Head of Risk

InvestEngine; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

InvestEngine is seeking a strategic Head of Risk to lead the second line of defence and develop a pragmatic enterprise risk management framework. You will turn policy into practical workflows, partner with Product, Operations, Technology and Finance, and provide independent risk insight to senior management, the Audit & Risk Committee and the Board.

You will report to the Chief Risk & Compliance Officer and chair the Executive Risk Committee, establishing clear ownership, robust risk

Qualifications

• Proven experience building risk management frameworks.
• Ability to translate policy into workflows and training for first-line teams.
• Experience presenting risk insights to committees and the Board.
• Strong understanding of FCA risk expectations for UK regulated firms.

Responsibilities

• Assess and improve the ERMF, with a prioritised plan in the first 90 days.
• Translate framework into practical workflows, templates and training for first-line teams.
• Ensure clear ownership of processes with accountable owners.
• Raise quality of risk statements and evidence; challenge weak conclusions.
• Lead EWRA and consolidate stakeholder views and interconnections.
• Design and deliver a risk-based assurance plan with KRIs and escalation.
• Chair the Executive Risk Committee overseeing appetite and risks.
• Provide timely MI to Audit & Risk Committee and Board.
• Support ICARA with links to enterprise risk profile.

Skills

ERMF framework

Policy to workflow

Risk governance

Executive reporting

Independent challenge

Stakeholder influencing

English fluency

Job description

About InvestEngine

InvestEngine is everything the modern investor should need: unbeatable value, market-leading automation, and a platform built for easy, long-term investing.

We’ve built a strong foundation, with over £3.5 billion invested, award-winning service, and a passionate team. We’re an FCA-regulated investment platform growing fast — and our approach to risk needs to scale with us.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Head of Risk to lead our second line of defence. This is a senior, hands‑on role in a lean team: you’ll build and improve things yourself rather than oversee a large function.

Your mission is to build, maintain and continuously improve a proportionate enterprise risk management framework that genuinely works for an investment platform — and to turn it into clear, practical ways for business teams to identify, own, manage and evidence their risks and controls. At the same time, you’ll provide independent challenge and decision‑useful risk insight to senior management, the Audit & Risk Committee and the Board.

You’ll report to our Chief Risk & Compliance Officer and work closely with Product, Operations, Technology and Finance.

What You’ll Do

• Assess our existing ERMF, methodology and registers, keep what works, and agree a prioritised, risk‑based improvement plan in your first 90 days

• Turn the framework into practical workflows, templates, guidance and training that busy first‑line teams can actually use — covering RCSAs, controls, events and escalation

• Embed clear ownership: make sure priority processes have named process, risk and control owners who understand and evidence their responsibilities

• Raise the quality of risk assessments, risk statements and control evidence, and challenge unsupported conclusions

• Lead the enterprise‑wide risk assessment (EWRA), bringing together owner views, second‑line challenge, evidence gaps and material interconnections

• Design and deliver a proportionate risk‑based assurance plan, with clear KRIs, monitoring and escalation of material issues

• Chair the Executive Risk Committee as a second‑line forum overseeing risk appetite and functional risks

• Provide the Audit & Risk Committee and Board with accurate, timely MI and metrics on exposures against appetite, trends, control weaknesses and actions

• Provide independent risk input and challenge to our Finance‑led ICARA, linking material harms and scenarios to the enterprise risk profile

What We’re Looking For

• You have personally built an ERMF or material parts of one, and improved an existing framework — connecting taxonomy, appetite, assessments, controls, KRIs, events and assurance

• A track record of translating policy into workflows and training that first‑line teams adopt, without taking over their ownership

• Strong risk and control judgement: cause–event–impact thinking, inherent and residual risk, design and operating effectiveness

• Confidence to challenge senior stakeholders constructively while building trust and protecting second‑line independence

• Experience running risk governance and producing clear, decision‑useful reporting for committees and the Board

• Solid understanding of FCA risk and systems‑and‑controls expectations for a UK regulated firm, including customer harm, CASS, operational resilience, technology and third‑party risk

• Comfortable in a fast‑moving, lean environment: you prioritise, deliver proportionate solutions and use modern tools — including AI — to work smarter

• English fluency at C1 level or above — we are a UK‑based company and the role involves regular communication across the business

Nice to Have

• Practical experience of MIFIDPRU / IFPR and ICARA: material‑harm assessments, stress and reverse‑stress scenarios, wind‑down planning, or independent challenge of a Finance‑led ICARA

• Experience at a growing UK investment platform, execution‑only or managed investment services, or a similarly regulated fintech

How We Work

We’re a lean, fast-moving team that values clarity, ownership and transparency.

You’ll have the freedom to improve how things work, the responsibility to follow through, and the backing of a team that values clear thinking and open dialogue. We believe in solving problems at the root rather than simply treating the symptoms.

What We Offer

Impact from day one
You’ll shape how risk is understood and managed across the whole business, with direct visibility to the Board.

Room to grow
As InvestEngine scales, you’ll help shape how risk management develops across the company.

Transparent and open culture
We share information openly, keep communication clear and encourage collaboration across the business.

Supportive, high‑calibre team
You’ll work alongside talented people who care about both the quality of their work and the success of the wider team.

Hybrid working
Our office is in Southwark, London, and we work in a hybrid way.

Our Hiring Process

• Introductory call with our Talent team

• Interview with the hiring manager

• Practical exercise: a short risk scenario, presented back

• Final interview with our CEO

We aim to keep the process straightforward, transparent and efficient.