Head of Compliance

Head of Compliance – London - Hybrid

Job description
We are recruiting for a Head of Compliance to join our client, a Financial Services firm, in their compliance team. This is a great contract opportunity,  offering a 3-6 months contract employed via an Umbrella company.
About the role:
The Head of Compliance Framework & Insights will lead the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the Compliance Framework, ensuring it remains robust, joined-up, and aligned with wider risk, financial crime, and Group policies. They will oversee the review and ownership of Compliance policies on behalf of the Director of Compliance, ensuring they remain up to date, fit for purpose, and supported by effective, measurable controls. The role will also lead the annual Compliance Effectiveness assessment and reporting activities.

The successful candidate will oversee second-line regulatory change management and horizon scanning activities, identifying emerging regulatory developments and communicating their impact across the organisation. They will monitor and analyse regulator sentiment, providing timely insight and reporting to senior governance forums, including the ERC, ELT, and Board, on regulatory priorities, industry developments, and the organisation's regulatory position, working closely with the regulatory liaison team.

As a senior member of the Compliance function, they will provide strategic second-line oversight and challenge to the business, partnering with stakeholders to deliver pragmatic and proportionate compliance solutions. The role will support business leadership in managing regulatory risks, embedding strong governance practices, and ensuring the delivery of good client outcomes in line with regulatory expectations.

Key responsibilities include;
Set objectives, manage performance, and support career development.
Build a high-performing team with clear accountabilities and service delivery standards.
Foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and operational excellence within and outside of the Compliance F&I team.
Ensure adequate resourcing, succession planning, and professional development.
Lead on the management of the relationship with the regulator, as a primary point of contact, to support the Director of Compliance.
Develop and maintain a simple method of managing regulatory engagement records in a manner that supports the data and insights needs of the Compliance F&I team and the Director of Compliance.
Create and lead the 2LoD capability to interpret proposed regulatory changes, and support HL Group to develop appropriate strategic responses. Triage regulatory change to consider whether Compliance oversight is best done via the F&I or Advice teams, depending on complexity and cross-cutting nature of the reg change.
Providing high quality 2LOD regulatory advice to Group and regulated entity governance committees on compliance with future financial services regulatory obligations (ExCo, ERC and other Exec committees), in collaboration with the Compliance Advice function.
Communication and influencing HL Group regulators - Influence HL Group's strategic policy engagement agenda by supporting the Public Affairs team, and coordinating / leading on consultation responses on behalf of HL Group.
Be a key contributing member of the Regulatory Governance Forum and support the Director of Compliance in assessing the regulatory risk exposure against the regulatory risk appetite.
Attend various governance committees and forum as they main compliance attendee, either as invitee or through delegation from the Director of Compliance (List of committee and forum attendance to be defined by Director of Compliance and subject to change to meet functional and business needs).
Ensuring provision of expertise and support to CEO's Office and to Corporate Affairs group with regulatory strategy / stakeholder management
Lead from the Compliance F&I team with contribution to the content and the oversight of the regular Compliance reporting to various committees including the ERC and BRC, with regular and/or ad hoc attendance as required and agreed with the Director of Compliance.
Ownership of the Compliance policies across HL Group, ensuring they remain up to date, proportionate, measurable and fit for purpose, and working with Compliance Advice, Compliance Monitoring and Compliance Operations to ensure each area can oversee, monitor and review the policy outputs as required in their respective day to day roles.
Ownership of the broader Compliance framework, taking a lead on how this fits within the wider Operational Risk framework and ensuring the Compliance framework remains coherent.
Leading on the annual compliance effectiveness report and the Compliance Risk Assessment, working cross-function and with wider stakeholders in support of the key deliverables for the Director of Compliance.About you:
10 years+ in Compliance roles or similar in a relevant FS sector.
Relevant FS products and markets
UK and European financial services regulation and policy environment and regulatory processes
HL's business strategy and proposition
Regulatory engagement and insights, including through experience at the FCA or consulting firms
Excellent people leadership skills, with experience managing and developing a team.
Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills – internal and external.
Organisational skills to prioritise and deliver multiple complex work-flows
Risk management, problem-solving and decision making
Additional Information:
Location: London - Hybrid
Duration: Initial 3-6 months