Risk Officer in Bedford

Ready to make a real difference? Join us at the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) as our Risk Officer. This is your chance to play a meaningful role in helping people across the UK build stronger financial futures and to do it as part of a supportive, energetic team.

Key Responsibilities

• Active Risk Management / Risk Facilitation
  • Collaborate with risk owners to manage risk mitigation activities in response to organisational risks.
  • Maintain and assist implementation of internal audit report recommendations and findings.
  • Facilitate the regular review of local and centralised risk registers throughout the organisation.
  • Manage internal audit and incident data inputs facilitating the resolution of themes and issues.
  • Support the maintenance and coordination of Business Continuity Plans, including the monitoring of associated actions and escalation of issues where appropriate.
  • Support the coordination and oversight of business continuity testing activities, including monitoring testing frequency and escalating gaps or reports where required.
• Risk Advocation
  • Act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) within the organisation for the promotion of best practice risk management in accordance with the Risk Management Approach.
  • Maintain key lines of communication and support with risk champions throughout the organisation.
  • Promote the function of the 3 Lines of Defence risk model and act in the 2nd line function.
  • Foster a positive culture for dissemination of internal audit and incident analysis findings.
• Training, Mentoring and Development
  • Support Risk Leads and Risk Managers in delivering risk workshops to organisational and functional stakeholders.
  • Mentor users in the use of the risk management software.
  • Provide input into the risk management and risk scoring frameworks to assure effective operation within the organisation.
• Analysis
  • Provide input into and work within the policies developed within the Risk function.
  • Manage data in analytical tools including MS Excel, Power BI and organisational risk management system to produce data insights.
  • Provide support to risk owners on management of risk registers and risk mitigation actions.
  • Conduct thematic reviews of data for trends, themes and emerging risks in the organisation.
  • Provide input to Risk Leads and Risk Managers on the feasibility and risks in business cases.
  • Provide analysis and insights into reported incident themes and internal audit findings.
• Reporting
  • Provide input into Management and Board level reports including monthly, quarterly and annual reports.
  • Provide ad hoc reports to communicate content of risk registers and action progress towards achieving adherence to risk appetite.
  • Providing input into change, functional and strategic risk registers.
  • Report on internal audit outcomes and associated action completion at all levels.
• Other reasonable duties as assigned by leadership.

Essential

• Proven experience of risk management processes and practices in either first or second line.
• Good facilitation, negotiation, influencing and stakeholder management skills at all levels.
• Ability to work collaboratively both within a small team and with colleagues across the organisation acting as a key change advocate for risk.
• Strong proficiency with all standard MS Office applications.
• Ability to take a holistic view of the organisation, understanding how business drivers inform risk and opportunity management.
• Experience of, or exposure to, business continuity and operational resilience practices.

Desirable

• Experience / understanding of public sector procurements and service provision.
• Experience developing and delivering training material in a remote environment.
• Experience of working with risk management software applications.
• Experience of working in an MS SharePoint analytic environment.
• Experience of use of statistical techniques for data analysis.

Personal attributes

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent soft skills, attention to detail with an enthusiastic, resilient and tenacious approach to work.
• Strong team player with the ability to work independently to support team objectives.

About Us

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is based in Bedford, in a recently renovated modern office. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to become an integral part of a dynamic organisation, working to help people across the UK. At the heart of the Money and Pensions Service are our values – caring, connecting, and transforming, which are the foundation of our success. They permeate every area of our work and define all our business relationships and the way we work with each other.

Our Inclusive Working Environment

By fostering our values, we are immensely proud of the inclusive working environment that we have created. The diversity of our people is a strength that we embrace and wish to build upon, so we are committed to attracting people of all backgrounds. We work hard to ensure that we have a progressive approach to inclusion, equity, and belonging. We really do want our colleagues to 'bring their whole selves to work'. Our colleague and ally networks encompass LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, women’s health, men’s health, ethnicity, and diversity.

What We Offer

• Generous Annual Leave – 30 days plus Bank Holidays.
• Pension scheme – contributions matched 2 to 1 (up to 10% of your salary).
• Interest‑free loan for season tickets for buses and trains.
• Cycle to work Scheme.
• Subsidised eye tests & flu jabs.
• Life assurance scheme.
• Give as you earn scheme.
• Employee assistance programme (EAP).
• PAM Assist and PAM Life scheme (Wellbeing).
• Enhanced family and sick pay.
• Paid volunteering (2 days a year).
• Recognition Scheme.

Flexible Working

At MaPS, we take pride in our flexible approach to work. As standard, we work on a hybrid basis with a minimum of 2 days in the office per month. Hybrid working is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and our headquarters in Bedford will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business needs, but personal and other relevant circumstances will also be considered. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

Career Development

In MaPS, we take career development seriously. We actively encourage and support applications from our existing MaPS colleagues. However, we do follow the Civil Service Commissioner recruitment principles, which means that you will be required to participate in a full, open, and fair process.

Reserve List

If you are successful at interview, we operate a reserve list where your details will be held for up to 6 months. Should a vacancy come available in that time with the same essential criteria, reserve list candidates will be offered that position with no further assessment required.