Service Strategy Manager

Business Unit: COO, Products & Channels  Salary range: £59,200 - £74,000 per annum +Benefits Location:  UK Remote - With occasional travel to local hub -London, Leeds, Gosforth, Glasgow, Edinburgh Contract type: Permanent  

Our Team

Virgin Money is two years into an exciting transformation journey. We've successfully established a Customer Service Design Centre of Excellence (CoE) within CIO Products and Channels (COO), embedding design thinking and customer-centricity into how we shape experiences. Now, we're ready to take the next leap, expanding our strategic design capability across the organisation and maturing our approach to digital operational excellence. It's a fun and fast-paced place to be, and we want you to help take us to the next level. 

This is a critical leadership role supporting the Customer Service Design Leadership Team in scaling the CoE's impact, embedding strategic journey design principles across Virgin Money, and enabling the next phase of transformation. You'll play a key role in shaping how we evolve our operating model, with a focus on future-state design, systems thinking, and enterprise-wide capability building. Your expertise will guide our strategic decisions, spark innovation, and ensure that we always prioritise our customer's needs in the services we offer now and in the future.

What you'll be doing

• Lead the strategic expansion of the Design Centre of Excellence, embedding design-led thinking across business units and functions
• Develop and evolve a strategic design roadmap that aligns with Virgin Money's transformation goals, enabling improved customer outcomes, operational efficiency, and growth
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate design principles into product, service, and operational strategies
• Conduct market scanning and horizon scanning to identify emerging trends, technologies, and practices that can inform our strategic direction
• Support the development of future-state operating models, including implications for processes, systems, and technology, ensuring readiness for upcoming transformation initiatives
• Play a key role in maturing our approach to digital operational excellence, with a strong focus on ways of working to optimise digital journeys and enabling scalable transformation across the organisation
• Prepare compelling business cases and strategic narratives for executive leadership, championing customer-centric design as a driver of value
• Contribute to board-level and leadership team materials, distilling complex insight into actionable recommendations

We need you to have

• A strong consulting strategy background for design, customer experience, or transformation projects, with a proven ability to strategically align these with enterprise-level goals
• Proven success in mobilising, scaling and embedding new capabilities into business strategy
• Experience shaping future-state operating models and translating strategy into execution
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and influence across a complex cross-functional stakeholder landscape
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with an ability to turn insight into impact and creating alignment on where change is needed
• Strong track record of agile execution and delivering measurable change at pace in line with strategic priorities
• Bachelor's Degree required (discipline open), MBA or other strategic training preferred  

Red Hot Rewards  

• Generous holidays - 38.5 days annual leave (including bank holidays and prorated if Part–Time)?plus the option to buy more. 
• Up to five extra paid well-being days per year.? 
• 20 weeks paid, gender-neutral family leave (52 weeks in total) for expectant parents and those looking to adopt.? 
• Market-leading pension.  
• Free private medical cover, income protection and life assurance.  
• Flexible benefits include Cycle to Work, wellness and health assessments, and critical illness.? 

And there's no waiting around, you'll enjoy these benefits from day one. 

If we're lucky to receive a lot of interest, we may close the advert early. Please ensure to submit your applications as soon as possible.  

Say hello to Virgin Money 

Virgin Money is so much more than just a bank. As part of the Nationwide group,?together we're the UK's first full-service mutual bank serving millions of retail and business customers and all driven by our purpose ; Banking but fairer, more rewarding and for the good of society. With us, you'll be part of an organisation uniquely positioned to make a difference to the lives of customers, communities and broader society and embark on a collaborative, customer obsessed, and fun-filled career journey. Embrace the weekdays, enjoy fantastic perks, and make a meaningful positive difference. Time to discover what it means to be part of the first mutual full-service banking provider.  

Be yourself at Virgin Money 

At Virgin Money, we celebrate everyone. We have fun, think big, and relentlessly include each other, all in pursuit of our purpose: Banking - but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society.?? We're committed to creating an inclusive culture where colleagues feel safe and inspired to contribute, speak up and be heard.?  

As a Disability Confident Leader, we're committed to removing any obstacles to inclusion.  If you need any reasonable adjustments or support making your application, contact our Talent Acquisition team 

Please note: If we receive a high volume of eligible applications, we may need to prioritise candidates whose skills and experience most closely align with the role, while still ensuring fair and equitable consideration for all applicants.

Now the legal bit Although some of our roles allow you to be based anywhere in the UK, we'll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK. 

If you're successful in securing a role with us, there are some checks you need to complete before starting. These include credit and criminal record checks and three years' worth of satisfactory references. If the role is part of the Senior Manager Regime and Certification Regime, it requires enhanced pre-employment checks -?we'll ask for six years of regulatory references, and once in the role, you'll be subject to periodic employment checks.?