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 several talented Credit Risk Senior Specialists to join our Insight & Innovation Credit Risk team in our secured portfolio. The team is responsible for the delivery of portfolio level credit risk insight into credit strategies or portfolio performance. There is also remit to lead, drive and deliver the development of strategic solutions for digitisation and automation opportunities to support secured growth aspirations from a credit risk perspective.

The team is also responsible for the facilitation of inputs to all Secured related models to ensure accuracy and appropriateness including pricing, profitability, arrears, and all those related to financial planning and management activity from a secured perspective.

You’ll report into a Credit Risk manager and provide insight to the Risk Management Leadership Team, Risk committees and the wider business as required, including the Commercial, Finance and Customer Experience teams.   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.

As a Credit Risk Senior Specialist, your core responsibilities are; Analysing credit data, present findings from your analysis, and solving problems by creating solutions from the analysis of data. You’ll be a self-starter, using your own initiative to drive enhancements, bring new ideas, and provide ongoing challenge. You will lead and co-ordinate the wider credit risk team to drive forward innovation in credit strategies, insight techniques and wider team goals and culture.

Our Insight and Innovation team is responsible for – providing portfolio insight, reporting trends, risks, and actions, including impacts of and on Risk Appetite.  It is also responsible for delivering innovation and automation in customer lending journey and processes, searching for new data sources to exploit, leveraging new techniques to drive innovation within the secured credit risk arena. The team will also own pricing and arrears forecasting inputs to ensure accurate business decisions are taken and monitor their efficacy making improvements as required.

They ensure quality control over analysis provided and execution of controls to ensure integrity of reporting. They provide regular and ad-hoc reports from the relevant data and expert knowledge of the credit risk on the portfolio, inherent risks, internal and external influencing factors, and in turn make recommendations on strategies and policies.

Day to day you’ll:

• Work collaboratively with Credit Strategy owners, Commercial and Operational colleagues to identify improvements that maintain regulatory compliance, improve efficiency, or provides additional value to the business.
• Manage the development and delivery of a comprehensive suite of credit risk portfolio insight, oversight, challenge, and opinion for use across a range of stakeholders including Central Committees and Governance reporting.
• 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.
• Demonstrate a collaborative approach with Risk Appetite Statement working across other teams in Credit, Risk, and the Commercial areas.
• 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.
• Support the Credit Risk Manager in operational effectiveness of the team
• 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.
• On behalf of the Credit Risk Manager lead the delivery of internal department culture and processes that drive the right customer outcomes
• 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.
• As required, provide deputising support for the Credit Risk Manager.

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 driving optimisation
• 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, model concepts, data and systems used in credit risk management
• Knowledge, experience and understanding of the wider Risk function and insight requirements.
• Proven ability to build strong networks and relationships with internal and external parties

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

• Experience of Financial Modelling in an IRB Credit Risk environment
• Experience of transformation and innovation in a Secured Credit Risk environment
• Understanding of the Legal and Regulatory framework and agenda
• Strong understanding of the operations of Risk and the wider business
• Strong understanding of the statistical techniques, data and systems used in credit risk management, including new and emerging technologies

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!