related bonus

Training and development

Flexible benefits scheme

Life assurance

Paid volunteering days

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in business banking lending with responsibility for lending criteria development.
• Strong track record in credit risk and policy roles.
• Deep knowledge of regulatory environments affecting lending.

Responsibilities

• Manage, maintain, and support design of credit standards for Business Banking.
• Lead development and review of business banking credit standards.
• Build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships.

Skills

Business banking lending experience

Credit risk understanding

Excellent communication skills

Leadership and people management

Analytical skills

Attention to detail

Job description

Business Unit:Chief Credit Office
Salary range:Circa £100,000 depending on experience
Location:UK Hybrid - with infrequent travel to all hubs as required
Contract type: Permanent

What You’ll Be Doing

• Reporting to the Head of Business Credit Insight and Innovation, you’ll manage, maintain, and support the design and implementation of credit standards for the Business Banking portfolio.
• Lead the 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 related education initiatives through CCO, Credit, and relevant committees and forums.
• Drive the 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 the 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 and organisation 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.

We Need You To Have

• 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.
• A 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.

It’s a bonus if you have

• 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

Red Hot Rewards

25 days holiday per year, increasing over time to 30. Plus, an option to buy more, giving you even more choice.

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 flexible benefits scheme

Life assurance to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones

Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year

If we’re lucky to receive a lot of interest, we may close the advert early. Please ensure to submit your applications as soon as possible.

Say hello to Virgin Money

Virgin Money is so much more than just a bank. As part of the Nationwide group,together we're the UK's first full-service mutual bank serving millions of retail and business customers and all driven by our purpose; Banking but fairer, more rewarding and for the good of society. With us, you’ll be part of an organisation uniquely positioned to make a difference to the lives of customers, communities and broader society and embark on a collaborative, customer obsessed, and fun-filled career journey. Embrace the weekdays, enjoy fantastic perks, and make a meaningful positive difference. Time to discover what it means to be part of the first mutual full-service banking provider.

Be yourself at Virgin Money

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 [e-mail]

Please note: If we receive a high volume of eligible applications, we may need to prioritise candidates whose skills and experience most closely align with the role, while still ensuring fair and equitable consideration for all applicants.

Now the legal bit

We’re in the process of bringing Virgin Money and Nationwide together which, subject to Court approval, will happen on 2 April 2026. You can find out more about what this means at https://uk.virginmoney.com/nationwide-transfer. If you’re successful in securing a role with us, your employment will move automatically to Nationwide when this transfer goes ahead.

Although some of our roles allow you to be based anywhere in the UK, we'll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK.

If you're successful in securing a role with us, there are some checks you need to complete before starting. These include credit and criminal record checks and three years' worth of satisfactory references. If the role is part of the Senior Manager Regime and Certification Regime, it requires enhanced pre-employment checks –we'll ask for six years of regulatory references, and once in the role, you'll be subject to periodic employment checks.