Risk and Compliance Officer

Contract:  Full Time, Permanent, 37 hours per week

Closing Date: 17 February 2023

Stage 1 Assessment: 1 March 2023

Stage 2 Interview: 2 March 2023 (via Teams)

We are looking for a self motivated  Risk and Compliance Officer to join our Governance and Risk Team to support and further enhance the delivery of an effective risk management service across the business.  The successful candidate will be able to shape this role, so experience, knowledge and understanding of audit work and risk management, controls and assurance is essential as well as excellent written and verbal communication and IT skills.

In this stimulating and rewarding role you will personally undertake and conduct internal compliance reviews across our teams and service areas as well as facilitating delivery of the internal audit programme, strengthening second and third line assurance around the quality of our controls.  You will also support the ongoing dynamic management of strategic and operational risks and work closely with the Assistant Director of Governance and Legal to implement and embed risk management software across the business.  You will engage with all parts and levels of the organisation, including the Group Executive, Senior Leadership Team, Managers, Board, Committees and Risk Panel.  You will develop your external networks and use your excellent research skills to identify current and emerging risk in the housing sector and other sectors where relevant, producing regular risk related updates for senior leaders and colleagues.

If this sounds like the role for you, we would love to hear from you.  The team you’d be joining is part of the Governance and Compliance Directorate and you’ll be working with a range of colleagues where collaboration is key to success.

Main job responsibilities:

• Design and deliver a comprehensive and timely annual programme of compliance reviews to provide strong assurance to the business, identifying and making any recommendations for improvement.
• Contribute to the development of the Internal Audit annual plan and facilitate and administer the efficient delivery of it.
• Monitor the completion of recommendations from audits and reviews, holding colleagues to account and assessing evidence of completion.
• Support the business to raise fraud awareness and scrutinise controls in place to prevent and detect fraud, providing assurance of their effectiveness. 
• Support colleagues with timely reviews of strategic and operational risk registers and provide assurance on control effectiveness.
• Write reports for the Group Executive, Board and Committees on risk, assurance and compliance related matters. 
• Produce regular updates for the business on current risk and compliance matters from the sector or other sectors as relevant. 

We're looking for someone who has:

• A compliance or audit related degree or equivalent or proven experience of carrying out audits or compliance reviews and risk management.
• Good analytical skills and experience or understanding of risk management frameworks.  Experience of planning and undertaking compliance reviews, audits or other scrutiny is essential.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce reports.
• Excellent IT skills including the ability to use Microsoft Office applications and confidently input, interpret and analyse data.
• The ability to use own initiative, managing own time and priorities, with excellent organisational skills, attention to detail and experience of managing a variety of work and meeting deadlines.
• The ability to work collaboratively with internal colleagues and external organisations/agencies providing challenge where appropriate.

What’s in it for you?

In return, you will receive a competitive salary, 27 days annual leave (plus Christmas shut down), a defined benefit pension scheme, health cash plan, a range of shopping and leisure discounts.  

We are output focused and flexible and believe in giving colleagues the right balance of autonomy and support to enable them to work to their full potential. Despite the high expectation for performance and delivery, we are committed to ensuring colleagues have a healthy work-life balance and able to work in agile ways which support them. 

About us

Our People Strategy presents a clear picture of how we will achieve our Corporate Plan aim, ‘Be an exceptional place to work that attracts, develops and retains talent’. The Strategy focuses on three key themes that help us support our colleagues to make a difference to our customers, the communities we serve and to themselves.

It is important to us that we have a diverse workforce, representative of the communities we serve. Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to us means colleagues living our values, dedicated to doing the right thing and exercising good judgement. This will encourage a culture where all can thrive, acknowledging that everyone is different; what matters to us is that everyone can come to work and feel comfortable to be themselves.

We are proud to be accredited as a Disability Confident Employer and ensure that disabled people and those with long term health conditions have the opportunity to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations while working with us. We want to make it clear that we welcome disabled applicants for all our roles. If in doubt look out for the Disability Confident logo.

We will ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible, and we will interview applicants with a disability if they meet the essential criteria for a role. We will also support existing colleagues with a disability or long-term health condition enabling them to stay in work, making reasonable adjustments if necessary.

For more information, read the full job description and visit www.whg.uk.com