Product Governance Lead

At Rathbones, we help people invest their money well, so they can live well. That means more than financial returns - it’s about helping people feel confident in their decisions and supported in their future. We don’t just manage money, we guide people through life’s big moments, helping them stay on track and focus on what matters most. We are proud to be one of the UK’s leading wealth managers, with over £109bn in assets under management and 20+ offices across the UK and Channel Islands. We are a FTSE 250 company with national reach and a local feel - and we’re growing.

Purpose: To deliver processes to support the approval, monitoring, review and distribution of investment instruments and services in line with regulatory requirements. Ensure that product governance controls, Target Market Assessments (TMAs), product markers, and approval workflows are maintained, operated, and continuously improved, helping the firm deliver good client outcomes and meet its regulatory and internal governance obligations. Produce and analyse management information, manufacturer reports and fair value assessments and maintain policies and procedures to support product governance.

Outcomes for the role:

• Lead on the development and implementation of the product approval and review framework, governed by the Product Governance Committee (ProdGovC).
• Lead and co-ordinate work to ensure regulatory and policy requirements are implemented and reported on.
• Maintain and enhance a suite of product templates, working cross-functionally to ensure compliance with proposition, operational and technical policy and procedures.
• Lead on responses to regulatory and ad-hoc reporting requirements, including responding to target market information requests, co-ordinating data collation and SME input as required to support.
• Engage with external stakeholders such as manufacturers, industry and regulatory consultation groups to ensure the incorporation of best industry practice.
• Develop, produce, analyse and report MI on product governance information, including target market assessment outcomes, to support product governance processes and decision-making.
• Respond to manufacturer requests relating to product governance.
• Lead on continuous improvement through analysis of product governance outcomes.
• Present proposals and MI to Product Governance Committee and other relevant governance, investment and management committees as required.

What skills and knowledge are we seeking?

• At least five years’ prior experience of the wealth management or investment management industry.
• Direct experience in the field of product governance, preferably on the buy side.
• Good knowledge of relevant regulation, including Consumer Duty, PROD, MiFID II.
• Knowledge of industry norms and approach to regulatory implementation.
• Strong communication skills.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills.
• Process analysis, design and documentation.
• Highly organised, experienced in planning workloads against the background of changing priorities.
• Highly motivated self-starter able to work independently, taking the initiative to address complex problems.
• Thorough and accurate.
• Team player.

Our offer to you: We want everyone at Rathbones to fulfil their potential, in an environment where you are proud to work and feel like you belong. We offer a comprehensive remuneration package, which we review regularly, and benefits include:

• A company pension - 9% non-contributory or 10% if you contribute 5%.
• Private medical insurance - Individual on joining, family after 1 year’s service.
• Life assurance - 8 x salary.
• Income protection - 75 % salary.
• Company share scheme.
• Discretionary bonus.
• Flexible holidays - purchase up to 5 additional days.
• Green Car Scheme.
• Family friendly policies - enhanced family leave for parents & carers.
• Study support - study days and funding for courses and qualifications.
• Season travel ticket loans.
• Volunteering days.
• Gym discounts.
• Other voluntary benefits you can choose to suit you.

Our employees can choose to take part in various social groups and communities to support their wellbeing, growth, development and sense of community. These include:

• Sports & Social Committees, such as cricket, football, netball, running, yoga, quiz nights, charity bake sales and much more.
• Inclusion Networks that help us drive change within the organisation such as Gender Balance, Multicultural, Abilities Count, Pride, Social Mobility, Generations, Menopause Matters@Rathbones and Armed Forces.
• The NextGen IM Network, which brings together a community of trainees from across the UK, who are all at the early stages of their careers and offers development opportunities, exposure across the business as well as peer support and connection.

Life at Rathbones: We aim to become an employer of choice for the wealth management sector, to achieve this we are working hard to build a diverse, equal, and inclusive workplace that motivates, develops and embraces the strengths of all our colleagues. Being part of Rathbones means you will join a team of passionate professionals in a successful culture that cares for its people. At Rathbones, we provide meaningful work, opportunities, and a voice to all. We are committed to building a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences and abilities and encourage applications from all backgrounds. We welcome individuals who share our values.

We’re a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer under the UK Government scheme. This means we’ve signed up to a set of commitments around how we recruit, retain and develop people with disabilities. If you feel there are any reasonable adjustments that would make the process easier for you and help you to perform at your best whether that is due to disability, neurodiversity or other protected characteristic, just let us know by emailing us at recruit@rathbones.com.

Mission: We believe in playing the long game. That means building consistent results, earning trust and doing the right thing - for our clients, our colleagues and the communities we’re part of. Our values shape how we work:

• We aim high.
• We get it done.
• We show we care.
• We do the right thing.

These aren’t just words on a wall. They guide how we treat each other, how we make decisions and how we build relationships that last. We will close this advert once we have received enough applications for the next stage. Please submit your application as soon as possible to ensure you don’t miss out.