Associate Director

Business Unit:  Business Banking, Strategic Finance
Salary range: £40,800 - £61,200 per annum DOE + benefits
Location: North West England / Hybrid (Manchester Hub)
Contract type: Permanent 

Our Team

Fancy a new opportunity? You’re in the right place. We currently have an exciting opening within our North West Strategic Finance team, created following an internal promotion and designed to support our continued growth as we scale our capability and market presence.

It is a fast-paced place to be, and we are looking for dynamic people, who are ready to make a real difference. We’ll encourage and reward you, whilst helping you build a successful career. So, if you’re ambitious, commercially minded, and eager to play a meaningful role in shaping the future of our business bank, we’d love you to read on.

What you’ll be doing

• You’ll play a central part in supporting our experienced Senior Directors across the end‑to‑end origination, evaluation and execution of new senior cashflow and asset-based lending transactions across the North West M&A mid‑market.
• Supporting Senior Directors throughout the deal lifecycle — from origination and structuring to execution and ongoing portfolio management.
• Acting as a key liaison between the team, clients, investors and deal professionals — ensuring high‑quality stakeholder management and contributing directly to revenue generation.
• Attending client and advisor meetings; preparing pitch materials, management presentations and board‑level documents; maintaining prospect databases; and supporting broader marketing activity.
• Performing detailed financial analysis, modelling, due diligence oversight and valuation assessments, and drafting credit committee proposals.
• Working collaboratively across the business to ensure a seamless onboarding experience for new customers.
• Managing all internal and external documentation, ensuring appropriate due‑diligence scoping, loan and security document preparation, and full completion of pre‑ and post‑deal governance and compliance.
• Supporting ongoing origination activity by researching targets, building pipelines, and engaging new contacts.
• Representing Virgin Money at market events, strengthening brand visibility, and developing your personal network with clients, private equity houses, investors and advisors.

This role is based in the North West at our Manchester Hub and can be undertaken on a hybrid basis, combining office collaboration with flexible home working.

We need you to have

• A clear passion for — and good understanding of — supporting larger or more complex businesses, with a commitment to outstanding customer service.
• Strong financial modelling, valuation and analytical capability with hands‑on deal experience. ACA/ACCA qualified (or equivalent).
• Solid accounting literacy and corporate finance understanding, including M&A processes and documentation.
• Demonstrable good market awareness with the ability to interpret sector trends and apply commercial judgement to valuation and deal structuring.
• A proactive, ambitious mindset; excellent attention to detail; resilience; and a collaborative approach to team development.
• Strong organisational, relationship‑building and project-management skills to deliver high‑quality work at pace.
• A proven track record in manage multiple workstreams, operate under pressure and deliver to tight deadlines.
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills.
• Experience engaging with the North West professional community is highly desirable.

It’s a bonus if you have but not essential

• A tertiary qualification in a business-related discipline.
• Experience with systems and processes within financial services or business banking.
• Knowledge of lending, security documentation, and associated risk policy & compliance frameworks aligned to this type of role.

Red Hot Rewards 

• 25 days holiday per year, increasing over time to 30. Plus, an option to buy more, giving you even more choice.
• 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 flexible benefits scheme
• Life assurance to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year.  

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 careers@virginmoney.com

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

We’re in the process of bringing Virgin Money and Nationwide together which, subject to Court approval, will happen on 2 April 2026. You can find out more about what this means at https://uk.virginmoney.com/nationwide-transfer. If you’re successful in securing a role with us, your employment will move automatically to Nationwide when this transfer goes ahead.

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.