Compliance Manager in City of London

The Compliance Manager plays a key role in supporting the organisation's adherence to UK regulatory standards and internal risk frameworks. The position is responsible for helping to maintain effective policies, monitoring processes, and controls related to financial crime, conduct requirements, and broader regulatory obligations. This role contributes directly to safeguarding the organisation from regulatory, financial crime, and reputational risks while promoting a culture of integrity and compliance across the business.

Role Purpose

The Compliance Manager plays a key role in supporting the organisation's adherence to UK regulatory standards and internal risk frameworks. The position is responsible for helping to maintain effective policies, monitoring processes, and controls related to financial crime, conduct requirements, and broader regulatory obligations. This role contributes directly to safeguarding the organisation from regulatory, financial crime, and reputational risks while promoting a culture of integrity and compliance across the business.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the Head of Compliance & MLRO in maintaining compliance with UK regulatory expectations, including anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, sanctions, anti-bribery, tax evasion, and market conduct requirements.
• Monitor regulatory developments within the UK financial services sector and provide guidance to senior stakeholders on the operational impact of new or updated rules.
• Contribute to the execution and continuous enhancement of the Compliance Monitoring Programme.
• Prepare compliance-related reporting, management information, and updates for senior committees and the Board.
• Conduct periodic reviews, enhanced due diligence assessments, customer file checks, and ongoing monitoring activities.
• Perform investigations into transaction-monitoring, sanctions, and financial-crime alerts, escalating concerns where required.
• Assist in regulatory horizon scanning and ensure policies and procedures reflect current regulatory expectations.
• Maintain oversight of high-risk customer relationships, politically exposed persons (PEPs), and cases requiring enhanced scrutiny.
• Provide advisory support to KYC teams and business units, ensuring due diligence and onboarding standards are consistently applied.
• Participate in thematic reviews, quality assurance exercises, and remedial workstreams.
• Deliver internal compliance training and contribute to staff awareness initiatives.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders and external parties to resolve compliance queries effectively.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Competencies

• Strong understanding of the UK regulatory environment, including relevant financial-crime and conduct frameworks.
• Experience applying regulatory requirements to practical business processes.
• Hands-on knowledge of customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, sanctions screening, PEP identification and financial-crime risk management.
• Prior use of KYC, CDD, or transaction-monitoring systems.
• Ability to produce clear, accurate, and regulator-ready documentation.
• Confidence assessing risk, identifying control weaknesses, and interpreting regulatory expectations.

General Competencies

• Experience working within a UK-regulated financial services environment.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex information and reach sound judgments.
• Ability to engage senior stakeholders with clarity and professionalism.
• Capable of working independently and managing multiple deadlines.
• Collaborative, proactive approach with a willingness to challenge where necessary.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Qualifications & Background

• Several years' experience in compliance, financial crime prevention, or a similar risk-focused function.
• Demonstrated reliability in delivering high-quality work with minimal supervision.

Desirable

• Degree-level education or professional qualifications in compliance, AML, financial crime or risk (e.g., ICA, CISI, or equivalent).
• Experience within a banking or financial services environment.

Key Competency Areas

• Market & Sector Knowledge – Understands core banking and financial products, customer risk profiles, and relevant financial-crime threats.
• Business Strategy Alignment – Able to ensure compliance processes support the organisation's broader objectives and risk appetite.
• Risk Management – Identifies, assesses and escalates compliance and AML/CTF risks; contributes to shaping a robust control environment.
• Financial Interpretation – Analyses financial documents and ownership structures to support due diligence requirements.
• Governance & Controls – Maintains high standards of documentation, reporting, and compliance with internal governance expectations.
• Regulatory Understanding – Keeps up to date with the UK regulatory landscape and applies this knowledge effectively.
• Conduct Standards – Acts with integrity, diligence, transparency, fairness and in line with regulatory conduct expectations.

Key Performance Indicators

• No regulatory breaches, penalties, or significant compliance failures.
• High-quality completion of scheduled compliance monitoring activity.
• Timely and accurate reporting to senior management and relevant governance bodies.
• Prompt handling of sanctions, transaction-monitoring and financial-crime alerts within defined service levels.
• Maintenance of high standards in due diligence file quality.
• Consistent participation in compliance training and contribution to staff development.
• Effective upkeep and enhancement of compliance and financial-crime policies and procedures.