Group Head of Enterprise Risk

Starling is the UK’s first and leading digital bank on a mission to fix banking! We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had the power to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way. Read more about our story here.

We’re a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We’re a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,000 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.

Hybrid Working

We have a Hybrid approach to working here at Starling - our preference is that you're located within a commutable distance of one of our offices so that we're able to interact and collaborate in person. We're asking that you attend the office a minimum of 10 days a month.

We are seeking an experienced risk expert and leader to join our team as Group Head of Enterprise Risk. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and overseeing the implementation of the Bank and Group’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF). The individual will also support the Group Director of Enterprise and Operational Risk in further embedding associated risk activities, such as risk policy management and risk culture throughout the organisation, contributing to ongoing risk management maturity.

Key accountabilities:

• Own and maintain the Group and Bank ERMF, ensuring roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities for risk management are clearly understood across all three lines of defence.
• Complete the annual review and refresh of Group and Bank ERMF, for approval by the Board, and develop and maintain supporting standards, procedures and guidance documents as needed.
• Communicate changes to the Group and Bank ERMF to all relevant stakeholders, across all three lines of defence.
• Act as an SME for enterprise risk management and provide advice and challenge on the application of the ERMF and risk management practice to all three lines of defence.
• Research leading practices on enterprise risk management and develop proposals to continuously improve components of the ERMF.
• Own and maintain the Risk Taxonomy. Complete periodic review and refresh of the Taxonomy, for approval by the CRO.
• Monitor the effectiveness and level of embedding of the ERMF and take action to improve both where needed, and report on findings to the Board.
• Regularly refresh, monitor and report on the Group and Bank’s Principal and Material Risks, obtaining input from relevant stakeholders across all three lines of defence.
• Own and develop the Group and Bank’s approach to emerging risks.
• Own and develop the Group and Bank’s Emerging Risk Register and emerging risk approach.

• Develop and maintain the Risk Appetite Framework. Complete annual review and refresh of the Risk Appetite Framework, for approval by the Board, and develop and maintain supporting standards, procedures and guidance documents as needed.
• Coordinate the annual review and refresh of the Risk Appetite Statement, for approval by the Board, and provide SME advice and guidance to risk leadership as they refresh the individual Risk Category statements and metrics.

• Maintain the risk policy inventory and refresh schedule, and coordinate with the Risk Reporting team and Policy Owners to ensure refreshes are undertaken in good time.
• Ensure adequate coverage of the Risk Taxonomy across the risk policy suite.
• Provide SME advice and guidance to Policy Owners on the creation, maintenance, tiering and rescission of risk policies.
• Review and challenge all proposed Level 1 and 2 risk policy updates to ensure clarity and alignment to ERMF standards.
• Coordinate the committee approvals process for all tier 1 and 2 risk policy updates on behalf of the Policy Owner.
• Complete annual review and refresh of the Policy Management guidelines and procedures.
• Support the effective communication of risk policy changes to all relevant stakeholders, across all three lines of defence.

• Lead on the reporting, monitoring and development of risk culture.
• Work with Learning & Development to design and maintain an effective risk management learning and development programme across all three lines of defence. Provide advice and support to the RLT in designing ad hoc / bespoke risk training as needed.

• Provide material on enterprise risk management for external reports, such as the Annual Report & Accounts, Pillar 3 Disclosures and ICAAP, and in response to requests from third parties, such as the regulators, investors and/or potential (Engine) clients.

• Support the completion and continuous improvement of key enterprise risk processes,  including the development of Group risk artefacts: risk policy management, risk appetite maintenance, risk taxonomy and risk framework developments.
• Support the development of the Bank’s risk data and MI strategy and framework.
• Develop and implement clear standards and procedures for the aggregation and escalation of risk matters to ERC, BRC and Bank Board.
• Manage the process to track, embed and report on the status of material policy exceptions and risk acceptance requests.
• Support the process for completing the annual SMF attestation for the Group Chief Risk Officer. 
• Manage, assess, test and develop risk and controls owned within the Risk function and in particular those sporting the CRO’s compliance requirements.

• Seasoned experience in risk management, with substantial leadership experience.
• Deep understanding of the theory and practice of enterprise risk management. 
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Awareness of good corporate governance principles and practices.
• Previous experience of operating a GRC system preferred.
• Comfortable with handling, transforming and visualising large amounts of data.
• Proven track record in leading cross-functional risk initiatives and engaging with executive-level stakeholders
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking.
• Positive leadership and people management skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation capabilities
• High integrity, sound judgment, and decision-making capability under pressure
• Good decision making, planning and prioritising skills. 
• A proven problem solver who is committed to continuous improvement.

• 25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you)
• An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
• Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family-friendly policies
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work and Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships

About Us

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway.

We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.

Starling Bank is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling Bank are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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