Head of Chief Controls Office – CIB and Cross Border Controls (Banking)

TL;DR

Head of Chief Controls Office – CIB and Cross Border Controls (Banking): Leading the Chief Controls Office for CIB Relationship and Ring-Fenced Bank Product teams with an accent on shaping first line risk and control agenda across jurisdictions. Focus on assessing control design and effectiveness, managing issues and incidents, and driving risk culture in a highly regulated environment.

Location: Hybrid in London, Birmingham, or Edinburgh (at least two days per week or 40% of time in office); workplace adjustments available for disabilities.

Company

Major UK bank supporting large corporate and institutional clients internationally, focused on robust risk and control frameworks for sustainable growth.

What you will do

• Lead and develop a specialist Controls Office team providing expertise across credit, conduct, economic crime, operational, and change risks for CIB and RFB teams.
• Drive improvements to the CIB control environment through assessments, KRIs, testing, and remediation aligned to the Enterprise Risk & Control Framework.
• Manage first line issue and incident processes, including root cause analysis, remediation plans, and sustainable fixes.
• Structure risk and control forums, delivering actionable insights to senior leaders on control adequacy and emerging risks.
• Collaborate with second line Risk, Compliance, and Internal Audit on reviews, regulatory queries, and thematic work.
• Foster a strong risk culture, uplifting capabilities and regulatory knowledge across CIB teams.

Requirements

• Significant experience in Corporate & Institutional Banking (5+ years), deep understanding of CIB products, client lifecycle, and associated risks.
• Extensive first line risk and control experience (5+ years) across operational and non-financial risks including credit, conduct, economic crime, and change risk.
• Strong leadership experience (5+ years) leading specialist risk, controls, or assurance teams in complex regulated financial services.
• Experience leading regulatory engagement, in-depth knowledge of FCA handbook, PRA requirements, and industry risk governance methodologies.
• Senior partnering skills to challenge and influence front-office leaders while maintaining commercial awareness.
• Proven experience embedding risk ownership through training, competency programs, and policy application.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid working with flexibility and adjustments for disabilities per Flexibility Works policy.
• Generous pension up to 15%, annual performance bonus, share schemes, and adaptable lifestyle benefits.
• 30 days’ holiday plus bank holidays, wellbeing initiatives, and generous parental leave.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion; Disability Confident Leader with guaranteed interviews for eligible applicants.
• Menopause health package, Working with Cancer Initiative, and goals for senior role diversity.