Executive Compliance Business Partner

Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

ROLE PURPOSE

The job holder will be allocated a specific Division within the UK&I Specialty Pillar, for which that individual will be appointed as their dedicated Executive Compliance Business Partner to provide Compliance support and oversight.

The job holder will develop business relationships and work alongside the Senior Management and other key stakeholders within their dedicated Division to support it in ensuring that it has appropriate and effective understanding, interpretation, application, and implementation of regulatory expectations within its governance, strategy, decision making, operational processes, and people policies.

Planning (and Strategy)

• Maintain an up to date regulatory risk profile of the Division.
• Develop a framework with the Divisional Senior Management to incorporate Compliance at appropriate strategic and decision making forums.
• Develop and maintain an annual Compliance Plan which is suitable based on the strategic objectives and its regulatory risk profile. This must dovetail with the overarching Compliance Plan.
• Develop and provide the Division with a clear terms of reference, setting out the scope, role, and responsibility of the Executive Compliance Business Partner.
• Determines own work priorities and activities in line with agreed objectives to ensure the planning and achievement of the Annual Compliance Plan.
• Works closely with the other Compliance Function Managers, to ensure the co-ordination of deliverables.
• Participates in specific initiatives/projects to conduct research, review and consider more effective controls.
• Provides input into the plans of the wider Compliance Function in order to ensure these include appropriate considerations for delivery.
• Manages assigned projects and contributes to other projects as required.
• Provides relevant management information relating to their specified division(s) to senior management and governance fora.
• Works closely with the first and second line monitoring functions to determine whether or not conduct risk and general compliance related metrics are suitably designed and incorporated and, where issues are identified, are being addressed in a timely manner.
• Prepares an approach to provide the Head of Compliance with regular updates on progress against key deliverables and tasks, as defined within the Compliance Plan for that Division.

Technical

• Prepares and submits for review and approval, a Compliance Plan and Strategy for the Division under their responsibility.
• Develops an in-depth understanding of the nature of each division within their remit (including their Appointed Representatives) and their respective conduct and regulatory risk profiles.
• Develops and maintains a process to measure and monitor the conduct and regulatory risk profile of each division within their remit (including their Appointed Representatives), to ensure the appropriate assignment of support and resources.
• Develops a framework to ensure regular review of the performance of compliance systems and controls, which do not fall within BAU Compliance Monitoring Team activities.
• Provides support and oversight in respect of all regulatory matters, including but not limited to Consumer Duty, Product Governance, ARs, Introducers, SMCR, and Operational Resilience etc.
• Works closely with the Compliance Monitoring Team to develop conduct risk and general compliance metrics for their division(s), which support the early identification of any emerging trends which may signal potential detriment to clients and insureds.
• Works with the Compliance Monitoring Team and other key internal stakeholders to provide relevant governance fora with regular understanding of the divisions’ conduct risk and regulatory status.
• Supports in undertaking reviews to determine if any matters of concern are systemic, may have caused or have the potential to cause harm to clients.
• Provides support for the review of new and existing client portals.
• Considers and responds to any conduct risk and general compliance concerns, issues, or breaches identified by either the first line monitoring functions, the Compliance Monitoring Team or Internal Audit, including where any Coverholder Audits are performed on the business, in relation to the specified division(s) within their remit, and works with those division(s) to enforce a positive compliance culture.
• Is the primary referral point for the business, providing technical input and expertise, interpreting compliance regulations/requirements (working with other Compliance team members where necessary) for the activities of the business, in relation to conduct risks and general compliance, which shall include any matters related to the Consumer Duty and good customer outcomes.
• Advises the business of regulatory developments & changes in relation to conduct risk and general compliance and assists with impact and gap analyses, providing advice and recommendations to improve performance and mitigate risks.
• Provides the divisional CEO and operational leads with regular updates on conduct risk and general compliance matters, including arising issues and/or incidents occurring in the business, along with findings, recommendations, and management actions arising out of compliance reviews.
• Organises and participates in regular meetings for the “first line of defence” e.g. with operational leads and Business Assurance to co-ordinate activities, share information, and provide relevant updates.
• Attends regular business-unit governance meetings (including executive, operational, and team meetings) and provides a compliance update for each meeting, supporting the embedding of timely and regular compliance matters in such divisional governance meetings and decision making.
• Provides face-to-face and written, regular regulatory updates to client-facing and functional colleagues, explaining developments as posted on the relevant pages of the intranet.
• Liaise with the business to ensure that any conduct risk and general compliance related enhancements or remedial action plans are addressed for all one-off issues and systemic issues.
• Identifies relevant compliance training needs for the business area (including induction for new employees) and implements relevant training activities/plans to ensure employees are aware of their responsibilities regarding compliance and carry out their work activities appropriately.
• Provides technical expertise to specific projects and initiatives in order to ensure goals and objectives are met.
• Keeps informed of all regulatory and legal changes which impacts on the job role.
• Ensures up to date records are maintained at all times on the Company systems.
• Responds appropriately to urgent issues as they arise.
• Escalates to Certified Function Holders, Divisional Heads, Compliance or Governance Committees any matters of concern or emerging risks.