Head of Operational Risk, Controls & Quality
Role Overview
This leadership position is accountable for strengthening first-line operational governance, resilience, and quality standards across a diversified insurance portfolio. The role plays a critical part in ensuring that operational risk management, internal controls, quality assurance, business continuity, and complaint-handling frameworks are robust, scalable, and aligned with regulatory expectations.
The role supports business expansion across multiple insurance segments by embedding disciplined execution, strong controls, and a continuous improvement mindset, while ensuring customer outcomes and regulatory obligations remain central to operations.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Risk & Control Oversight
- Establish and oversee non-financial risk assessment processes across business functions, ensuring risks, controls, and mitigation actions are clearly documented and regularly reviewed.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of operational and regulatory controls, driving timely resolution of identified gaps.
- Lead structured control testing programs and ensure audit-ready documentation is maintained.
- Ensure operational incidents and risk events are captured, investigated, escalated, and resolved within agreed timelines.
- Oversee issue management processes, including root cause analysis and remediation tracking.
- Own the operational business continuity framework, including periodic testing and updates.
- Act as a primary first-line governance partner to Risk, Compliance, and Internal Audit teams.
Quality Assurance & Process Excellence
- Lead organization-wide quality assurance activities across operational teams.
- Define and maintain quality standards, review methodologies, and governance frameworks.
- Analyze quality outcomes and drive corrective actions through structured improvement initiatives.
- Champion operational efficiency, process optimization, and transformation initiatives aligned with performance metrics.
Regulatory & Financial Crime Controls (First Line)
- Oversee operational alert management activities related to customer due diligence, sanctions screening, and transaction monitoring.
- Act as the operational subject-matter expert for international tax reporting and customer classification requirements.
- Ensure operational compliance with payment security standards and support recurring certification requirements.
- Coordinate operational implementation of new regulatory requirements in collaboration with Legal, Risk, and Compliance.
- Monitor regulatory developments and ensure operational readiness across business units.
- Ensure operational adherence to applicable conduct, data protection, healthcare, and sector-specific regulatory frameworks.
- Support accurate and timely operational data exchange with regulatory and industry platforms.
Complaint Governance
- Own the operational complaint-handling framework across customer, intermediary, and corporate segments.
- Ensure complaints are recorded, investigated, and resolved in line with regulatory and internal service standards.
- Track complaint trends and performance indicators to drive service and control enhancements.
- Ensure complaint insights translate into tangible operational improvements.
People & Leadership Responsibilities
- Build, develop, and lead a high-performing operational risk, controls, and quality team.
- Provide coaching, guidance, and performance management to team members.
- Act as the business owner for operational governance tools and systems.
- Manage departmental budgets and resource planning.
- Support business initiatives related to product launches, onboarding, and operational readiness.
- Act as a role model for integrity, accountability, and customer-focused behavior.
- Provide leadership coverage and support for senior management as required.
Stakeholder Engagement
Internal:
Senior leadership, Operations, Technology, Commercial, Underwriting, Reinsurance, Finance, Legal, Risk, and Compliance teams.
External:
Intermediaries, customers, third-party administrators, reinsurers, technology partners, consultants, and regulatory bodies.
Decision-Making Authority
- Executes decisions within defined authority limits and escalates material operational or governance matters for senior approval.
- Exercises financial authority in accordance with approved delegation frameworks.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in business, risk, compliance, or a related discipline.
- Approximately 812 years of experience in operational risk, internal controls, quality assurance, or governance roles within insurance or financial services.
- Prior experience in regulated environments and multi-line operations is strongly preferred.
Core Skills & Competencies
- Strong understanding of operational risk management, control frameworks, and regulated insurance operations.
- Experience supporting regulatory examinations, audits, or operational readiness reviews.
- Proven ability to design and embed first-line control environments.
- Strong leadership and stakeholder management capabilities.
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail.
- Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong project and change management capability.
- High ethical standards with a commitment to transparency and customer outcomes.
