Head of Compliance

We’re a Building Society and we do banking. Our difference? We're owned by, and run for, our customers who have their mortgages, savings, or current accounts with us. We were founded with a strong underlying social purpose, to help people save and buy homes of their own. We continue to be guided by this same social purpose today, as we implement our Blueprint for a Modern Mutual - “Banking, but fairer, more rewarding and for the good of society.”  It’s an exciting time as we evolve to a new future that sees us accelerate delivery of our strategic aims, value to our 15 million customers and engage colleagues around new ways of working.

This senior ‘Head of role reporting to the Director of Compliance will be leading and developing a professional team to fulfil Compliance’s objective of providing effective and robust advice, assurance and oversight to Nationwide. As a member of the Compliance & Regulatory Affairs Senior Leadership Team, you’ll contribute to the direction of Compliance through engagement in strategic decisions and driving through change.

As Head of Compliance, you’ll lead the Cross-Cutting Insight team, involved in topic areas that span across our organisation (incl. complaints, remediation, vulnerability), as well as regulatory change and horizon scanning.

We’ll need you to be a highly inclusive, collaborative people leader with a demonstrable track record of growing capability and diverse talent. You will have excellent stakeholder engagement and enterprise leadership skills and bring fresh thinking and pace to drive high performance, cultural change and develop new ways of working.

We strongly believe that working collaboratively helps us to deliver personally, as part of the team and for the good of our customers. To support that goal, we will spend a minimum 2 days each week in the office building effective relationships face to face.  

These are fantastic opportunities to make a real difference in an organisation famed for its values and sense of social purpose.

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.

What you’ll be doing:

• Working closely with the Director of Compliance to provide high quality reports and papers for submission to the FCA, PRA, the Board and other senior committees, and attend, or deputise for the Director of Compliance at key committees. 
• Lead one of our second line Compliance Advice teams as part of the SLT for Nationwide’s Director of Compliance. 
• Manage all aspects of Compliance input into new and changing regulation, including assessing the impact for Nationwide and advising on those requirements. This also includes leading on building a strategic aggregate Society-wide regulatory change view which includes regular senior executive and Board level reporting.
• Lead the horizon scanning and insight function for Compliance, including management of our Regulatory Tool.
• Lead change and development in the department and support the Director of Compliance in the communication of the strategic plan and the Risk Community priorities.
• Ensure that our risk frameworks appropriately reflect and manage our conduct and compliance risk including supporting managing our risk governance;
• Accountability for the provision of effective, efficient and robust regulatory risk advice and assurance to significant strategic projects.
• Maintain high value relationships with key senior stakeholders with a sufficient depth of understanding of key business priorities and risks to ensure that Compliance is appropriately engaged in initiatives.
• Represent Compliance at key committees as required - for example project and programme boards.

About you:

• As a key member of the leadership team within our second line Compliance function, you’ll have a breadth of experience across the compliance and regulatory environment with an ability to adapt and take on different challenges within the Compliance function as and when the role requires. 
• To be successful in these roles you will also demonstrate:
• Extensive experience in a regulated environment, either in a compliance or legal function and in-depth knowledge of relevant regulation (and codes).
• Experience working across lines of defence and risk structures, leading a team of professionals, coupled with the ability to inspire people to deliver to the best of their ability, sell ideas and be a driver of change. 
• An ability to develop high value relationships at all levels in the business, and to command respect from business leaders.
• A strong communicator who’s able to land complex messages and challenge to the organisation whilst maintaining strong stakeholder relationships. 
• Managing the performance of staff at a range of levels, including coaching and giving effective development feedback.
• The ability to comprehend and assimilate information rapidly, whilst working in diverse complex business areas, and to work with business management to agree pragmatic and innovative solutions to regulatory issues.
• Operating at a strategic level to influence and input where required. 

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 :

We continually review and evaluate our offering to ensure we have a broad range of market competitive benefits available for our colleagues. When you put a lot in, it’s only fair to expect a lot out. So, when you help us do the right thing for our customers, we want to reward you.

 Additional benefits include:

• 30 days holiday
• Car allowance
• Opportunity to participate in a Green Car Scheme with access to an electric vehicle (EV) via monthly salary sacrifice payments.
• A competitive pension or cash alternative
• Family private healthcare cover, plus executive health screening every 2 years, and the opportunity to upgrade your cover to include a partner
• Life assurance, 8 x notional salary
• The opportunity to participate in our Annual Variable Pay plan
• ‘Gympass’ – Access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness
• Access to a 24/7 discounts app – where you can make savings every day

Why work for us 

We are a building society founded by ordinary people, our customers, who came together to help each other get the most from their money, buy homes and save for their futures. For over 130 years, we have supported each other and our communities, and we have done the right thing for wider society too. If you come to work here at Nationwide, you will be part of that. Part of something a bit different. And something really quite special. What is more, we have a strong ethic of care for each other and our customers. We recognise that our employees feel most appreciated when their thoughts and values are respected and considered. We are committed to creating a culture that recognises and truly values our individual differences and identities. 

So, if you would like to be a part of an inclusive workplace where you can be yourself, where your talents are nurtured, and you feel empowered to contribute, then please apply and help us in building society, nationwide.

What to do next

If you would like to apply, just click the ‘Apply now’ button. You will need to attach your CV and answer a few questions, and you can attach a cover letter to support your application.