Risk & Assurance Manager

The vacancy

We\’re seeking an experienced risk professional to support the Head of Governance and Risk. You\’ll work with teams throughout the organisation to provide expert risk management advice. As Risk & Assurance Manager, you\’ll play a crucial role in embedding a proactive risk management culture, ensuring that risks are effectively identified, assessed, and mitigated. You\’ll also work closely with our outsourced internal auditors to ensure delivery of the internal audit plan and recommendations are embedded.

What you\’ll do

• Drive the implementation of our risk management framework, ensuring clear roles, responsibilities, and decision‑making
• Partner with colleagues to identify, assess, and manage risks, embedding robust mitigation strategies
• Provide expert advice on emerging risks and best practices, influencing senior leadership decisions
• Analyse risk data to uncover trends and insights, supporting continuous improvement and strategic reporting
• Deliver engaging workshops and training to build risk awareness and capability across the organisation
• Use our risk management software to maintain accurate records, assign controls, and monitor key risk indicators
• Conduct line 2 assurance checks to ensure compliance and effectiveness
• Coordinate with our outsourced internal audit team to keep the audit timetable on track
• Ensure timely dissemination of audit reports and follow‑up on actions
• Take ownership of the policy framework and act as Fraud Officer, safeguarding organisational integrity

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who thrives on collaboration, has a keen eye for detail, and wants to make a real impact on organisational resilience.

Who We\’re Looking For

We\’re looking for someone who, alongside the key criteria below, will sign up to our PRIDE values of Passion, Respect, Involve, Determined and Effective and will be determined to maintain the confidence of our customers.

Key Responsibilities

You should have previous experience in a similar role, with demonstrable technical knowledge and skills in risk management. Ideally, you\’ll have gained experience from a large organisation with a variety of risk areas to consider. A background in housing is desirable, but not essential.

Relevant Experience & Skills

• Experience in supporting the implementation of a robust risk management framework
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and engage stakeholders at all levels
• Clear communication skills, ensuring technical information is presented clearly and concisely
• Experience of proactively adopting innovative technologies and continuously seeks opportunities to streamline and improve processes.

Shortlisting Date: 30 January 2026
Interview Date: 1st stage interview 04/05 February 2026
2nd stage interview 11 February 2026

About Connexus

Connexus is a rural housing association with its heritage in Shropshire and Herefordshire, providing good quality, affordable and safe homes that customers are proud to live in. We create inclusive neighbourhoods, sustainable rural communities, and provide services that support our customers to build a life in their home. The work our teams do is varied, and no two days are the same.

We provide an excellent offer for colleagues which includes flexible working options combined with some fantastic benefits. We\’re here to support colleagues at every step of the way with training and development opportunities, helping you make the most of your career. If you want to work with like‑minded people and would like to make a difference to the lives of our customers, Connexus could be the right fit for you.

Connexus is committed to equality of opportunity for all employees and is keen to address areas of underrepresentation in its workforce, this is because we really understand the importance of different voices, experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds within our workforce. We strongly encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups.

Life at Connexus

Connexus is a community focused rural housing group with over 10,500 homes across Shropshire and Herefordshire.

Our people are passionate about the services we provide and we will invest in them and empower them to provide a great service to all of our customers.

Our clear focus is excellent service delivery.

Some of the benefits

• Up to 30 days annual leave & Bank Holidays
• Continual learning and development opportunities
• Generous pension scheme
• Westfield Health healthcare plan
• Paid sickness leave (upon successful completion of probationary period)
• Enhanced maternity/ paternity pay

We\’re rooting for you

Interviewing isn\’t easy and believe us when we say \”we\’re rooting for you\”; we want everyone to be able to do their best.

We know it can be daunting to put yourself out there and sometimes the unknown interview processes make things even scarier! So, we thought we\’d help by sharing a little about what you can expect from us in terms of our approach to recruitment.

We\’re rooting for you