Client Due Diligence Team Leader (6193)

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.

As part of client onboarding, the Client Due Diligence Team undertakes all CDD work for high-risk clients and matters (individuals and companies) across the LLP. The overall purpose of the role is to lead a team of CDD experts, ensuring team members deliver great service to clients and fee earners whilst meeting all regulatory and legal requirements. The Team Leader plays a crucial role in overseeing and managing a team of officers and senior officers who are responsible for conducting due diligence on clients within Irwin Mitchell. This role involves providing guidance, support, and supervision to the team members, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong combination of leadership and people management skills, with experience specifically in the legal sector and in corporate client due diligence. This is a hybrid role, requiring 2 days per week office attendance.

Responsibilities

• Leading and managing a team of Client Due Diligence Officers and Senior Officers, providing guidance and support in conducting comprehensive due diligence.
• Monitoring and evaluating individual team member performance, providing regular feedback, coaching, and mentoring to team members to support their professional development.
• Creating and maintaining an engaging and inclusive environment where team members feel they can perform to the best of their abilities and grow their careers with Irwin Mitchell.
• Identifying and coordinating the provision of training and guidance to team members on legal and regulatory developments, process changes and firm-specific policies and procedures.
• Ensuring the team complies with all legal and regulatory requirements and internal policies and processes in relation to client due diligence processes.
• Ensuring the team are kept up to date with legal, regulatory, company and industry practice developments.
• Managing, delivering, and improving all operational activity within the team including – pipeline management, work prioritisation, work allocation, service levels, productivity, and quality.
• Understanding the work and workflows and working to remove blockages/issues that prevent team members from doing their work effectively and deliver what matters to clients and fee earners.
• Leading and driving initiatives aimed at improving client experience and/or meeting legislation and regulations, aligned to key strategic priorities.
• Supporting the development and implementation of new systems, technologies, and tools to enhance the team's capabilities and performance.
• Collaborating with internal stakeholders, such as partners, fee-earners, and other teams, to ensure seamless coordination and timely completion of client due diligence.
• Build strong relationships across Client Onboarding and with the fee earning teams.
• Act as a point of escalation for complex or sensitive client due diligence matters, ensuring issues are resolved in a timely and appropriate way.

Qualifications

• In-depth knowledge of legal and regulatory frameworks related to client due diligence and conflicts within the legal sector including anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, sanctions regimes, and other relevant legislation.
• Experience in using client due diligence software systems and other related research tools.
• Corporate client due diligence experience (this is a mandatory requirement).
• Demonstrable leadership and people management skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire team members to achieve high standards of performance.
• Service delivery and operational management – knowledge and experience of managing high volumes of complex work through a fast-moving pipeline and meeting speed, quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely.
• Exceptional organisational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise and delegate tasks effectively.
• A proactive and adaptable approach, with the ability to navigate and manage change in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain positive working relationships, both within the team and across different departments.

Benefits and additional information

• 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.

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.