Secured Credit Risk Senior Specialist

Business Unit: Risk, Secured Portfolio
Salary: circa £42,000- £52,500 depending on experience
Location: Remote – Flexible with some requirement to attend HUB/ Store
Contract Type: Permanent

Get growing with us

Join Virgin Money as we transform our team into one that is ready to meet the challenges of the future, setting us up to support our ambition to disrupt the status quo and turn traditional banking on its head. We’re also transforming how we work, offering our colleagues more choice, control and flexibility to live and work how they choose with A Life More Virgin. We’ve exciting opportunities within our Credit Risk function as we look to strengthen our capabilities to support our future ambitions to become a digital bank. We’re on the lookout for highly motivated individuals with a burning passion for what they do, a lust for learning and innovation, and are looking to work with likeminded people. If this sounds like you, then keep reading!

Here’s what it means for YOU:

• 38.5 days annual leave for all colleagues (including bank holidays and pro rata if part-time)
• Five extra paid well-being days per year
• A 35-hour working week
• 20 weeks paid, gender neutral family leave (52 weeks in total) for expectant parents and those looking to adopt
• Market leading Pension & Private Medical Insurance
• Flexible benefits including Cycle to Work, Wellness & Health Assessments and Critical Illness
• Ability to work anywhere in the UK (where the role allows)

And you get these Red-Hot Rewards from day one!

We’re on the search for a talented Credit Risk Senior Specialist to join our Portfolio Performance team in Secured Credit Risk. If you’re insatiably curious and always striving to think out of the box, then this role could be for you!

The team supports the provision of credit risk insight and management reporting into mortgage new lending and portfolio performance, make recommendations on strategies and policies, and mitigants where relevant. The team is also responsible for the development and continuous monitoring of credit risk appetite consistent with organisation’s risk appetite framework. The team ensures quality control over data and analysis to ensure integrity of reporting.

You’ll report into the Credit Risk Manager, with responsibilities of producing and collating credit data to produce key management information for internal and external stakeholders, providing insightful reporting and analysis to various governance committees against the credit quality and performance of mortgage new lending and portfolio. In doing this, you will analyse complex data, identify themes and trends to highlight discussion aspects, work with a range of subject matter experts to understand customer behaviour and provide commentary to complement the data produced. You’ll be a self-starter, using your own initiative to drive enhancements, bring new ideas, and provide ongoing challenge. No day will be the same as you collaborate with a range of stakeholders to ensure analysis is providing true insight into risks and opportunities, with the ability to then drive the insight to tangible improvements in our ability to manage Credit Risk.

Day to day you’ll:

• Manage the development and delivery of a comprehensive suite of credit risk reporting, insight, oversight, challenge, and opinion for use across a range of stakeholders including Central Committees and Governance reporting

• Use analytical tools such as SAS and Excel to manipulate and interrogate data, to explore drivers of risk and trends in the provision of meaningful insight and make recommendations to Senior Management
• Develop and maintain a relationship with the Credit Risk teams at an operational and senior level to ensure that best practice is shared, challenges are raised in a timely manner to constructively shape outcomes and all requests are met
• Demonstrate a collaborative approach with Risk Appetite Statement working across other teams in Credit, Risk, and the Commercial areas to support its development and monitoring
• Support demands for ad-hoc data analysis and insight whilst ensuring the integrity of BAU processes and reporting requirements
• Lead, on behalf of the Credit Risk Managers, the provision of meaningful insight and making recommendations for Senior Management and through representation at relevant meetings and committees. As required, provide deputising support for the Credit Risk Manager
• Demonstrate maintenance of our internal Governance frameworks, policies and Regulatory guidelines and ensure this framework is embedded in the business to ensure sound risk practices are adopted
• Work under the leadership of the Credit Risk Manager of to support the development of appropriate stakeholder management processes for managing and delivering effectively for internal customers including engaging at an operational level to ensure effective operation of key processes
• Deliver high-quality customer service, including implementation of a culture to continuously improve and rationalise processes and related complexity

There are a few essentials you need to bring to either of these opportunities… 

• Strong analytical experience, ideally using SAS, and Credit Risk knowledge
• Extensive experience in Financial Services or banking with practical experience of analytics
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to condense and simplify complex information to brief and influence senior stakeholders
• Capability to operate effectively with senior leaders, and represent VM with external stakeholders and stand up to robust challenge
• Ability to prioritise effectively and manage various management expectations, supporting Senior Analysts and Analysts to do the same, delivering multiple deliverables in a fast-changing environment
• Deputise for senior colleague (Credit Risk Manager) as required
• Extensive experience in influencing change in a positive and collaborative manner and turn ideas into practical solutions
• Proven experience in challenging other teams work through meetings and discussion forums, using strong influencing skills to deliver Credit Risk ways of working
• An excellent understanding of the analytical techniques, data and systems used in credit risk management
• Proven ability to build strong networks and relationships with internal and external parties

We'd love you to have (but not essential)...

• Understanding of statistical and modelling techniques used in credit risk
• Understanding of prudential IRB and IFRS9 impairment concepts
• Understanding of the Legal and Regulatory framework and agenda
• Strong understanding of the operations of Risk and the wider business

We really need you to have the skills and experience listed in the ‘There are a few essentials you need to bring’ section above, but the rest is just our wish list, so please don’t let that put you off applying, we’d love to hear from you!

Inclusion at Virgin Money

Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do here at Virgin Money. It’s good for you, it’s good for us and it’s amazing for our customers. We know that great minds don’t think alike, so we rely on your diverse thoughts, feelings, beliefs and backgrounds to be the best we can possibly be. Got any questions about this or need some support with your application? We’d love to hear from you so get in touch with our careers team at careers@virginmoney.com.

Feeling insatiably curious about this role? Apply as soon as you can. If we’re lucky to receive a lot of interest, we may close the advert early and would hate you to miss out.

We're all about helping you Live A Life More Virgin, so happy to talk flexible working with you.

Now the legal bit…

Living A Life More Virgin allows our colleagues to be based anywhere in the UK (if the role allows it) but we will need to you to confirm you have the Right to Work in the UK. If we offer you a job and you accept, there are some checks we need to complete before you can start with us. This will include a credit and criminal record check, as well as providing 3 years' worth of satisfactory references.