Senior Manager Financial Crime Advice & Oversight (Personal)

Nationwide is undergoing ambitious change to evolve how we deliver value to millions of members. This is an opportunity to join Economic Crime Risk & Compliance as a Senior Manager, providing strategic direction, technical leadership and independent second line oversight across personal banking.

You’ll lead technical specialists and set priorities for Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF), Counter-Proliferation Financing (CPF) and Sanctions advisory and oversight. Working across Economic Crime Operations, Payments, Products and Customer Support, you’ll provide authoritative advice and constructive challenge to senior leaders and Accountable Executives on retail products, customer journeys, screening and transaction monitoring systems.

You’ll translate the Money Laundering Reporting Officer’s (MLRO) strategic objectives and evolving regulatory requirements into clear priorities, policies and control standards. You’ll oversee complex, high-profile matters, challenge control effectiveness across the customer lifecycle, and ensure material risks, issues and non-compliances are appropriately governed and escalated. This visible leadership role requires sound judgement, credible influence and the ability to turn complex risks into clear decisions and proportionate action.

Economic Crime Risk & Compliance sits within Nationwide’s Risk Function as a key part of the second line of defence, providing independent advice, oversight and challenge on economic crime risk within appetite. By strengthening controls across products, processes and customer relationships, you’ll help protect members from financial crime and harm, support fair outcomes and enable Nationwide’s strategy, while first line teams retain ownership of risks, controls and remediation.

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'll be based at your nearest regional office or hub. We value time spent together to connect with colleagues for collaboration so there will be a regular requirement to attend our London or Swindon site approximately once per quarter. If you are based at an office location, you'll be expected to meet our hybrid working requirement of at least two days a week, or 40% of your working time if part-time, in the office. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works.

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

You’ll lead Economic Crime Advisory activity across the personal banking portfolio, setting direction and priorities for the team and translating strategic objectives into a risk-based programme of advice, oversight and challenge. Your remit will cover AML, CTF, CPF and Sanctions risks across retail products, customer journeys and central screening and transaction monitoring systems.

You’ll set strategic advisory priorities and lead senior internal and external engagement on current and emerging economic crime risks, while providing a clear, evidence-based second line view of the risk profile, control weaknesses and remediation priorities to senior stakeholders and governance forums. Acting as a senior technical escalation point for complex and high-profile matters, you’ll provide independent advice and challenge to senior leaders and Accountable Executives. You’ll also lead and develop technical specialists, ensuring consistent advice and rigorous oversight of control design and effectiveness, with timely escalation and robust challenge of first line mitigation plans.

You’ll combine strategic judgement with the ability to interrogate detail, distinguish material risks and present clear recommendations. Building trusted relationships while maintaining second line independence, you’ll challenge decisions where necessary and ensure ownership, actions and escalation routes are clear.

Key responsibilities include providing senior technical leadership across AML, CTF, CPF and Sanctions risk within personal banking, directing advice on customer, product, channel and transactional risks. This includes areas such as customer due diligence (CDD), enhanced due diligence (EDD), identity and verification, ongoing monitoring, screening, transaction monitoring and suspicious activity reporting processes.

You’ll translate the MLRO’s strategic objectives, alongside evolving legal, regulatory and industry requirements, including the MLRs, JMLSG Guidance and OFSI expectations, into prioritised advisory and oversight plans, policies, frameworks, methodologies and control standards. This will involve directing team capacity towards the most material risks, obligations and business changes, including emerging proliferation financing risks.

Working closely with Economic Crime Operations, Payments, Products and Customer Support teams, you’ll lead independent challenge of new and changing retail products, customer journeys, processes and systems. You’ll ensure clear first line ownership and proportionate controls that align with risk appetite, regulatory obligations and fair customer outcomes.

You’ll oversee and challenge Accountable Executives’ assessment and management of economic crime risks, including the design, implementation and effectiveness of controls. This includes scrutinising policy breaches, dispensations, waivers, incidents and remediation activities, challenging the quality and pace of delivery, and ensuring appropriate evidence of closure. You’ll also ensure material or overdue issues, lessons learned and clear second line positions are reported and escalated through the appropriate senior governance and risk forums.

In addition, you’ll lead, coach and develop a team of economic crime specialists, setting clear objectives, quality standards and development priorities. You’ll maintain consistency in technical judgement, act as the escalation point for complex and high-profile matters, and build credible relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders, while preserving independent challenge and promoting a positive risk and compliance culture.

About you

We’re looking for an experienced economic crime leader who combines deep technical expertise with strategic judgement, independent challenge and the ability to lead a specialist team. You’ll bring:

• Proven leadership experience, with the ability to set direction, manage competing priorities and team capacity, coach technical specialists, and establish consistent standards of advice, judgement and delivery

• Deep knowledge of retail banking products, services and complex customer journeys, with extensive second line experience across AML, CTF, CPF and Sanctions and a strong practical understanding of UK requirements, including the MLRs, JMLSG Guidance and OFSI expectations

• Demonstrable expertise in assessing economic crime risk and challenging control design, implementation and effectiveness across customer, product, channel and transactional risk domains, including CDD, EDD, identity and verification, ongoing monitoring, SAR processes, screening and transaction monitoring, and the supporting people, processes and technology

• Proven ability to translate strategic objectives and regulatory developments into effective policies, control standards and prioritised advisory and oversight plans; direct complex technical work; scrutinise proposals and risk assessments; challenge remediation outcomes; and present evidence-based second line positions, escalating significant control weaknesses or delivery concerns through senior governance and risk forums

• Credibility and influence with senior leaders and Accountable Executives, combining independent, evidence-led judgement with strong analytical and communication skills; able to navigate differing views, raise difficult issues constructively, secure clear ownership and proportionate action, and turn complex matters into clear recommendations, high-quality governance papers and practical guidance, while remaining proactive, resilient and focused on regulatory compliance and fair member outcomes

• A specialist financial crime qualification and/or practical experience relating to financial crime 
• A substantial track record in economic crime, including leading complex advisory or oversight activity within a regulated financial services environment

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.

Keeping your data and personal information confidential is important to us. To find out more about how we use and process your data, please read our Privacy policy.

If you want to find out more about using AI in our recruitment process, please read more here.

Disability Confident 

We’re not just guided by data, we’re driven by the real experiences of our people. We’re a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader, the highest level. 

That’s why we’re constantly evolving our policies and practices to make sure everyone feels genuinely supported, valued, and empowered to champion inclusion. Whatever your needs, we’re here to support you. If you need any additional support throughout your application journey, email our team at Recruitment Support. 

Apply safely with Nationwide

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Please note that should you be successful in securing this role, the job title on our internal systems will be Senior Manager Eco Crime Advisory.