Head of CIO Risk, Governance & Audit

Location: Hybrid role based in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, London, Welwyn Garden City or Reigate, United Kingdom; typically requires 2–3 days per week onsite.

Salary: up to £130K + annual bonus and benefits.

Company

Tesco Insurance and Money Services provides personal insurance and travel money services, supporting more than 2 million customers.

What you will do

• Lead CIO technology risk, governance and audit responsibilities across technology, operational resilience, supplier, cyber, data, AI and change functions.
• Drive identification, assessment and mitigation of technology-related risks and own the end-to-end technology risk management framework.
• Oversee internal and external audit activity, IT control assurance, regulatory compliance, control testing and remediation.
• Set the CIO Risk, Governance and Audit agenda, including data and AI governance frameworks and the function’s operating model.
• Represent CIO at enterprise and Board Risk Committees and work with senior stakeholders, executive and Board members, auditors, second-line risk functions and UK financial services regulators.
• Build CIO risk communities, lead risk experts and develop an open culture of accountability, control and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Deep experience in senior risk and compliance roles within a technology function of a sizeable UK-based financial services organisation, ideally insurance.
• Strong strategic oversight, regulatory awareness and operational control expertise.
• Experience owning and presenting matters to senior stakeholders, Board members and regulatory representatives, including experience working with the PRA and FCA.
• Ability to communicate complex risk and governance matters clearly and authoritatively and influence alignment across competing priorities.
• Experience interpreting strategy and policy to set and deliver objectives.
• Experience defining, implementing and continuously improving governance structures, policies and control frameworks.
• Expert leadership in audit and assurance, including internal and external audit activity, control testing and remediation.
• Experience leading risk-expert teams and contributing to technology, data, AI, innovation and change agendas.

Nice to have

• Expertise in managing information throughout its lifecycle through appropriate architectures, policies and practices.
• Knowledge of AI and data governance within heavily regulated industries.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid working with flexibility to work from home and regular office collaboration.
• Permanent employment with a generous pension contribution of up to 15%, private medical insurance, health screening and virtual GP services.
• Critical illness insurance, performance-related annual bonus, car allowance or interest-free car loan.
• 7.2 weeks of holiday with the option to buy more, enhanced parental leave and colleague Clubcard discounts.
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities, with support for flexible and part-time working arrangements.

Hiring process

• Applications close on 27 November 2026 at 5pm.
• Interviews are expected to take place after the closing date, with reasonable adjustments available throughout the recruitment process.