Business Operations & Improvements Industrial Placement

Help solve business challenges, improve the way we work and support better outcomes for customers and colleagues. On our Business Operations & Improvement Industrial Placements, you'll gain hands-on experience understanding how a large organisation plans, delivers and continuously improves its performance.

Work in Mortgages, Retail or Business Banking alongside experienced colleagues. You'll contribute to meaningful projects and develop practical skills in business analysis, process improvement, planning and stakeholder management. Along the way, you'll build the confidence, commercial awareness and problem-solving skills needed for a successful career in banking.

Looking for a rewarding career in banking? Good things this way.

Location

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, based at our Swindon. London, Bournemouth or Northampton offices.

What you'll be doing on our Business Operations & Improvements Industrial Placement

Our Business Operations & Improvement Industrial Placement is a 12-month programme designed to combine practical experience, professional development and real workplace learning.

Your placement begins with induction, development support and structured learning designed to help you settle in, build confidence and understand the role you'll be performing. Alongside this, you'll join a collaborative project with other Industrial Placement students from across Nationwide.

Development workshops run throughout the placement, helping build project and professional skills, grow confidence and prepare you for your next career step.

This isn't a placement spent watching from the sidelines. From day one, you'll contribute to meaningful work while receiving the support needed to learn and grow.

Throughout the placement, you'll gain hands-on experience while following a personalised learning pathway tailored to your role. Mentoring, development sessions and support from experienced colleagues will help you continue building your skills and confidence.

The Business Operations & Improvement pathway is designed for individuals who enjoy understanding how organisations work and finding opportunities to make them better.

No two days are the same. Activities could include attending team meetings, collaborating with stakeholders, contributing to projects, reviewing customer and business insights, supporting process improvement work and helping teams plan or track delivery activity.

Along the way, you'll develop practical skills in:

• Business planning and performance insight
• Process improvement
• Stakeholder management
• Governance and Controls
• Project and programme delivery
• Business analysis
• Communication and relationship building
• Creative problem solving
• Enterprise-wide thinking
• Adaptability and resilience

The role offers opportunities to work on complex business challenges where there may not always be a clear answer. Balancing priorities, adapting to different teams and learning new skills will all be part of the experience.

Successful completion of the placement may help shape future career choices and could provide a route into our Business Operations & Improvement Development Programme.

Who we're looking for on our Business Operations & Improvements Industrial Placement

We're looking for curious, motivated people who enjoy solving problems, learning new skills and working with others. You'll share our determination to push for better and put customers first in the decisions you make.

Whatever your route, this placement will help you gain valuable experience while exploring where a future career in business operations and improvement could take you.

To succeed on our Business Operations & Improvement Industrial Placement, you'll need to show:

• An interest in understanding business challenges and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• The ability to think critically and analyse information to support decision-making.
• Curiosity about how organisations operate, improve and deliver results.
• The ambition to keep growing, take on new challenges and build towards your next career step.
• A logical, methodical approach, with the ability to understand both the detail and the bigger picture.
• The confidence to build relationships and work with colleagues across the business.
• Drive, high performance and a commitment to learning from feedback and setbacks.
• A determination to push for better and put customers first in the decisions you make.

Eligibility: You must be studying towards an undergraduate degree.

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.

The extras you’ll get

High performing and purpose-driven colleagues deserve a rewarding career and competitive benefits to match. We offer you:

• Structured learning, personalised development and hands-on experience to help you build future-ready skills and progress your career in banking
• 25 days holiday each year, which increases over time to 30. Plus, you can ‘buy’ up to 10 extra days
• The opportunity to earn an annual bonus based on your performance
• Private medical insurance to help you access additional healthcare when you need it
• Wellhub access to a range of free and paid fitness and wellbeing options, plus free on-site gyms at selected locations
• A highly competitive pension to help you start building your financial future
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Up to 14 paid hours each year to volunteer for a cause that matters to you
• Life assurance to provide additional peace of mind for you and the people who matter to you

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.

How to apply

To apply for this role and to find out more, please click on the apply button. Please note that applications may close before the application deadline, so apply early to avoid disappointment.