Strategic Projects Manager

Virgin Money UK PLC; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Private medical insurance

Pension plan

Annual performance bonus

Training and development

Salary sacrifice benefits

Life assurance

Wellhub health and wellness

Volunteer days

Job summary

Nationwide is seeking a Strategic Projects Manager to support Marketing Strategy across Group Customer Communications. The role blends strategic thinking with practical action, coordinating AI and non-AI priorities to drive customer growth and marketing effectiveness.

Working with the Director of Strategy and Senior Manager for Marketing Strategy, you’ll help build clear roadmaps, governance and deliverables while embracing flexible, hybrid working across Swindon or London or Bournemouth offices.

Qualifications

• Experience in strategic project management, business planning, marketing strategy, transformation, consulting, portfolio management or a similar coordination role.
• Experience improving ways of working and coordinating workshops, working groups, suppliers and senior stakeholder forums, including planning rhythms, governance, stakeholder updates, decision tracking and turning discussion into clear outcomes and next steps.
• Experience supporting strategic projects from early problem framing through to recommendations, plans, decision points and delivery tracking.
• Experience bringing structure and oversight to complex activity with multiple workstreams, stakeholders, dependencies, risks and decisions.

Responsibilities

• A typical week will span Marketing Strategy, GCC AI Strategy and ad hoc strategic projects.
• In Marketing Strategy, you will work with colleagues across Group Customer Communications to understand priorities, spot gaps and connect activity.
• In GCC AI Strategy, you will help teams use new technology safely, usefully and responsibly.

Skills

Strategic project management

Business planning

Marketing strategy

Transformation

Consulting

Portfolio management

Job description

At Nationwide, our purpose is simple: Banking, but fairer, more rewarding and for the good of society. As the UK's largest building society, we're focused on creating long-term value for our members and helping more people benefit from mutual banking.

As we continue to grow and strengthen our position as the UK's leading mutual, we're looking for an organised, curious and commercially minded Strategic Projects Manager to support the delivery of important strategic projects across Marketing Strategy, which sits in the Group Customer Communications (GCC) function.

Your work will typically fall into one of three categories. Firstly, Marketing Strategy where you will support the Senior Manager for Marketing Strategy to ensure smooth ways of working that help GCC deliver the strategy. Secondly, you will support wider ad hoc strategic projects linked to customer growth, marketing effectiveness, organisational priorities and future capability, often working closely with the Director of Strategy. And, finally a large proportion of your time will be spent working with the Senior Manager for AI Strategy on building and managing the ecosystem needed to deliver GCC AI Strategy effectively across Group Customer Communications.

This is a varied role for someone who enjoys bringing order to ambiguity and making sure good strategic thinking turns into practical action.

We are happy to consider flexible working approaches to help you perform at your best.

The working hours (per week) for this role can be between 26 and 35 hours.

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, or if part time you'll spend 40% of your working time, based at either our Swindon, London or Bournemouth office. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works. You can also find out more about our approach to hybrid working here.

If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date.

What you'll be doing

A typical week will span Marketing Strategy, GCC AI Strategy and ad hoc strategic projects.

In Marketing Strategy, you will work with colleagues across Group Customer Communications to understand priorities, spot gaps and connect activity. You will create simple ways of working, clarify actions, capture decisions and help make progress visible, so the strategy feels practical, joined up and deliverable.

In GCC AI Strategy, you will help teams use new technology safely, usefully and responsibly. You will capture ideas, assess value, coordinate support and build the ecosystem that connects use cases, people, technology, data, suppliers, governance, risk, funding and delivery.

For ad hoc strategic projects, your work will be varied and often fast moving. You may support the Director of Strategy on priority work, bring insight together, and turn complex problems into clear options and next steps across areas such as customer growth, marketing effectiveness, future capability and organisational priorities.

About you

• Experience in strategic project management, business planning, marketing strategy, transformation, consulting, portfolio management or a similar coordination role
• Experience improving ways of working and coordinating workshops, working groups, suppliers and senior stakeholder forums, including planning rhythms, governance, stakeholder updates, decision tracking and turning discussion into clear outcomes and next steps
• Experience supporting strategic projects from early problem framing through to recommendations, plans, decision points and delivery tracking
• Experience bringing structure and oversight to complex activity with multiple workstreams, stakeholders, dependencies, risks and decisions
• Experience creating and maintaining roadmaps, portfolio views, action logs, risks, dependencies and senior reporting
• A good understanding of marketing, customer strategy, digital change, data or AI enabled change would be valuable, but deep technical experience is not essential

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.

The extras you'll get

• 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

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 respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application.

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

Please note that should you be successful in securing this role, the job title on our internal systems will be Marketing & Corporate Affairs Manager.