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Head of Risk UK

Capital.com· CEO Office UK – Risk
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Hybrid (London)Full-timePosted 4mo ago

About the role

Senior risk leader responsible for identifying, assessing, monitoring, and reporting all material risks affecting UK clients, regulatory posture, and operational resilience; manages outsourced risk services and serves as primary risk voice in UK governance and FCA supervisory engagements.

Responsibilities

  • Own the UK enterprise risk management framework end to end, ensuring it is proportionate, current, and aligned with FCA expectations under SYSC, PRIN, and Consumer Duty
  • Maintain the UK Risk Register with clear ownership, assessment methodology, defined review cycles, and escalation triggers
  • Own the UK risk management framework and RAS, translating Group risk appetite into UK specific decision boundaries that reflect local regulatory constraints
  • Provide independent 2nd line oversight and challenge to 1st line risk owners across operations, technology, client services, and commercial functions (excluding dealing, which reports separately)
  • Act as the intelligent client for risk services delivered by the Group Risk team, including but not limited to: market risk monitoring, credit/counterparty risk assessment, quantitative risk modelling, stress testing, and risk MI production
  • Define and document what the UK entity requires from Group Risk in terms of scope, quality, timeliness, and regulatory standard, formalised through an intra group service level framework or equivalent
  • Monitor and challenge the quality and completeness of Group Risk outputs before they are used in UK governance forums, board packs, or regulatory submissions
  • Identify gaps between Group Risk delivery and UK specific regulatory requirements, and escalate where those gaps create risk to the UK entity’s compliance posture
  • Maintain an outsourcing risk assessment for Group Risk services consistent with FCA expectations for oversight of outsourced critical or important functions under SYSC 8
  • Ensure that the UK entity retains sufficient knowledge and capability locally to oversee outsourced risk functions, avoiding inappropriate dependency on Group without independent local scrutiny
  • Lead or substantively oversee the UK ICARA (Internal Capital Adequacy and Risk Assessment) process, coordinating with Group Risk and Group Finance on stress testing, scenario analysis, and capital/liquidity adequacy
  • Ensure market risk, credit/counterparty risk, and concentration risk are monitored and reported to a standard that meets MIFIDPRU requirements, whether produced locally or by Group
  • Integrate conduct risk assessment into product governance, pricing decisions, and client outcome monitoring in line with Consumer Duty (PRIN 2A)
  • Oversee operational risk including business continuity, IT resilience, and third party risk, ensuring the UK entity maintains visibility even where platforms and infrastructure are managed at Group level
  • Deliver risk MI to the UK Board, UK ExCo, and relevant governance committees on a defined cadence, with clear narrative on trends, near breaches, breaches, and required actions
  • Own and maintain Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) across all material risk domains, each with predefined thresholds and mandatory escalation actions
  • Prepare risk sections for board packs, regulatory returns, and FCA supervisory engagement materials
  • Critically assess risk MI received from Group Risk before presenting to UK governance forums, ensuring it accurately reflects UK specific exposures and is not simply a Group level aggregation
  • Act as the primary point of contact for risk matters with the FCA during supervisory interactions, skilled persons reviews, and thematic exercises
  • Maintain effective working relationships with the Group CRO and Group Risk team, balancing collaborative alignment with independent challenge where UK interests diverge from Group priorities
  • Collaborate with the Head of Compliance (SMF16/17) to ensure clear delineation of 2nd line responsibilities with no gaps or duplication
  • Engage with internal and external auditors on risk related findings, ensuring timely remediation and structural fixes
  • Build the UK risk function progressively as the office grows, identifying where local capability is needed versus where Group delivery remains appropriate
  • Embed a risk aware culture across the UK office through training, practical challenge, and visible engagement with 1st line teams

Qualifications

  • Substantial experience (typically 8+ years) in risk management within FCA regulated financial services, with demonstrable exposure to CFD, spread betting, or leveraged derivatives businesses
  • Deep working knowledge of FCA regulatory expectations for risk management under SYSC, PRIN, Consumer Duty (PRIN 2A), and MIFIDPRU prudential requirements
  • Proven experience managing outsourced or shared service risk functions, including defining service requirements, monitoring delivery quality, and escalating shortfalls
  • Experience designing and operating enterprise risk frameworks including risk registers, risk appetite statements, KRI frameworks, and ICARA/ICAAP processes
  • Strong understanding of financial risk (market, credit/counterparty, liquidity), operational risk, and conduct risk in the context of a retail leveraged trading platform
  • Experience preparing and critically reviewing risk MI for boards and senior governance forums, including identifying where MI masks underlying issues
  • Experience engaging with the FCA in a supervisory context
  • Understanding of the 3 lines of defence model and comfort operating independently within a structure where many 2nd line services are delivered centrally by a Group function
  • Strong governance instincts: ability to distinguish between aligned Group support and inappropriate delegation of UK regulatory accountability

Skills

Required:Risk managementOutsourcing risk managementRegulatory engagement (FCA)

Benefits

  • Competitive Salary
  • Work-Life Harmony
  • Generous Time Off
  • Employee Referral Program
  • Comprehensive Health & Pension Benefits
  • Workation Wonderland
  • Volunteer Days
Last updated Oct 21, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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