Principal Researcher

Across Mortgages at Nationwide, we are on an important journey to strengthen our position and meet evolving customer needs, guided by our strategic drivers of more rewarding relationships, simply brilliant service, focused fit & fast, and a beacon for mutual good. Understanding our customers and continually developing our experience strategy will be essential in achieving this and shaping the building society of the future.

We are seeking a Principal Design Researcher to join our Experience & Process Design team. You will bring deep expertise in service‑level Design Research—not just digital—and extensive experience leading and managing research across large programmes. You will have a strong track record of embedding Design Research processes and ways of working, and of using research insights to influence decisions and drive customer‑focused outcomes.

You will be skilled at communicating research in clear, engaging ways, comfortable working within a commercial environment, and an effective collaborator. You will work closely with stakeholders at all levels to scope, plan and secure buy‑in for research, and with multidisciplinary teams to uncover opportunities, inform service experiences, and create value for our members.

We are happy to consider flexible working approaches to help you perform at your best.

The working hours (per week) for this role can be between 28 and 35 hours.

This is a 12 month Fixed Term Contract.

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, or if part time you'll spend 40% of your working time,
based at either our London, Swindon, Bournemouth, Northampton or Dunfermline office. Whilst these locations are where we are primarily looking to fill the role, if you’re an internal applicant based in a different location we would welcome your application and if successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this could work for this specific role. You can also find out more about our approach to hybrid working here.

If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so please apply as soon as you can.

What you’ll be doing

As Principal Researcher, you’ll be shaping, delivering, and managing research for Residential Mortgages. Working with stakeholders, you’ll develop, prioritise and shape the programme research backlog, create research plans and deliver research that supports both the needs of our users and the business. You’ll ensure the quality and efficiency of research conducted by you and others across the programme. You’ll be working collaboratively with key stakeholders to ensure buy-in and customer understanding to positively influence decision-making.

We’ll also look to you to provide Design Research mentoring and coaching to less experienced designers, as well as colleagues across the business.

The scope of projects you may be involved in spans end-to-end journeys and services, so there will be no shortage of opportunities for you to utilise your Design Research expertise across a broad range of experiences.

We work in a multidisciplinary environment, so you’ll be collaborating closely with our Process Design and Mapping teams, Product Owners, Proposition Managers, Service and Experience Designers (UX, UI and Content), Developers, Analysts and other researchers. We’ll also look to you to be the voice of Design Research with the programme senior leadership team.

You’ll help us find engaging and innovative ways of delivering and sharing research, demonstrating the value of Design Research at a programme level, and help us develop and mature our practice of Design Research across Nationwide.

This is a great opportunity to help develop our growing Design Research function and capability across Mortgages and Financial Wellbeing.

About you

To join the team as Principal…