James Kirk

A hardworking and driven individual currently undertaking a role as a Senior Strategy Analyst at Nationwide Building Society whilst also studying for an Economic and Mathematical Sciences degree at The Open University on a part-time basis. Detail-orientated with excellent aptitude in critical thinking allowing for complex business objectives to be met. Able to complete tasks at pace whilst ensuring a consistent high standard and a get it right first time approach.

I have a passion for learning and hold a fast-paced learning curve allowing for continuous enhancements in my knowledge and skillset. A proven problem solver and analytical thinker.

Senior Strategy Analyst 

Nationwide Building Society - June 2023 until present 

Promoted to a senior position within the Unsecured Strategy team with a significant increase in responsibility. Charged with an obligation to create systematic processes and policies to ensure an effective customer journey using first-rate stakeholder and risk management skills and confidently leading on projects.

Accomplishments

• Developed new automated strategies which created efficiencies and resulted in full-time equivalent (FTE) savings.
• Fully managed an incident where the solution resulted in a c.£20k monthly cost saving.
• Developed a working temporary solution to address a service exposure created by the introduction of a new system meaning customer impact was minimised.
• Analyse, review and interpret monthly reports, and present findings to various committees and regulators, as well as manipulate the data to understand trends in the portfolio allowing strategy enhancements to be driven.
• Work with different business areas and regularly represent the department in high profile meetings relating to wider organisational improvements including product and pricing changes.
• Gave full training and support to new starters within the team.

Strategy Design and Review Analyst

Nationwide Building Society - September 2021 until June 2023

A member of the Unsecured Strategy team responsible for managing all unsecured lending products recognised as being in financial difficulty. Project management from inception through to delivery in a complex regulated environment with aims of supporting customers in need.

Accomplishments

• Identified improvements in existing processes and strategies that deliver tangible benefits.
• Responsible for dealing with the teams’ quality assurance checks to investigate accounts with attention to detail to ensure they were following processes correctly and preventing regulatory breaches.
• Analysed gaps highlighted in an internal audit and implemented process ownership records through engaging with stakeholders to ensure manual processes were kept to, resulting in an improved customer journey.

Senior Collector and Negotiator

Nationwide Building Society - April 2019 until September 2021

Speaking with customers in Collections and Recoveries experiencing financial difficulties aiming to make a difference by ensuring the best outcome for the customer and for Nationwide.

Accomplishments

• Responsible for being my teams’ call quality champion as well as a complaints SME aiming to increase team performance and ensure the best possible customer experience through analysing trends.
• Created a complaints manual to aid colleagues dealing with complaints which was rolled out across the department.
• Acted as a Subject Matter Expert providing in-depth support to front line agents with complex queries.

Currently in my fifth year of an Economics and Mathematical Sciences degree. This is on a part-time basis through The Open University. The expected finish of these studies is 2026.

Key Units

Applied Statistical Modelling - Use of R (via Juypter Notebook), Regression, Econometrics

Analysing Data - Use of Minitab for data presentation, statistical techniques

Mathematical Methods - Calculus, Mathematical Applications in the real world

A-Levels - Mathematics, Economics and Physics