Do you want to have an influence on making the UK a more responsible business market, helping our business customers to decarbonise and make their business more responsible?
Following the acquisition of Virgin Money, Nationwide is on a bold journey to build leading, relationship‑led business banking, combining strong customer advocacy, deep sector and local knowledge, sustainable growth and disciplined risk management aligned to the benefits of being a modern mutual.
We are seeking a Senior Product Manager – Sustainable Finance Industry Manager to deliver sector-specific sustainability to our customers whilst supporting Nationwide to deliver responsible business banking as we bring the mutual model to the UK SME market.
You will specialise in either Agriculture & Energy, or Manufacturing & Transport, and you’ll use specialist knowledge on decarbonisation and broader challenges and opportunities in what makes a responsible business – working directly with customers, professional advisors and other stakeholders to engage, understand and influence customers on current and future actions to help them become a more responsible business.
This is a new role, with opportunity to shape, influence and drive how we engage with (primarily) larger borrowing customers – working closely with senior colleagues in Business Banking, Risk and Finance to design and deliver on a range of initiatives, including but not limited to – policy progress, data enhancements and customer experience. This will be done in a style that reflects Nationwide’s values: customer-first, inclusive, collaborative and principled.
The roles sit within the Business Management function who oversee delivery across Business Banking by coordinating priorities, unblocking issues, and driving pace, focus and execution across the leadership agenda. The team is responsible for driving Business Banking performance, sustainability and engagement, strengthening connection, clarity and capability.
The Senior Product Manager – Sustainable Finance Industry Manager is a new role – with an opportunity for the successful candidate to shape and evolve the role – with an overarching ambition to help our business customers with their sustainability ambitions.
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 role, you will be part of our growing Business Banking team, meeting with and supporting customers across your assigned region. As such, you can be based anywhere across the mainland UK, provided you are able to travel regularly to meet clients within your region. Additionally, there will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues through collaboration events at one of our office locations. These are currently expected to take place monthly in Glasgow or London, although locations may vary. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will share further details on how this will work in practice. You can also find out more about our approach to hybrid working here.
Virgin Money is now part of Nationwide
Nationwide acquired Virgin Money in October 2024. Virgin Money continues to serve customers on the high street, and there will be a phased and considered integration over the coming years.
You’ll be employed by Nationwide from day one, delivering real impact and benefitting from a highly competitive range of benefits. We’re a workplace where you’re rewarded, recognised and celebrated.
If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so please apply as soon as you can.
The role involves supporting customers and relationship managers by providing specialist sector knowledge across key industries, including Agriculture & Energy and Manufacturing & Transport, with a particular emphasis on energy and environmental transitions. A central responsibility is helping customers embed technical understanding of tools such as the Future‑Fit Business Benchmark, Trinity AgTech, Science‑Based Targets, financed‑emissions methodologies, and the Climate Change Committee’s pathway to net zero.
You’ll work directly with larger borrowing customers—typically those with lending in excess of £1 million—to understand and assess their sustainability progress, including the performance and resilience of their supply chains. It also contributes to the development and implementation of customer sustainability strategies, particularly those focused on energy and environmental priorities, while advising on the financial requirements needed to deliver these plans.
In addition, the role provides sector‑specific insight and guidance that adds value as customers navigate the challenges and opportunities within their industries, supporting them in managing their businesses sustainably and competitively.
The role requires subject‑matter expertise in sustainability products, including both Nationwide‑developed solutions and market‑standard products established by the Loan Market Association (LMA) and other industry bodies. This expertise supports the design, delivery and ongoing management of a Future‑Fit loan suite, along with any relevant specialist sector products.
A key responsibility is working closely with relationship managers to support execution, taking end‑to‑end ownership of the validation process. For positions focused on Agriculture & Energy, the role also includes managing the organisation’s digital environmental tool, Rapid by Trinity AgTech, and collaborating with the Head of Agriculture and the Senior Manager for Sustainable Finance to shape and deliver the future strategic direction.
You’ll work in collaboration with key stakeholders across the organisation to embed a Sustainable Finance Framework into the Group, whilst exploring careful risk appetite expansion.
As a minimum requirement, you’ll have:
- A track record for excellence in business banking or sustainability, including specific industry knowledge
- Excellent communication, thought leadership and influencing skills, both written and verbal, building instant credibility with stakeholders internally and externally
- Hold, or willing to work towards an industry specific accreditation, in addition to becoming a Future-Fit Accredited Advisor
- Exceptional stakeholder manager skills with a demonstrable track record of influencing senior stakeholders
- Experience, or an appetite to develop, an understanding and interpretation of financial statements and where businesses have opportunities to make ESG related commercial investments
- The aptitude to assimilate, understand, and efficiently present complex information to colleagues and customers in a simple manner
- The ability to deliver to specific deadlines, working on your own initiative
- An understanding of policies, procedures, and regulations, ensuring these are always adhered to
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.
There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:
25 days holiday, pro rata
Access to 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
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.
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.
Please note that should you be successful in securing this role, the job title on our internal systems will be Senior Product Manager.
