Risk & Compliance Business Partner

Canada Life UK looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures for our customers, our intermediaries and our employees by operating as a modern, agile and welcoming organisation.

Job Summary:

A direct report of the Head of Risk & Compliance - Operations, People & Customer (HRC - OPC) responsible for the oversight of compliance and non-financial risk across Canada Life UK (CLUK). This role provides key support to the HRC - OPC in ensuring that there is appropriate risk and compliance management across the business aligning strategy, risk appetite, and guaranteeing good customer outcomes. The focus of the role is likely to cover oversight of third party, operational resilience, people and change risk. The role holder will encourage, advocate and lead an appropriate risk culture across CLUK to meet the needs of the full range of stakeholders (including Board, executive, Lifeco group and regulators).

This role is primarily responsible for providing key support to the HRC - OPC in the oversight of compliance and non-financial risks in all our people and operations functions, including change programmes, and supports the HRC - OPC in their capacity as the Risk and Compliance Business partner for those functions, covering the full CLUK risk universe, with a focus on customer and regulatory compliance risk. Working across the Risk & Compliance function, the role supports the HRC - OPC in sharing insights with other risk and compliance business partners contributing to the oversight of non-financial risk across CLUK.

Duties / Responsibilities:

1) Business Partnering:
Support the HRC - OPC in engaging with and providing oversight primarily of Operations and People functions. This covers oversight and challenge of the nature of non-financial risk exposures and their impact on CLUK across the whole risk universe. Specific accountabilities for this role include oversight of the following areas:
- Operational resilience
- Third party/supplier
- Change execution
- People

2) Leadership:
Support the HRC - OPC in providing non-financial risk leadership to the risk and compliance team in line with our corporate values in the achievement of the business and individual objectives, including the provision of operational, regulatory and technical risk guidance. This specifically includes assisting the HRC - OPC in supporting the objectives of a team of Risk and Compliance business partners focused on operations (third party, operational resilience, change), people and customer.

3) Risk Management Framework:
Champion the three lines of defence model for risk management across Customer functions.
Support the HRC - OPC in the implementation of the Great West Life ERM framework across the Operations and People divisions (and support other divisions) ensuring non-financial risk is adequately mitigated, including the oversight of compliance with relevant regulations, and follow good practice relative to peer companies. This will include implementation, embedding and maintenance of:
o Risk strategy, consistent with the business strategy and business objectives
o Risk universe
o Risk appetite framework
o Risk and Compliance policies
o Risk and Compliance oversight and assurance, including regulatory and reputational
o Risk identification, assessment, measurement, monitoring and reporting
o Risk and Compliance mandate requirements
o Advising and providing oversight on operational risk scenarios

4) Compliance and Non-Financial Risk:
Support the HRC - OPC in the work (with the Director of Compliance & Regulatory Affairs) to:
o Provide oversight and advice on customer and conduct risks
o Contribute to the development of a compliance and non-financial risk monitoring and oversight plan and support delivery.
o Understand regulatory priorities and ensure that the business teams are progressing the delivery of new regulatory requirements to meet regulators’ expectations.
o Support the understanding and management of compliance and risk skills and capabilities across the risk and compliance teams.
o Support the evaluation of compliance effectiveness and maturity in relations to Operations’ functions.
o Support the HRC - OPC in ensuring that non-financial risks and impacts on customer outcomes and potential for customer harm are understood and reflected in Business Line Risk Management and decision making. This includes gaining an understanding of CLUK Customer compliance requirements, and communicating these across CLUK to reflect those requirements.

5) Reporting and Review:
Support the HRC - OPC in the quality review process for CRO and CCO reporting across non-financial risks, including Executive and Board committees for all CLUK entities.

Experience Required:
• Strong communication skills, demonstrating a clear and articulate standard of written and verbal communication in a complex environment, tailored for all levels of management.
• Extensive experience in the life insurance industry, including management positions, or retail financial services.
• Comprehensive knowledge of enterprise risk management and the relevant regulations, including the technical aspects relating to the quantification and analysis of a wide range of risks.
• Oversight, or management of, non-financial risk and the various approaches to monitor, model and report on non-financial risk.
• Understanding and application of embedding and maintaining an enterprise risk management framework.
• Experience of "second line of defence" risk oversight and challenge activities.
• Ability to manage and motivate others with varying levels of experience.
• Strong influencing skills, with experience of engaging with senior management in order to get a desired outcome.
• Proven track record at delivering reporting requirements under tight time pressure with attention to detail.