HR Regulatory Specialist

The HR Regulatory Specialist ensures compliance with the FCA/PRA Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) and the Central Bank of Ireland’s Senior Executive Accountability Regime (SEAR). This role involves managing end-to-end onboarding and offboarding processes for senior managers, regulatory referencing, fit and proper assessments, and ongoing annual certification of employees. The specialist will collaborate closely with the compliance team and other key stakeholders to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities:

• Onboarding and Regulatory Compliance: Manage the onboarding process for new senior managers and certified employees, ensuring compliance with SMCR and SEAR requirements. Oversee regulatory referencing processes to ensure accurate, complete, and prompt provision of information in line with FCA, PRA, and SEAR guidelines. Conduct comprehensive fit and proper assessments, including criminal record checks, credit checks, employment history verification, reference checks, and qualifications and competency reviews. Maintain and update documentation related to onboarding, fit and proper checks, and certification processes.
• Certification and Ongoing Compliance: Administer the annual certification process for certified employees, ensuring assessments are conducted and documented accurately. Maintain records of certification outcomes and communicate decisions to relevant stakeholders. Ensure compliance with requirements for Conduct Rules training and attestations. Develop, implement, and maintain HR policies and procedures to meet SMCR and SEAR compliance requirements.
• Monitoring and Reporting: Regularly review compliance with SMCR and SEAR processes, identifying and mitigating risks. Prepare and present reports on onboarding, fit and proper assessments, and certification outcomes to senior leadership.
• Relationship Management: Build strong relationships with the business and P&S team. Create a clear reporting framework for team performance and act on its findings. Work closely with compliance and P&S teams to align HR processes with regulatory requirements. Liaise with senior management and line managers to ensure a clear understanding of compliance obligations. Serve as a point of contact for regulators during audits or investigations related to SMCR and SEAR compliance.
• Leadership: Quality check outputs to ensure accuracy of work. Foster a culture of continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making. Ensure team members have the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake regulatory activity.
• General: Adhere to Beazley’s core values - Being Bold, Striving for Better, and Doing the Right Thing – in all interactions. Comply with Beazley procedures, policies, and regulations, including the code of conduct which incorporates the PRA and FCA Conduct. Undertake training on Beazley policies and procedures as delivered by your line manager, the P&S or assurance teams (compliance, risk, internal audit) either directly, via e-learning or the learning management system. Display business ethics that uphold the interests of all our customers. Ensure all interactions with customers are focused on delivering a fair outcome, including having the right products for their needs. Comply with any specific responsibilities necessary for your role as outlined by your line manager, the P&S or assurance teams (compliance, risk, internal audit) and ensure you keep up to date with developments in these areas. Carry out additional responsibilities as individually notified, either through your objectives or through the learning management system. These may include membership of any Beazley committees or working groups.

Person Specification: Ensure world-class operational service for employees, streamline processes, remove risks, and drive efficiencies. A passion for people and compliance with regulations is essential. The successful candidate will be strategic, experienced in a regulated financial services setting, and capable of leading a team to deliver outstanding customer service. Strong stakeholder and relationship-building skills are essential, as is the ability to lead change and work collaboratively across teams. The ideal candidate will be initiative-taking, communicative, and flexible, with a focus on continuous improvement and decision-making in a demanding environment. High level of discretion handling sensitive information.

Qualifications and Experience: Proven experience in HR within a regulated financial services environment. Experience conducting fit and proper checks, including criminal, credit, and employment checks. Knowledge of FCA/PRA SMCR and CBI SEAR regimes preferable. An understanding of regulatory referencing and annual certification processes. Strong project management and organizational skills. Ability to interpret and apply complex regulatory requirements to HR processes.