Senior Risk & Intelligence Specialist

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading Wealth & Investments group. Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry’s best talent. Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society. We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, interactive investor (ii), Investments, and Adviser, each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients’ evolving needs:

• interactive investor: The UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enabling individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.
• Adviser: Provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.
• Investments: A specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

About the Department

Client Assurance is committed to delivering a truly scalable and efficient platform delivering world-class service provision and being the easiest platform for our clients to deal with. We place the protection of client assets and risk management at the heart of what we do to create a best-in-class CASS and risk management model.

About the Role

Reporting to the Head of Client Assurance Technical, this role will be responsible for supervising, developing and managing risk and intelligence within the adviser platform business, Client Assurance Technical team, ensuring that the risk and control framework is well designed, robust and developed in line with standard methodology for the protection of client assets and risk management. The firm is undertaking exciting and far-reaching change and enhancement, and it is vital that it is developed to meet best in class CASS & risk management arrangements, and appropriate intelligence sources are created to allow effective oversight. The role holder will play a key role in this delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and control the Client Assurance Risk & Control framework to ensure it is up to date, accurate, complete, and tested regularly with a particular emphasis on CASS controls.
• Provide assurance to the Head of Client Assurance Technical and Senior Management that the firm’s CASS Risk and Controls are delivered in a safe and controlled manner.
• Act as the team lead on the risk and control framework and manage audit/reviews.
• Own and control the Client Assurance Team Intelligence arrangements, feeding updates to forums, senior management, and the board on risk, breach, and CASS matters.
• Own and control Client Assurance Technical, aligned training & education, such as the CASS CBT and Board Training, to ensure accurate content, delivery, and recording.
• Supply Risk & Intelligence guidance across Client Assurance Technical.
• Proactively drive effective Risk, Intelligence, and oversight arrangements across the adviser business.
• Apply commercial judgement to CASS & Risk arrangements.
• Display a leading role in the Client Assurance department and the adviser business.

About the Candidate

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

• Experience in the financial services industry.
• Knowledge of the FCA’s CASS rules and their application to platform businesses.
• Good knowledge of broader compliance requirements.
• Strong knowledge of risk management and oversight principles.
• Experience dealing with staff at all levels within an organisation.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There’s more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported. When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you. At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help. We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment.

We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.