Risk and Assurance Manager (Maternity Cover)

Risk and Assurance Manager

Contract: fixed term contract until January 2028 (maternity cover)

Working hours: 35 hours per week is full time. Where possible, we are open to considering part time/flexible working patterns. Please let us know in your application your desired working pattern.

Salary: circa £70,000

Location: London Docklands / Hybrid

Reporting to: Head of Risk and Assurance

By joining our team, you'll enjoy the best of both worlds - hybrid working and the collaboration of a great office environment , a s well as e xtensive opportunities for personal and career development . Our permanent hybrid policy sees us all working at least four days across a fortnight in the office.

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About Us:

The Financial Ombudsman Service is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that plays a vital role in UK financial services. Every day we help resolve disputes between consumers, or small businesses, and their financial service providers.

This role supports the Head of Risk and Assurance in strengthening the organisation's risk management and assurance frameworks, ensuring effective governance and informed decision-making during change. It partners with senior leaders to embed a strong risk culture, oversee risk reporting and assurance activities, develop risk appetite measures and key risk indicators, lead reviews and investigations, and drive continuous improvement in risk capability, controls, and governance processes while managing and developing the risk and assurance team.

This is an exciting period within the risk team as we are making big strides forward in how we support the organisation. At the start of this year we launched our new risk management tool , provided by Corestream , which is enabling significant improvements in our risk management practice and culture. In addition , this year we have been taking forward a major project to enhance our approach to risk appetite, with high levels of engagement from our wider SLT. The role will provide a great opportunity to build on these developments to further strengthen our organisational approach to risk management.

What You'll Do:

• Support the Head of Risk and Assurance in overseeing team delivery and ensuring risk and assurance activities are delivered to plan.
• Lead the development and continuous improvement of risk management, assurance and control frameworks across the organisation .
• Partner with stakeholders to identify , assess and manage risks, providing expert advice, challenge and guidance.
• Produce high-quality risk and assurance reporting for senior leaders, Executive Committees and governance forums.
• Conduct risk reviews and deep dives to evaluate risk exposure, control effectiveness and alignment with risk appetite.
• Work closely with Internal Audit and business leaders to strengthen governance, risk management and assurance arrangements.
• Lead and support investigations, reviews and lessons learned activities, including whistleblowing and control-related matters.
• Coach and develop team members, ensuring they have the skills, training and support needed to deliver excellent outcomes.

Minimum Criteria

• Professional qualification in Risk Management, Governance or Assurance ( e.g. IRM) or equivalent demonstrable experience.
• Demonstrable experience applying risk management frameworks and assurance models ( such as ISO 31000, COSO ERM and the Three Lines Model ) .
• Experience producing and presenting risk and assurance reports for senior leadership, Boards or governance committees.
• Strong knowledge of risk management principles, including risk appetite, key risk indicators (KRIs ) and control assurance.
• Knowledge of the UK Corporate Governance Code, HMT Orange Book and control self-assessment methodologies.

What you'll bring?

• Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to influence and challenge stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience managing and developing team members through coaching, mentoring and performance support , with a commitment to developing others .
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex risk concepts in a clear and engaging way.
• Proactive and collaborative approach, with the ability to work effectively across teams and functions.
• Analytical and solution-focused mindset, with strong judgement and decision-making skills.
• Strong delivery focus, and ability to manage multiple deliverables with different stakeholders efficiently and effectively.

Why You'll Love Working With Us:

We are a values led organisation. Our values define our culture, influence our decisions, and underpin our vision and strategy . They set out how we play our PART throu