Financial Risk - Lead Risk Manager

At Nationwide Building Society, our Business Risk Oversight Team is integral to shaping and safeguarding the organisation’s strategic direction.

As a Risk Manager you will play a key role in challenging and supporting the business to manage its business risks in line with regulation, risk appetite and the Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF). You will be collaborating extensively with stakeholders across the business (Finance, Product and Credit teams) to understand how they are assessing and modelling Nationwide’s financial performance to identify and measure the key business risks. You will be supporting exercises to stress test the business model using a range of scenarios including major regulatory deliverables such as the ACS, ICAAP, Recovery Plan & Reverse Stress Test (RST) as well as internally generated insight scenarios.

You will also be working closely with teams across Nationwide in the development of the Society’s strategy and financial plan. Your involvement will be crucial both in shaping these plans and in overseeing the execution.

This role sits within the Financial Risk Oversight function which provides second line review, challenge and support across market, liquidity, capital, model and business risks, as well as prudential regulatory advice. The department is led by the Director of Financial Risk Oversight who reports to the Chief Risk Officer.

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, at one of our offices. 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.

What you'll be doing

You’ll be influencing risk management by proactively engaging with the 1st line teams. Sometimes you will engage early to input into the formulation of risk management proposals, while at other times you will review and challenge first line outputs. Your awareness of others means that you will be able to tell which approach will work best and give the desired results.

You will be expected to have an opinion, and you will need to be comfortable speaking up. Partnering with the business, you will provide oversight of the key business decisions and propositions going to senior committees, up to Board level.

You will use your naturally inquisitive mindset to develop an understanding of the wider economic and market landscape and its impact on the Society by using internal and external insights. You will be comfortable closing gaps in your knowledge by engaging your network of stakeholders and using your judgement to draw conclusions.

As someone who is up for a challenge, you will be expected to take ownership of issues outside of your own direct remit for the benefit of the department and division. You will need to prioritise effectively and maintain focus and a proactive approach, as well as being able to perform under pressure against tight deadlines.

About you

• A finance background, with experience of assessing financial risks within a formal regulatory context including oversight of financial plan and regulatory stress testing and scenario modelling responses
• Ability to develop strong working relationships at all levels and build credibility quickly across a breadth of topics – allowing you to influence and challenge internal stakeholders
• Strong reasoning skills supported by a logical approach allowing you to review, analyse and challenge data and internal stakeholders
• Ability to join up the dots, using your significant industry knowledge, awareness of the external context and emerging regulatory trends

Our Customer First behaviours are all about putting customers and members at the heart of how we work together. You can strengthen your application by showing the behaviours that resonate with you, and how you might have already demonstrated these.

• Say it straight - This is about being honest and direct with good intent and saying what needs to be said in the room. It’s also about being clear, precise, and using language that we and, importantly, our customers and members can understand.
• Push for better - This is about aiming high and constantly looking for better in how we work together and serve our customers and members.
• Get it done - This is about prioritising what will have the greatest impact, being decisive and taking accountability for delivering on the end-to-end outcome.

We know applying for jobs can sometimes feel like you’re sending an application into a black hole. We review each application individually. So, it’s a good idea to call out your most relevant experience on your application to give yourself the best chance.

The extras you'll get

There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:

• A personal pension – if you put in 7% of your salary, we’ll top up by a further 16%
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year
• Life assurance worth 8x your salary
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Wellhub – Access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness.
• Access to an annual performance related bonus
• Access to training to help you develop and progress your career
• 25 days holiday pro rata