Compliance Manager

About Downing

Downing is dedicated to delivering investments that matter - for our economy, our health, our society, our local communities and our environment. For over 35 years, our highly experienced team and our entrepreneurial spirit has driven us to seek out long-term and unique opportunities that solve challenges faced by investors, companies and society. As a certified B Corp, we take our responsibilities, to our investors, our stakeholders and society, seriously. We invest for return while always considering our impact on the world.

About the team

This is a small, close-knit risk and compliance team with a huge amount of combined experience - around 65 years between us. We are direct, quick-witted and informal in style. We hold each other to a high standard, challenge each other openly, and support each other completely. We maintain high standards and a strong work ethic, and we place equal value on the working relationships within the team.

Role and responsibilities

We're recruiting a Compliance Manager to lead a team of two and take on full responsibility for compliance monitoring, regulatory and stakeholder reporting, financial promotions advisory, corporate compliance, client onboarding advisory and tax-efficient products. It's a hands-on, senior role for someone with strong COBS, IFRPU, MIFID, with product and tax knowledge who can operate commercially, supporting the growth of the business, reporting into the Risk and Compliance Director, also based in London.

• Oversee and manage a team of two, allocating duties, supporting development and ensuring consistent quality of compliance work.
• Manage the firm's compliance monitoring programme, including planning, execution and reporting of monitoring reviews.
• Own regulatory reporting obligations, ensuring accurate and timely submissions in line with FCA requirements.
• Prepare and deliver compliance reporting to the Board, providing clear, well-evidenced updates on risk and regulatory matters.
• Provide financial promotions advisory support, reviewing marketing and client-facing material for regulatory compliance.
• Manage corporate compliance matters, including personal account dealing, and gifts and benefits registers/approvals.
• Provide client onboarding advisory support, ensuring new business is taken on in line with regulatory and internal requirements.
• Provide compliance advisory support on tax-efficient products, working closely with the wider team on product-specific requirements.
• Report to the Risk and Compliance Director, feeding into the wider risk and compliance framework and escalating matters as appropriate.
• Apply strong knowledge of IFPRU and MIFID requirements, including contributing to the firm's capital adequacy and risk assessment process.
• Act as a technically credible point of contact for colleagues on regulatory (COBS), product and tax matters.
• Apply up-to-date knowledge of FCA regulation to ensure the business remains fully compliant, taking a pragmatic and commercial approach.
• Build and maintain strong, approachable relationships across the business, and with regulators and external stakeholders.
• Provide input on AML matters as they arise, as a smaller part of the broader compliance remit.
• Keep technical knowledge current through self-directed learning, training and monitoring of regulatory change.
• To act as an ambassador for Downing’s values, and to always behave in a respectful and professional manner.

Education, experience and skills

The ideal candidate will have the following:

• Strong working knowledge of COBS regulations and their practical application.
• Strong working knowledge of IFPRU and MIFID requirements.
• Solid product knowledge across of investment vehicles e.g. UCITs, Tax Efficient products, discretionary managed portfolios, Alternative Investment Funds.
• Good working knowledge of relevant tax rules CGT, IHT as applicable to manufactured products.
• Experience of compliance monitoring, regulatory reporting and Board-level reporting.
• Experience of financial promotions advisory and corporate compliance (personal account dealing, gifts and benefits).
• Experience of client onboarding advisory and tax-efficient products.
• Proven people management experience, ideally having led or supervised a small team.
• Demonstrably commercial mindset - able to apply regulation pragmatically rather than purely as a checklist exercise.
• Approachable, personable manner; builds rapport easily across the business.
• Proven team player who also operates well with minimal supervision - a genuine self-starter.

This Compliance Manager role would suit a confident, resilient individual with an appetite for continuous learning and a strong desire to keep pace with regulatory and market change.