Senior Manager IT Service Management

Customer Technology & Payments is establishing a dedicated Service Optimisation capability to strengthen service resilience, stability and performance across an increasingly complex technology landscape.

In this leadership role, you will work across CIO teams, service management, engineering, service reliability, infrastructure, strategic partners and senior stakeholders to turn operational insight into measurable improvements. This means identifying the right areas of focus, shaping the improvement portfolio, driving governance, tracking progress and making sure benefits are visible.

This role provides the senior orchestration, challenge, structure and service performance insight needed to make improvement activity joined up, prioritised and sustained - CIO and application teams will continue to own delivery outcomes.

This is an opportunity to build a new and enduring capability for Customer Technology & Payments, helping Nationwide move towards a more proactive, preventative and insight-led service management model.

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 our Swindon 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.

Nationwide is committed to the redeployment of our employees impacted by change, as such applications for redeployment candidates will be prioritised in this recruitment process.
 
If you’re a colleague on long-term absence (for example, on parental leave) or a temporary worker, please use your personal email address to submit an application.

What you’ll be doing

You will lead the creation of a new Service Optimisation capability for Customer Technology & Payments, building the rhythm, governance and portfolio approach needed to turn operational insight into measurable improvement.

You will work across CIO teams, service management leaders, engineering teams, service reliability teams, infrastructure teams and strategic partners to identify service performance drivers, agree priorities and track delivery against outcomes.

A typical day will involve shaping improvement priorities, challenging the quality of insight, bringing together multiple teams around shared service outcomes, and providing clear leadership reporting on progress, blockers and benefits.

You will play a key role in embedding a more proactive and preventative approach to service management, with a clear focus on resilience, stability, service quality and reducing avoidable operational noise.

About you

To be successful in this role, you’ll need to demonstrate:

• Significant experience leading large-scale technology service transformation or service performance improvement within a complex, regulated technology environment
• Proven experience in retail banking, payments, financial services or a similarly regulated technology environment, with a strong understanding of operational resilience, service stability and production risk
• Strong practical knowledge of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) service management practices, including incident, problem, change, knowledge, service level and continual improvement disciplines
• Evidence of leading through influence across matrix teams, where delivery accountability sits across multiple CIO, engineering, operations, partner or service functions
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders, including technology executives, service leaders, engineering leaders and third-party partners, to agree priorities and drive measurable outcomes
• Experience building or governing a service improvement portfolio, including prioritisation, dependency management, delivery tracking, benefit realisation and leadership reporting
• Strong analytical and commercial judgement, with the ability to translate service performance data, incident learning and operational observations into clear decisions, actions and measurable improvement plans

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

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

• 30 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.

What to do next

If this role is for you, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button. You’ll need to attach your up-to-date CV and answer a few quick questions for us. 

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

The hiring manager for this role is Vijay Anand Sundararajan, and the main recruitment contact is Nathan Richens.