Senior-level operational risk management experience within UK financial services organisations.
Experience leading a team or department.
Strong technical knowledge of risk management practices.
Experience conducting risk and control workshops with subject matter experts from diverse disciplines.
Technical knowledge and experience managing risk in one or more of the following areas: change; information security and data; technology; operations or service delivery; third-party management and oversight; operational resilience; or financial management.
Experience engaging and presenting at Executive level or above.
Demonstrates Nucleus values and behaviours, including seeing the bigger picture, sharing ideas across teams, celebrating success, making sound choices, speaking up, acting with integrity, and behaving professionally and courteously.
Responsibilities
Promote and embed the requirements of the Risk Management Framework across the business, including risk and control assessments, risk events, risk appetites, KRIs and emerging risk, risk acceptance, and the policy framework.
Collaborate with Risk and Compliance colleagues to strengthen the Risk Management Framework based on insights from business oversight and framework adherence.
Provide effective oversight of the Group’s risk management and ensure clear delineation between first- and second-line activities to promote first-line risk ownership.
Ensure material business risk events are managed through to resolution, with lessons learned informing future risk management.
Identify and conduct thematic reviews of key operational risks or issues identified through business oversight or in response to Executive or Board direction.
Provide clear, independent, forward-looking risk information and guidance to divisional management teams and Executive and Board governance forums.
Organise and conduct risk workshops with business subject matter experts to support Finance colleagues in delivering ICARA, focusing on risks that may cause material harm to customers.
Develop and maintain effective working relationships with the business.
Motivate the Operational Risk Team, focusing on priorities, quality, timely delivery, curiosity, and constructive challenge.
Support junior colleagues in the team to develop their capability and effectiveness as operational risk professionals.
Desired Qualifications
A qualification in risk management or another discipline with a material focus on risk management, such as accountancy or audit.
Experience with ICARA, ICAAP, or ORSA from an operational risk perspective.
Purpose
The Head of Operational Risk will lead the Operational Risk Team in their engagement with the business divisions. The role will involve the promotion of the requirements of the Risk Management Framework, the embedding of discipline and rigour in risk management practices and providing oversight, advice and constructive challenge to divisions to support them to take ownership of their risks and operate effective and proportionate controls.
You and your team will engage with colleagues across the business including Executives; this will be in formal committees and on a bilateral basis. Relationship building is an important part of this role but you will also have strong technical expertise and practical experience in risk management practices. Winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of the business from Executive through to junior colleagues will be critical to the success of the role, driving the right risk culture as well as developing the risk capability of the first line. You will be a source of subject matter expertise for more junior colleagues in your team and support them to grow their capability and effectiveness as operational risk professionals.
Key responsibilities
Promote and embed the requirements of the Risk Management Framework across the business including:
Risk and control assessments
Risk events
Risk appetites
KRIs/emerging risk
Risk acceptance
Policy framework
Collaborate with others in Risk & Compliance to strengthen the Risk Management Framework based insights from business oversight and framework adherence.
Provide effective and efficient oversight of the Group’s management of risks and ensure a delineation of first line vs second line of defence activity which promotes first line risk ownership.
Ensure the business is managing material risk events through to resolution with lessons learned feeding back into the management of risks going forward.
Identify and conduct thematic reviews of key operational risks and/or issues identified through business oversight or in response to Executive/Board direction.
Provide clear, independent and insightful forward looking risk information and guidance to divisional management teams and wider Executive/Board governance forums.
Organise and conduct risk workshops with subject matter experts across the business to support Finance colleagues to deliver the Internal Capital Adequacy and Risk Assessment (ICARA) focusing on the risks which have the potential to cause material harm to our customers.
Develop and maintain effective working relationships with the business.
Motivate the Operational Risk Team to be the best that they can be, with a focus on what matters most, quality and timely delivery, curiosity and a willingness to challenge.
Key competencies
Collaboration:
Communication and facilitation skills
Relationship building
Impact and influence
Flexibility
Resilience
Responsibility:
Take ownership of outcomes
Hold self and others to account
Deliver with excellence:
Planning and prioritisation
Sound judgement
Take the initiative
Develop and retain talent:
Managing performance
Develop others
Experience
Essential experience:
Operated at a senior level in operational risk management within UK financial services organisations
Leadership of a team or department
Strong technical knowledge of risk management practices
Conducting risk and control workshops with subject matter experts from a diverse spectrum of disciplines
Technical knowledge and experience in the management of risk in one or more of:
Change
Information security and data
Technology
Operations / service delivery
Third party management & oversight
Operational resilience
Financial management
Engagement and presentation at Executive level or above
Desirable experience:
Qualification in risk management or other discipline with a material element of focus on risk management (e.g. accountancy, audit)
Internal Capital Adequacy and Risk Assessment (ICARA), Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP), Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) – from an operational risk perspective
Values and behaviours
Positively demonstrates Nucleus values and behaviours
Smart – see the bigger picture, be insightful and share ideas across teams
Heart – celebrate success, make the right choices and be kind to others
Courage – be resilient, empower and inspire others, speak up and do things differently
Act with integrity
Be professional and courteous to colleagues
A little about us We’re the Nucleus Financial Platforms group and we help make retirement more rewarding. People come first - whether it’s our colleagues, or the advisers and customers we support, we know that working in partnership and collaboration leads to the best outcomes. Together, we’ve shaped the platform to how it is today. We work hard, and we celebrate hard too. Our ambition is to create a platform with a difference, putting the customer centre stage meant tearing up the rule book and starting from scratch. We’ve come a long way since then, but our mission remains just as focused. That’s why our culture, values, and social responsibility are things we keep at the top of our agenda – because we know they matter and have a big impact. Our culture is one of the many things that sets us apart from the pack. We want to have an environment where our people feel that they can make a real difference, know they’ll be rewarded for their efforts and more importantly, enjoy themselves at work. Are we a perfect match? Check out this video and find out! Inclusion and diversity at Nucleus As with most things in life, who cares, wins. We really care about inclusion. For us it’s not a tick box exercise; inclusion and diversity are embedded in our culture and everything we do. It’s a commercial imperative. It isn’t about being PC. It’s about being future-relevant and durable. We owe it to ourselves and the industry to ensure we are playing our part in creating a fair, balanced and transparent financial services sector. More diversity means broader experience, a wider set of perspectives and a better collective ability to problem-solve. And it means being more representative of customer groups, which supports areas such as product development. At Nucleus, we offer a generous blend of benefits for the things that really matter to our people, including a non-contributory pension, bonus, enhanced parental leave, paid time off for emergencies, health and wellbeing initiatives and flexible working options. If you’d like to find out more about us or the role, get in touch with Hannah in our People team.