Commercial Governance, Audit & Risk Lead (Education)

TL;DR

Commercial Governance, Audit & Risk Lead (Education): Designing and implementing risk management, assurance, and performance frameworks to ensure regulatory compliance with an accent on internal controls and data-driven decision-making. Focus on building performance dashboards, coordinating audit activities, and strengthening organizational resilience.

Location: Manchester, UK. Hybrid working – a minimum of 2 days per week in the office

Salary: £42,500 - £49,500

Company

hirify.global is the largest provider of academic qualifications in the UK, dedicated to advancing education by enabling teachers and students to realize their potential.

What you will do

• Design and implement the commercial team’s risk management, assurance, and performance frameworks.
• Lead audit assurance activities, manage external audits, and monitor the implementation of recommendations.
• Develop performance dashboards using raw data and metrics to provide actionable insights for senior leadership.
• Maintain commercial risk registers, facilitate risk workshops, and embed a risk-aware culture.
• Review and challenge commercial business continuity plans to ensure organizational resilience.
• Drive accountability through effective tracking, reporting, and follow-up of governance activities.

Requirements

• Experience in governance, risk, audit, assurance, compliance, or PMO.
• Experience working within a regulated organization (e.g., financial services, healthcare, public sector).
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the confidence to challenge senior leaders constructively.
• Ability to use data, reporting, and performance information to support strategic decision-making.
• Experience using Airtable or similar no-code/low-code platforms for performance reporting.
• Excellent organizational skills with a proactive approach to meeting deadlines in high-pressure environments.

Culture & Benefits

• 35-hour working week with flexible hybrid working arrangements.
• Annual leave: 25 days, rising to 30, plus Christmas closure days.
• Pension scheme with combined contributions of up to 18.5%.
• BUPA healthcare support and comprehensive wellbeing programmes.
• Inclusive, values-led culture with active employee networks (LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, ethnic diversity, etc.).

Hiring process

• Short screening call with a recruiter.
• Face-to-face interview in Manchester including a practical task and values-based questions.