Head of Compliance

Lawhive; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A legal tech firm in London is seeking a Head of Compliance to implement their compliance strategy and lead a growing team. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of experience in a SRA-regulated environment, with a strong operational compliance background and leadership skills. You'll be pivotal in ensuring day-to-day compliance functions run smoothly while contributing to the company's global ambitions.

Benefits

34 Holidays

Equity (Share Options)

Pension

Team building activities and socials

20% off legal fees

Qualifications

• 5+ years in a SRA-regulated law firm with operational compliance experience.
• Strong knowledge across AML, conflicts, data protection, and SRA Accounts Rules.
• Demonstrated experience in managing and mentoring teams.

Responsibilities

• Execute group compliance strategy and embed a compliance framework.
• Lead and mentor Compliance Operatives, managing workloads and output quality.
• Oversee BAU compliance functions like AML and data protection.

Skills

Operational compliance

Leadership

Regulatory knowledge

Team management

Job description

Head of Compliance

Reports To: Director of Legal & Compliance

Location: London (Hybrid)

Overview

About Lawhive:

We’re on a mission to make sure everyone has access to the law. Lawhive is an online platform for consumers and small businesses to get legal help for a fraction of the cost of a law firm. Our platform combines regulated human lawyers collaborating alongside the world’s first AI lawyer, specifically built for consumer legal work. Equal access to the law is one of the biggest and most pressing unsolved problems in society today. We’re passionate about leveling the playing field and believe access to the law should be a basic utility in society. Our AI lawyer, Lawrence, is built on top of our own fine tuned LLM and recently passed the UK’s bar exam equivalent. We’re backed by some of the top US and UK VC funds including Google Ventures, Balderton Capital and TQ Ventures. We recently secured a $40M Series A funding round to facilitate international expansion and to grow our team, representing one of the five largest Series A rounds in Europe for 2024.

About The Role

As Head of Compliance, you will serve as the dedicated go-to compliance authority within the business, working directly under the COLP/COFA. Your mission is to execute on the group compliance strategy, embed a robust compliance framework, and ensure that all day-to-day compliance functions run smoothly. This is a pivotal role for a highly capable compliance professional with the ambition and potential to grow into Head of Group Compliance as the company scales beyond Series B.

What You'll Do

• Framework & Policy Execution: Translate group strategy into practical processes, controls and guidance
• Team Management & Development: Directly lead and mentor Compliance Operatives both for Lawhive Legal and our newly acquired firm, Woodstock, managing workloads and quality-assuring outputs
• Operational Oversight: Oversee all BAU compliance functions (AML, conflicts, data protection, etc.) and act as the first line of escalation from the Operative
• Monitoring & QA: Conduct regular file reviews and spot checks; report key findings and risks to the Director
• Advisory & Support: Serve as a trusted, solutions-focused compliance advisor to lawyers and business leaders

What We're Looking For

Someone who'll come in and establish themselves as the go-to person for compliance across the Lawhive group, and who enjoys building and scaling a team and putting their own stamp on it whilst executing on company led strategy. You’ll need a genuine passion to build a career in risk and compliance with strong demonstrated experience working within highly regulated environments and proven experience building and managing teams. We need someone ambitious, with the drive to grow into a Group Head of Compliance role and actively contribute towards Lawhive's global ambitions.

Requirements

• Experience: 5+ years in a SRA-regulated law firm with proven operational compliance experience, ideally with exposure to building or scaling processes
• Knowledge: Strong generalist knowledge across AML, conflicts, data protection, and SRA Accounts Rules
• Leadership: Experience or aptitude for supervising/mentoring junior staff
• Mindset: Pragmatic, commercial, and autonomous, with a clear appetite to step up into a leadership role as the business grows

Nice to Have

• Experience working within a remote/hybrid start-up environment
• Cross jurisdictional/international exposure within the compliance sector
• Experience working with process building resources such as Airtable, Tally, Slack etc.

UK Benefits

34 Holidays (25 days annual leave + your birthday off + bank hols in England)

Equity (Share Options)

Pension

Regular team building activities and socials!

20% off legal fees through Lawhive

US Benefits

Healthcare benefits: \"Premium\" plan with 100% employee cover and 50% dependent cover

Vacation: 20 days + 11 Federal holidays + 1 day of Birthday leave

401k: Matching contribution up to 2% of salary

Equity: Options in Lawhive LTD