Risk Director

Referment is working with an FCA-regulated cross-border payments and foreign exchange business that issues electronic money. This role is responsible for the design, ownership and effective operation of the firm's enterprise-wide risk management framework, providing independent second-line oversight of the material non-financial and financial risks arising from electronic money issuance, payment services and FX trading.

Regulatory compliance, interpretation and day-to-day compliance monitoring sit with the Compliance Director, so the two work in close coordination to align risk appetite, regulatory expectations and the control environment without duplicating accountability. You'll also support strategic initiatives, including regulatory licence applications for group entities, and take on risk responsibilities for newly authorised entities once they are operational.

The Role

• Own and maintain the Enterprise Risk Management framework, keeping it proportionate to the business model, scale and complexity.
• Define and embed the firm's risk appetite, tolerances and escalation thresholds, subject to Board approval.
• Ensure consistent risk identification, assessment, mitigation and monitoring across all activities, including payments and FX trading, and maintain the firm-wide risk register.
• Provide independent oversight of FX trading risks including market, liquidity, settlement and counterparty exposure, and review and challenge treasury, hedging and liquidity arrangements through stress testing and scenario analysis.
• Oversee prudential and financial resilience risks relevant to electronic money institutions, including capital adequacy, safeguarding risk and wind-down planning, in coordination with Finance.
• Oversee the operational risk framework, including outsourcing and third-party risk, ICT risk, cyber resilience, fraud risk and business continuity, and review material incidents and near misses so root cause analysis and remediation are tracked.
• Provide risk oversight of payment processing infrastructure, FX execution platforms and critical systems.
• Assess conduct and reputational risks arising from products, customer journeys, pricing and FX execution, and help embed a risk culture consistent with FCA principles, Consumer Duty and Treating Customers Fairly.
• Provide clear, independent risk reporting for the Executive Committee, Board and Audit & Risk Committee, including emerging risks, appetite breaches and stress scenarios, and offer effective challenge to senior management on strategic decisions and material business changes.
• Act as the senior management contact for risk-related FCA matters, supervisory reviews and thematic work, deferring regulatory interpretation and compliance policy to the Compliance Director.
• Lead and develop the Risk function, line managing two team members, and work with the Compliance Director, Finance Director, MLRO and other Senior Managers to keep a coherent second-line framework.