Client Due Diligence Senior Officer

We’re a national law firm with a local reach. Our legal experts are here for you. Whether it’s personal or business, we understand that everyone’s situation is different. But we’re more than just a law firm – we’re a team of people working together to help individuals and businesses navigate life’s ups and downs. Working here you’ll feel a part of our friendly and inclusive environment. We’ll value you for who you are and what you bring. We support each other and push boundaries to achieve incredible things and make a real difference to our clients and communities. We're always looking to support our colleagues to work in a way that works best for them and everyone else, including our clients, the business and the regulators.

Your Role and What You'll Be Doing

The Client Onboarding Teams provide a centralised client and matter onboarding service to fee earners who are engaging clients. As part of the Team you will play a crucial role in ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and maintaining the firm's reputation for integrity and ethical practices. As a Senior Officer you will be responsible for conducting client due diligence and/or conflicts checks on clients and their matters, where the client or their matter is identified as high-risk and/or complex. You will also work collaboratively with our General Counsel Team and fee earners on the possibility of mitigating red flags and/or managing conflict concerns, working quickly to enable our General Counsel Team to make a decision on how to proceed. You’ll act as a point of escalation and provide guidance and advice to colleagues on complex queries about compliance with policy and procedures relating to onboarding clients and their matters.

Key Responsibilities

• Conducting enhanced due diligence checks on client and matters that can be complex and/or high-risk, ensuring compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements. This involves assessing client identities, undertaking all necessary KYB and KYC checks including sanctions, PEP and adverse media checks and reviewing source of wealth and source of fund documents.
• Acting as a point of escalation for the team and engaging with the fee earner, client or related party to resolve any information gaps.
• Preparation of Client Risk Assessments and client due diligence packs for review by the relevant fee earner as well as actively supporting and guiding them through the client and matter risk assessment process.
• Promptly escalating high risk clients and/or matters to the General Counsel Team, putting forward proposals / recommendations.
• Completing ongoing monitoring on existing high-risk clients and/or matters by reviewing and assessing any changes to previous client due diligence packs and risk assessments and working to resolve these in collaboration with the fee earner and our General Counsel Team.
• Conflict checks: Investigating, analysing and managing complex conflicts by interrogating IM systems running searches to establish the type of potential conflicts, connections between parties or confidentiality concerns and engaging with fee earners.
• Documenting decision and analysis and filing all documents and information on IM systems.
• Proactively collaborates with internal stakeholders, such as Group Counsel teams and senior management, to ensure thorough investigations and effective resolution of complex cases.

About You

• Relevant experience within a law firm.
• Detailed knowledge of legal and regulatory frameworks relating to client due diligence and conflicts of interest in a UK law firm operates in.
• In-depth understanding and practical application of SRA Standards and Regulations relating to conflicts and client due diligence, Anti-Money Laundering regulations, sanctions regime and other relevant financial crime prevention legislation and regulation, especially in high-risk matters.
• Experience and exposure to high risk and complex cases.
• Excellent analytical, research and investigation skills, and the ability to provide strategic recommendations.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to manage complex and voluminous information accurately and efficiently.
• Proven experience and confidence in making decisions regarding conflicts and client due diligence issues and explaining those decisions to senior stakeholders within the business.
• A detailed understanding of the operation, key role holders and the structure of different organisations and trust structures.
• A proactive and solution‑oriented mindset, with the ability to think critically and provide innovative solutions to complex issues.
• An understanding of legal terminology and processes.

Our Benefits - What We Can Offer You

• 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - You can ‘buy’ up to 35hrs of extra holiday too.
• Generous and flexible pension schemes.
• Volunteering days – Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid).
• Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside our Aviva Digital GP services.
• We also offer a wide range of well‑being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to make sure you’re fully supported. This includes our Flexible by Choice programme which gives our colleagues more choice over a hybrid way of working subject to role, team and client requirements.
• We have been ranked in the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for Large Organisations for 2024!
• Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. We’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim.
• Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s made up of four strands: Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono.

Additional Information

As part of the Irwin Mitchell Group’s on-boarding process all successful applicants are required to complete the group’s employment screening process. This process helps to ensure that all new employees meet our standards in relation to honesty and integrity therefore protecting the interests of the Group, colleagues, clients, partners and other stakeholders. We carry out pre employment screening to establish your eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record and financial checks with our trusted 3rd parties. The employment screening process will fully comply with Data Protection and other applicable laws. Irwin Mitchell LLP is an equal opportunity employer. We’re proud of our values, and we’re looking for people who share them.