Senior Operational Risk & Controls Manager
£75000 - £88000 (dependant on Experience) + Bonus + Benefits + subsidised restaurant, PHI
London

THE COMPANY

They are a well-known and strongly established banking group with a unique brand history who offer their customers a truly personalised experience. The bank has strong employee values and is a collegiate environment.

SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION REQUIRED

  • Ideally be educated to degree standard. CeMap qualification is also highly desirable
  • Thorough understanding of risks and controls within financial services gained within preferably an unregulated lending business area or environment
  • Proven track record of advising on risk mitigation and implementing control frameworks.
  • Fastidious eye for detail (including excellent analytical skills, able to identify errors and produce accurate work)
  • Excellent appreciation of the control environment , proactive attitude
  • Expertise in operational risk management, methodologies and reporting
  • Experience of working with internal and external Legal, Compliance and Audit departments.
  • People management skills and experience desirable.
  • In-depth knowledge and experience of FCA and PRA regulations.
  • Demonstrable experience of influencing business leadership teams, strategic thinking and prioritisation.
  • Relevant industry qualifications (risk, compliance or business-related).
  • Excellent MS Office skills, particularly Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint;
  • Communication - highly articulate, good presentation skills with the ability to translate the complex into the simple
  • Change - Ability to bring about change management through buy-in from peers to new processes
  • Organisation - ability to prioritise and work to multiple deadlines

THE ROLE

Managing 3 members of the team and reporting to the Banking COO, you will be responsible for managing conduct and operational risk in the bank's front office (1st line of defence). The key responsibilities will include:

Risk Management Framework

  • Help to establish, embed and monitor a risk-aware and escalation culture through:
  • clearly defined and documented roles, responsibilities and accountability;
  • a risk-based Quality Assurance programme with regular MI and reporting; and
  • timely and appropriate conduct, compliance and operational risk training.
  • Chair the quarterly Managers Risk Forum and represent the department on various committees and associated working groups.
  • Own the department's Risk Control Self-Assessment process, providing at least quarterly updates on underlying risks, effectiveness of mitigating controls and any remediation work required.
  • Work closely with other departments, notably Compliance, Legal and Product, to understand developments in regulation, process change or technology to ensure risk management framework remains relevant, effective, and efficient.
  • Own the department Business Continuity Plan and ensure it remains appropriate.

Quality Assurance

  • Review and enhance the existing quality assurance programme ensuring that appropriate controls are in place for all key risks with a clear testing plan.
  • Work with process or control owners to ensure controls remain relevant and achievable.
  • Manage a team of QA reviewers to perform controls testing on a timely basis.
  • Develop an effective suite of Management Information reports for key stakeholders with clear, succinct commentary and recommendations.
  • Monitor operational data (quality results, incidents raised, complaints, training requests and audit outputs) to identify the need for any ad-hoc / thematic specific quality assurance reviews.
  • Act as an independent feedback loop back to the business, by collating and passing on learnings from reviews undertaken.
  • Ensure that all remedial actions (whether from QA or Internal Audit and Compliance Monitoring findings) are appropriate, and that closure is supported by validation and evidence.

Process and control design and enhancement

  • Identify gaps in existing processes and controls and provide recommendations for improvement.
  • Lead the Policy, Process, Procedures and Controls project, performing an end to end review of department processes and controls to mitigate risks, achieve business efficiencies and improve the customer experience.
  • Review and approve process and control design linked to new products, initiatives and projects to ensure any risks are identified and appropriate controls introduced.
  • Leverage technology (such as robotics) to improve process and control efficiency and effectiveness through automation.