Head of Risk & Assurance in Harrogate

Join us as a Head of Risk & Assurance at Bettys and Taylors Group. Our family business is home to three iconic Yorkshire brands - Yorkshire Tea, Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. Are you an experienced risk leader motivated by purpose as well as impact? We’re recruiting for a commercially minded and strategically focused Head of Risk & Assurance to join our Governance, Risk & Compliance teams at Bettys & Taylors Group.

This is a pivotal leadership role, at the heart of our Group GRC model, reporting to the Group Governance, Risk & Compliance Director, with accountability for leading, continually enhancing, and embedding a robust, integrated risk and assurance framework across our growing, values‑led business. The role provides independent oversight and challenge, ensuring that principal and emerging risks are clearly understood and managed, enabling confident and informed decision‑making across the Group. The role will offer hybrid working based from Harrogate (HG2 7LD). Please note that this position is not suitable for fully remote applicants, as regular on‑site collaboration in Harrogate is essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the Group’s enterprise risk management framework, ensuring that principal and emerging risks are clearly defined, owned and actively managed.
• Develop and maintain an integrated assurance framework, aligned across risk, compliance and audit activity.
• Deliver high quality, insightful risk reporting to the Executive team, Board and Audit & Risk Committee, translating complex risk and control landscapes into clear, outcome‑focused insights.
• Partner with the Group Finance Director to ensure financial controls and risk management frameworks are aligned and effective.
• Drive risk maturity across the Group, embedding pragmatic, proportionate controls that support business objectives.
• Own the Group’s Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery framework, including crisis management and scenario testing.
• Oversee risk and control frameworks (including risk registers, risk and control matrices and key risk indicators) and ensure consistency across the Group.
• Support decision‑making by ensuring major initiatives align with agreed risk appetite and risks are identified and mitigated early.
• Provide independent second‑line oversight and constructive challenge to first‑line risk owners.
• Oversee significant incidents, control failures and risk events, ensuring lessons learned are embedded.
• Build risk capability and a strong risk‑aware culture across the organisation.
• Act as the Group’s Speak Out (whistleblowing) Officer.

What You Bring

• Strong experience of enterprise risk management within a complex, multi‑site operational business.
• You will be a confident, credible and values‑led professional, comfortable operating at senior level and influencing across a diverse organisation.
• A good understanding of manufacturing, retail and supply‑chain risk environments.
• Experience of Board and Audit & Risk Committee‑level reporting.
• Ability to translate complex risk issues into clear, actionable insight.
• Knowledge of assurance frameworks and internal audit principles.
• Practical experience of BCP and Disaster Recovery design, testing and crisis response.
• Proven ability to influence, challenge and build trust at senior levels.
• Demonstrable experience of leading and developing teams.
• A pragmatic, proportionate approach balanced with strong professional judgement and independence.

What We Offer You

As a minimum, all our employees receive free meals, drinks and snacks while at work, a discretionary quarterly profit‑share bonus, holiday allowance with the option to buy and (in some cases) sell additional days, company‑wide employee discounts, access to our health cash plan, wellbeing support, company funded counselling, and enrolment in the company pension. We also offer a range of development opportunities no matter your role and ambitions. We encourage everyone to explore what makes them the best version of themselves, and we do this through external training programmes, apprenticeships and internal 1:1 coaching schemes.

Great People, Great Culture

We are Bettys & Taylors Group. Our family business is home to three iconic Yorkshire brands - Yorkshire Tea, Bettys, and Taylors of Harrogate. Together we share a passion for quality, service and doing things properly. We are driven by our purpose and our values, and we believe our people are what set us apart. We welcome applications from all cultures, backgrounds, and experiences and we are committed to offering an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive.

The closing date for this vacancy is 5th June 2026. To ensure we find the right candidate, we may close this advert early if we receive a high volume of applications. Don’t miss your chance—apply today!