Head of Risk & Resilience Job Milton Keynes area,England UK,Finance & Banking

Lead a high-impact resilience build! Transform our operational resilience, TPRM, and Wind-Down frameworks and shape the future of a secure business built for millions
Reports to:

Group Chief Compliance & Risk Officer / MLRO
Function:
Second line risk, independent of the Fin Crime/AML line (Deputy MLRO)
We are looking for a hands-on Head of Risk & Operational Resilience to own, build, and run our operational and prudential risk capabilities across Monese
In this role, you will be the accountable owner for our operational resilience framework- specifically focusing on wind-down planning, business continuity, incident management, and third-party/outsourcing risk management in accordance with FCA expectations and DORA standards
This is a build-and-run, individual contributor role initially. You will close current resourcing gaps across all three areas and build the underlying risk management toolkit (KRIs, control self-assessment, risk event log) needed to run them sustainably
Own the Risk & Control Self-Assessment process and a KRI framework across all operational areas
Maintain an operational risk event log with clear escalation, investigation, and remediation tracking
Act as primary liaison for internal and external audit on wind-down, incident management, and TPRM matters; align control design with audit recommendations
Regulatory basis: DORA Art. 28–44; EBA/GL/2019/02; FCA SYSC 8;
Operational Resilience (PS21/3), including mapping of third parties supporting important business services
Own the Third Party Risk Management framework, running rigorous risk assessments, ensuring due diligence is performed, maintaining the DORA Register of Information, and guaranteeing that robust exit strategies are in place for critical vendors
Ensure TPRM aligns with BCP maintaining the mapping of critical third parties against important business services
Regulatory basis:
Electronic Money Regulations 2011; EBA/GL/2021/11
Map out critical business services and be the primary author of the firm’s board- and FCA-approved Wind-Down Plan (WDP) and Business Continuity Plans (BCP), ensuring the firm can weather operational crises without harming consumers
Design and run the WDP and BCP testing programme - scenario testing, timeline/resource feasibility checks, and business impact analysis - evidencing the plan works operationally, not just that it exists
Benchmark against the FCA’s 2025 multi-firm WDP review and the shift in supervisory tone (e.g. PS25/12) from document-existence to demonstrated execution capability
Feeds risk MI into the Risk Committee and Board reporting owned by the CCRO/MLRO
Collaborate with the Deputy MLRO on third-party or incident matters with a financial-crime dimension, without owning fincrime risk itself

Benefits

Hybrid working and 30 days work abroad per year
25 days annual leave, plus public holidays, plus an extra day every year worked
Sports compensation with Stebby or direct discount from a gym
Bupa personal private healthcare
10 paid sick days per year
Learning & development budget and 10 paid learning days per annum
VIP Pockit & Monese accounts
Share options (exact details depending on your role and level)
Social events throughout the year
Private medical with Confido

Experience running KRI/CSA frameworks and acting as an audit liaison
Practical DORA implementation experience (Art. 17–23 incident reporting; Art. 28–44 third-party risk), given Monese’s EU entity exposure
Hands-on incident management and resilience testing experience - able to design and run simulation exercises, not just write policy
Outsourcing/TPRM experience including fourth-party due diligence
Direct experience with wind-down/recovery planning under EMR 2011/PSR 2017 or equivalent prudential regimes
Track record building or running a second-line operational/prudential risk function in a UK-regulated payments, e-money, or banking firm
Comfortable operating with limited team resource initially - this is a build-out role