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.
We're looking for a Head of Colleague Engagement Strategy, Experience and Insights to shape how our people connect with our purpose, understand our strategic direction and become advocates for Nationwide. You'll define and deliver an enterprise-wide engagement strategy that brings our Group Momentum Plan and Blueprint to life, using insight to strengthen sentiment, deepen cultural alignment and create a more connected colleague experience.
As a trusted adviser to senior leaders, you'll translate complex business priorities into clear, compelling narratives that help colleagues understand what matters most, why it matters and the role they play in our success. You'll build strong partnerships across the organisation to ensure communications, engagement and experiences work together to drive understanding, belief and action.
You'll lead a high-performing strategy, experience and insights team and oversee some of our most important colleague and leadership experiences. From long-term planning and measurement to major events and periods of change, you'll ensure every interaction has a clear purpose, delivers meaningful outcomes and helps build a stronger, more connected Nationwide.
This is a 15-month Fixed Term Contract opportunity.
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 or London 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, so please apply as soon as you can.
You'll shape and lead Nationwide's colleague engagement strategy, ensuring it supports our purpose, business priorities and long-term ambitions. You'll define clear measures of success, use colleague insight and performance data to inform decisions, and evolve our approach to keep pace with changing expectations, behaviours and technology.
Working alongside senior leaders and external experts, you'll design and embed cultural interventions that bring our Blueprint to life. As a trusted adviser, you'll help leaders communicate with clarity, navigate complex and sensitive issues, and build understanding and alignment across the organisation.
You'll lead a high-performing strategy, experience and insights team and be responsible for some of Nationwide's most significant colleague and leadership experiences, including the delivery of large-scale flagship events that engage thousands of colleagues.
The events may be located across the UK and attendance to these will be required, flexibility to travel to attend these events will be required.
From long-term planning and measurement to major events and periods of change, you'll ensure every interaction delivers meaningful outcomes and strengthens connection to our purpose.
As a leader, you'll set the direction for a multidisciplinary team of strategy, experience and insight specialists. You'll build capability, coach, strengthen expertise in storytelling and engagement, and ensure the team delivers measurable impact. You'll also represent the function in senior enterprise forums and act as a visible advocate for colleague engagement across Nationwide.
You'll be an experienced colleague engagement, organisational culture or internal communications leader who can think long term and deliver at pace. You'll be comfortable operating in ambiguity, making balanced decisions and influencing at the most senior levels of a complex organisation.
As a minimum you'll have:
A strong track record of developing and delivering enterprise-wide colleague engagement or internal communications strategies that drive measurable business and people outcomes
Deep expertise in organisational culture, colleague engagement and employee communications, and a clear understanding of their role in driving performance, advocacy and change
Experience using colleague insight, sentiment and performance data to shape strategy, measure impact and continuously improve outcomes
Strong experience designing and delivering large scale flagship events
Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills, with the credibility and confidence to advise senior leaders and build alignment across multiple functions
Sound strategic judgement, with experience balancing risk, governance and compliance requirements while enabling innovation and pace
Experience leading, developing and inspiring high-performing teams, while building organisational capability and fostering a culture of continuous improvement
Exceptional communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex business priorities into clear, compelling and inclusive narratives
Commercial acumen, including experience managing significant budgets, suppliers and external partners to deliver value and impact
The ability to remain calm, adaptable and decisive in a fast-changing environment, creating clarity and direction when priorities evolve
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:
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
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.
