Financial Services Risk Management Consultant/Program Manager

Job title: Subject Matter Expert – Financial Services Risk Management
Day rate: £435 to £855 per day (PAYE – Inside IR35)
Expected duration: 3 months
Start: Immediate
Location: Central London – Hybrid Working with 3 days in the office and 2 days from home

Our client is a global Technology leader with their EU head offices in London. Their Risk and Compliance Solutions Division act as the global gatekeeper for Financial Crime and Regulatory Compliance for entities and products subject to financial services regulation, protecting buyers, brands, Selling Partners and the business from undue regulatory risks and regulatory penalties.

They are looking for an experienced financial services risk leader to join their second line of defence team for a period of 3 months to support and coach the leadership of the existing risk management team. To be successful in securing this role, you will have a proven track record of building globally dispersed second line of defence risk management functions, including designing and embedding frameworks, tooling and operating models in the financial services sector.
The contractor would support the second line of defence risk management team. This team is responsible for enabling business leaders to make great risk/reward decisions, ensuring that each local entity always meets its regulatory obligations.
The role is required to help coach/support the existing leader in building a team, processes, and relevant frameworks to enable it to scale at pace.

Responsibilities

• Support the existing Head of Risk Management in building the existing team, reviewing all existing frameworks/risk matrixes and provide a professional opinion on areas of improvement, as well as get stuck in to help embed changes made.
• Support the delivery of inflight risk assessments, escalations to senior leaders, and articulating and coaching on suitable mitigation strategies.
• Serve as an advisor on disciplines such as regulatory and compliance risk, operational and IT/business continuity risk, and prudential (liquidity/capital) risk types.
• Support specific operational deep dives on compliance-related processes and systems, particularly in areas where the team lacks technical skillset.
• Support the upskilling of the team through technical coaching and training.

Basic qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in a financial institution internal control function.
• At least 3+ years of experience in a senior leadership role at a financial institution, within the risk management area (can be first or second line of defence).
• Direct experience of dealing with financial services regulators.
• Direct experience in managing relationships with senior leaders within an organisation. Ability to work within a matrix environment, cross functionally, and cross jurisdictional borders.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills (English, other languages a bonus), demonstrating ability to translate complex issues for consumption by technical and non-technical audiences at all levels.
• Extensive experience of people management, including building high performing cross-border teams and dealing with complex cases of under-performance.