Principal, Compliance & Operations; Risk Management

Senior Risk Management Expert, Pearson Qualifications PMO Role Purpose

• Serve as the PMO’s subject matter expert for risk across PSQ (Pearson School Qualifications) and VQ (Vocational Qualifications), providing hands‑on leadership for day‑to‑day risk practices.
• Design, embed, and continuously improve the risk management policies, frameworks, tools, playbook, and operating rhythms.
• Operate a single, centralised view of risk, enabling early identification and mitigation of risks, and provide input into the feedback loop of incident management and continuous improvement.
• Lead scenario planning, contingency planning, and simulation exercises to test resilience and improve readiness across cross‑functional delivery teams.
• Provide independent risk assurance to senior stakeholders, supporting regulatory compliance, operational resilience, and continuous improvement.

• Author and maintain the risk management policies and framework (including playbooks, runbooks, templates, risk matrix, and communication protocols) in line with corporate policy and regulatory expectations; submit updates for approval to key senior stakeholders.
• Define and enforce minimum standards for risk registers and control documentation across PSQ and VQ; ensure version control and audit‑ready documentation.

• Run the end‑to‑end risk lifecycle: periodic risk identification, assessment, scoring, and mitigation planning across operational series and on‑demand operations; facilitate risk workshops with delivery teams.
• Maintain the centralised risk register and heatmaps; define and track metrics and early warning indicators; build and maintain dashboards that surface exposure trends and control effectiveness.
• Challenge and support risk owners to develop preventative controls and time‑bound action plans; track actions to closure; elevate overdue or high‑exposure items per governance.
• Perform targeted control testing and risk deep‑dives; coordinate with Internal Audit, Corporate Risk, Regulation, and relevant SMEs to address findings.

• Lead scenario planning, failure mode and stress testing for high risks ahead of peak series; define and maintain contingency plans and workarounds.
• Plan and run tabletop exercises and live simulations at defined intervals; track readiness gaps and remediation actions.

• Own the day‑to‑day administration and data standards for risk tooling (e.g., risk registers and dashboards); ensure single source of truth, data quality, and timely updates.
• Produce regular risk reporting packs for Operational Governance Boards and other forums; provide an independent risk view and recommendations to support go/no‑go and trade‑off decisions.
• Define and report metrics such as risk score, residual risk, control effectiveness, and audit finding closure time.

• Ensure risk practices meet relevant regulatory obligations (e.g., evidence for Ofqual or other regulators) and internal policies; maintain complete audit trails.
• Partner with the Regulation team on submissions as required; prepare materials for audits, reviews, and inquiries.

• Translate risk appetite into incident severity thresholds, escalation criteria, and decision rights; embed in playbooks.
• Ensure RCAs (root cause analyses) and corrective actions update risk registers/controls and are tracked to verified closure; prioritise by exposure reduction.
• Provide rapid risk assessments during major incidents; chair or co‑chair Risk–Incident Governance Forum to review trends and drive systemic actions.

• Translate risk insights and near misses, into prioritised continuous improvement opportunities with clear problem statements and expected benefits.
• Hand over to and collaborate with the continuous project managers; track benefits realisation and close the loop back to risk exposure reduction.

• Act as the central point of contact for risk within the PMO; coach Operational Delivery Managers and wider teams on best practices.
• Run…