Senior Compliance Project Lead in City of London

We are exclusively partnering with an innovative insurance client to appoint a Senior Compliance Project Lead on an initial 12-month contract. Our client’s preference is to hire on a fixed-term contract basis, although they will also consider experienced day-rate contractors. The role will require a greater level of hybrid attendance in the London office initially, with this reducing as you become established in the position.

The Senior Compliance Project Lead will act as Compliance Lead (CL) for a workstream for a strategic transformation programme, building a direct-to-consumer insurance capability, providing end-to-end compliance leadership from the beginning of the project through implementation, go-live and post-launch monitoring. The role holder will be responsible for ensuring that the project delivers good customer outcomes in line with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Principle 12 – Consumer Duty, complies with all applicable regulatory requirements and it is embedded into the firms governance, risk, and control framework.

Furthermore, the role holder will act as the CL within the programme, shaping product design, customer journeys, pricing governance, system compliance, and third-party arrangements to ensure a robust, scalable, and regulator-ready operating model. This is a fast-paced, hands-on delivery role and requires an experienced compliance professional with strong track record of leading complex business projects, influencing stakeholders and acting as a champion for consumer outcomes. The role is focused on building and validating compliance frameworks, controls and artefacts required for launch.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the compliance workstream across design, build, testing, launch, and post-go-live activity.
• Act as the senior compliance lead for the programme, providing clear direction, challenge, and decision-making support.
• Advise on key regulatory requirements, including Consumer Duty, ICOBS, PROD, data protection, and AML.
• Ensure appropriate policies, procedures, controls, and governance are in place to support the new business model.
• Review and challenge product design, pricing, policy wording, customer communications, and end-to-end customer journeys to ensure fair customer outcomes.
• Identify compliance risks, customer harm scenarios, and regulatory gaps, recommending practical solutions.
• Support governance forums with compliance updates, risk assessments, recommendations, and go/no-go sign-off.
• Help design and embed compliance monitoring frameworks, KPIs, reporting, and Consumer Duty oversight.
• Oversee compliance across third-party and outsourcing arrangements, including TPA oversight and operational controls.
• Validate compliance requirements across systems, pricing engines, data flows, digital journeys, and customer-facing platforms.
• Lead compliance input into testing and UAT, ensuring controls are robust, evidenced, and audit-ready.
• Monitor post-launch customer outcomes, complaints, claims trends, and pricing fairness, supporting regulatory reporting, audits, and reviews.

What you'll need:

• Significant experience in a senior compliance role within a regulated insurance environment (preferably home insurance), ideally involving direct insurance business propositions.
• Proven experience acting as Compliance Lead for complex change or transformation projects.
• Strong understanding of FCA regulatory framework, conduct risk, consumer protection.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, influence and challenge at senior management level (Board, ExCo).
• Experience liaising with third parties and outsourced providers at senior level.
• Strong written and verbal skills with the ability to draft and present complex compliance issues clearly and pragmatically.

Desirable:

• Degree in law, finance or similar.
• Experience in embedded or platform-based insurance distribution.
• Exposure to policy administrations systems and pricing engines.
• Experience working with data, reporting, and monitoring frameworks.
• Experience interacting with regulators or supporting regulatory reviews.