Head of Risk & Compliance (6 Month FTC)

Lawhive; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

33 days annual leave

Nest pension

20% off legal fees

Top-spec equipment

Team building activities

Job summary

Lawhive seeks a Head of Risk & Compliance to serve as COLP, MLCO, MLRO, and DPO in a Second Line position. You will own the regulatory framework, embedding controls across onboarding, AML, conflicts, and client money while reporting to the Board.

You will lead independent risk monitoring, provide pragmatic regulatory guidance to executives, and oversee breaches, SARs, and regulatory communications in a fast-growing, tech-forward law firm.

Qualifications

• Substantial hands-on compliance experience in an SRA-regulated law firm (7+ years).
• Experience holding COLP/MLRO/MLCO roles or acting as a senior deputy.

Responsibilities

• Hold COLP/MLRO/MLCO roles with direct Board access.
• Embed automated compliance gates for onboarding, AML, conflicts, client money.
• Provide independent Second Line monitoring and regulatory advice.
• Manage SARs and maintain financial crime risk registers.
• Oversee breach framework and SRA reportability assessments.
• Advise business leaders on regulatory requirements while enabling innovation.

Skills

Regulatory compliance

COLP/MLRO/MLCO roles

SRA standards

Regulatory judgement

Governance

Education

SRA/regulatory experience

Tools

Intercom

Airtable

Slack

Job description

Salary: £90,000-£120,000

Location: Flexible/Hybrid

About Lawhive

Our mission is to make the law accessible to everyone.

The legal industry is built on technology and process that hasn’t been updated in hundreds of years - that's why we've reinvented the entire model from the ground-up with our own bespoke AI operating system at the core.

Lawhive is a regulated law firm with an AI-native platform built to amplify expertise and revolutionise the way people practice law, leading to exceptional outcomes for clients and lawyers.

Lawhive Labs is how we bring this vision to life. It's our frontier lab that combines top engineering, design, AI and legal talent from around the world, joining forces to build the future of law.

We’re backed by top-tier investors including Google Ventures, Balderton Capital and TQ Ventures and in December 2024 we secured $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.

We’re headquartered in London and in 2025 successfully launched in the US…and we’re just getting started.

Risk & Compliance at Lawhive

We are both one of Europe’s fastest-growing tech startups and an SRA-regulated Alternative Business Structure (ABS) on a mission to make legal help accessible to everyone. Backed by top-tier investors including Google Ventures, Balderton Capital, and TQ Ventures with a $40M Series A behind us, we are growing fast and reimagining what a general-practice law firm can be through our bespoke AI operating system.

Lawhive Limited is our technology company; Lawhive Legal Ltd is our SRA-regulated law firm through which all legal services are delivered. Within a clear Three Lines of Defence (3LoD) framework, we operate a technology-native law firm that supports an extensive network of consultant lawyers across the UK alongside an in-house delivery model.

To support our rapid growth, we are looking for a Head of Risk & Compliance to step in as our designated COLP, MLCO, MLRO, and DPO. In this independent Second Line role, you will take full ownership of our compliance framework, complete the embedding of remaining platform capabilities, and ensure our controls continue to operate seamlessly alongside our cutting-edge tech.

The Role

As Head of Risk & Compliance, you will serve as the reliable, independent Second Line authority for compliance across Lawhive Legal Ltd. Holding the core statutory roles (COLP, MLCO, MLRO, and DPO), your mission is to maintain uncompromised adherence to regulatory principles while demonstrating sharp commercial awareness to enable business growth safely. Having nearly completed an extensive programme to strengthen our firm-wide framework, this role offers a high degree of ownership and direct access to the Board.

What You'll Do:

• Statutory Compliance: Hold the COLP, MLCO, MLRO, and DPO roles for Lawhive Legal Ltd with direct Board access, managing SRA relations and regulatory notifications, ownership of the EWRA.

• Control Embedding & System Adoption: Partner with tech and ops teams as platform features land, ensuring automated compliance gates for onboarding, AML, conflicts, and client money are fully embedded and operationalised.

• Commercial 2LoD Oversight: Deliver independent Second Line monitoring, challenge, and advice across regulatory, conduct, and financial crime risks.

• Financial Crime & SAR Management: Evaluate internal SARs, file external SARs, manage high-risk AML escalations, and maintain financial crime risk registers.

• Breaches & Escalations: Own the compliance breach framework, oversee incident/complaint reporting, and manage SRA reportability assessments.

• Pragmatic Advisory: Provide authoritative regulatory guidance to business leaders and legal teams to support innovation while safeguarding standards.

• Independent Judgement: Exercise independent regulatory judgement, challenge senior stakeholders constructively, and elevate issues when required.

What You’ll Bring

Someone who will establish themselves as the go-to Second Line compliance authority across Lawhive Legal Ltd. You are unflinching on core regulatory principles, yet possess the commercial dexterity to help a fast-scaling tech platform thrive within regulatory boundaries. You enjoy taking ownership of established systems, embedding new tools, and running tight compliance operations autonomously with sound judgment.

Requirements:

• Experience: Substantial hands-on compliance experience in an SRA-regulated law firm (normally 7+ years), including holding COLP, MLRO, or MLCO roles, or acting as a senior deputy with significant responsibility for them.

• Regulated Role Capability: Proven experience exercising independent regulatory judgement and engaging senior stakeholders where regulatory and commercial considerations conflict.

• Knowledge: Strong generalist knowledge across SRA Standards and Regulations, SRA Accounts Rules, MLR 2017, and UK GDPR.

• Governance Understanding: Clear grasp of the 3LoD framework and the distinction between First Line supervision and Second Line independent oversight.

• Operational Focus: Proven ability to manage SARs, evaluate breaches, handle FIU/SRA correspondence, oversee registers, and embed system-led controls.

• Mindset: Pragmatic and commercially solutions-focused while maintaining uncompromising ethical and regulatory standards.

Nice to Have:

• Previous experience formally holding a COLP, MLRO, MLCO, or DPO role.
• Experience working within a technology led, hybrid, or fast-paced legal startup environment.
• Familiarity with modern operational and workflow tools (e.g., Intercom, Airtable, Slack).

Interview process

• Introductory call with our Talent team

• 1:1 with your hiring manager

• Practical skills assessment & Final Q&A

• We offer!

Benefits

• 33 days’ annual leave (25 + bank holidays) plus your birthday off

• Pension contribution via Nest
• 20% off legal fees through Lawhive
• Top-spec equipment
• Regular team building activities and socials!

Diversity at Lawhive

At Lawhive we know that diversity of thought is critical to delivering outlier outcomes. As such, we’re always working hard to ensure we build a diverse, inclusive team. We’re not yet where we want to be but as we scale we’ll only ever increase the focus we apply to this.