MERJE is seeking a highly skilled Regulatory Governance & Pension Oversight Senior Specialist to join a well-known Investment / Asset Management firm. This role is a 12-month maternity cover 

The Regulatory Governance & Pension Oversight Senior Specialist will be leading the establishment, maintenance, and enhancement of the internal control framework for the Regulatory Governance & Pension Oversight Team, acting as SME across all regulatory governance and pension-related activities and controls.

Location: Manchester office with hybrid working and occasional monthly travel to London in the handover period. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Develops and leads the internal control framework, identifying, designing, implementing, and testing controls. Remedies control gaps and enhances effectiveness.
• Acts as SME for pension processes and governance/regulatory activities across the business, providing consultation and analytical support. Advises on audit activities and risk mitigation.
• Supports management reporting, thoroughly documenting findings.
• Looking to develop and implement data-led control and governance tools that make oversight as efficient as possible.
• Builds strong relationships with stakeholders, sharing best practices and communicating control solutions. Collaborating with outsourced partners to strengthen and streamline process design and automate manual elements of the operation.
• Accountable for oversight of regulatory and pension activities through the UKPI retail platform, ensuring timely and accurate processing.
• Maintains knowledge of relevant laws and regulations for pension and other relevant tax wrappers.
• Notifies and assesses risk events and breaches, ensuring oversight controls are effective.
• Accountable for procedures within the Pensions Oversight Team.
• Oversees platform governance tasks within required timeframes; documents control adherence and assurance tasks with high attention to detail.
• Manages relationships with outsourced technical operations teams, resolving issues and improving processes.
• Represents the Regulatory & Pension Oversight Team in internal and external meetings, providing expert advice for propositional developments.
• Provides support, education and training to crew.
• Participates in special projects and other duties as assigned.

Required knowledge:

• Minimum of 5 years related work experience relating to operational process within the retail investment platform space. One year experience in audit or a risk-management-based function desirable but not essential.
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Minimum 5 years broad experience in financial services / asset management; ideally with 2-3 of those years spent in an oversight or similar operational role.
• In depth working knowledge of relevant industry regulations (i.e., HMRC, FCA, tPR, etc.)
• Prior experience with a D2C retail investment platform.
• Knowledge and understanding of internal control theory and practices; experience in workflow analysis and documentation.
• Solid analytical skills and understanding of processes, technology and operational concepts.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and time management/organizational skills.
• Demonstrated flexibility and ability to adapt to change.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

Applicants must be located and eligible to work in the UK without sponsorship.

Please note, should feedback not be received within 28 days, unfortunately your application has been unsuccessful. In applying for this role, you may be registered on our database so we can contact you about suitable opportunities in future. Your data will be managed in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which can be found on our website.

If you would like this job advertisement in an alternative format, please contact MERJE directly.