Head of Compliance Assessment

Job Description

Canada Life UK looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures for our customers, our intermediaries and our employees by operating as a modern, agile and welcoming organisation. Part of our parent company Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life UK has operated in the United Kingdom since 1903. We have hundreds of respected and supported employees committed to doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues. Canada Life UK is transforming to create a more customer-focused business by providing our customers with expertise on financial and tax planning, offering home finance and annuities propositions, and providing collective fund solutions to third party customers. Job Summary Reporting into the Director of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs, this role is responsible for executing the Compliance Assessment programme and methodology across Canada Life UK (CLUK), as well as defining UK standards and best practices related to the effectiveassessment of regulatory compliance risk and related compliance controls. This role will play a key role in the delivery and development of Compliance oversight through the planning, directing and execution of compliance assessment strategies as well as through the day-to-day support of individual assessors as they conduct high qualityregulatory compliance control and outcome testing, that leads to improved customer outcomes and an enhanced control environment. This role will also be responsible for leading and developing a mature Compliance Assessment capability, including strategy, team development and the implementation of best practices as determined through regular consultation with peers in other jurisdictionsand organisations external to Canada Life. The role works closely with the Risk and Compliance teams, particularly the Head of Compliance Effectiveness and Oversight, the Heads of Risk and Compliance, and Global Compliance, Internal Audit, as well as key stakeholders within first line teams. What You will do:1) Risk and Compliance Leadership Team: Member of the Risk and Compliance leadership team supporting the Director of Compliance in leading the Risk and Compliance function to meet the needs of the Compliance Mandate. And to build, maintain and leverage key relationships with the full range of stakeholders,including regulators to help advance compliance objectives. 2) People Leadership: Recruit, lead and manage a team of Compliance Assessment Professionals in line with our corporate values, and, in the achievement of the business and individual objectives, including the provision of commercial and pragmatic operational, regulatory and technicalcompliance and non-financial risk guidance and expectations. Support the on-going development of both the team, and individual team members, by identifying opportunities for skills enhancement, increasing the breadth and depth of subject matter expertise, competence and leveraging cross training. Leverage the Skillsand Knowledge Framework owned by the Head of Compliance Oversight and Effectiveness to support this goal. 3) Risk Management Framework: Champion the three lines of defence model for risk management. Ensure the implementation of the Great West Life ERM framework across the relevant divisions overseeing compliance with relevant regulations and that they meet the wider expectation of regulators, and follow good practice relative to peer companies. This willinclude implementation, embedding and maintenance of:

• Risk strategy, consistent with the business strategy and business objectives
• Risk universe
• Risk appetite framework
• Risk and Compliance policies
• Risk and Compliance oversight and assurance, including regulatory and reputational
• Risk identification, assessment, measurement, measurement and reporting
• Risk and Compliance mandate requirements

4) Assessment Plan Design and Delivery: Lead the design and delivery of a risk-based compliance assessment plan, as agreed by the Audit Committee(s) for the CLUK companies, which delivers assurance that key conduct risk and regulatory compliance control processes are delivering the intended businessand regulatory outcomes.

• Ensure that the inherent risk assessment process that informs the plan is robust, follows the global methodology, appropriately provides challenge to business areas and considers residual risk. And that the findings are appropriately captured into GRC.
• Ensure that there is a robust review of historic assessment outcomes, risk event trends and current qualitative assessment, to inform the new plan, ensuring that we are managing our risk and assurance programme over multi year periods.
• Ensure that there is engagement with the wider risk and compliance team and Internal Audit to inform the plan.

5) Ensure that the plan reflects business priorities and strategic developments, as well as any changes in regulations. 6) Effectively coordinate the scheduling of assessments amongst the Compliance Assessment team. 7) Develop key relationships across the 1LOD to support effective Assessment engagement and understanding of the value that the Assessment team can bring. This approach to engagement should be supportive /complementary to the risk and compliance team structure. 8) Effectively negotiate assessment scope and timing with stakeholders that have competing priorities.

• Oversee execution of high-quality reviews and assessments.
• Resolve problems encountered by colleagues in the completion of reviews and assessments.
• Ensure effective internal calibration within the team to support a high quality report output and commentary.
• Ensure that the team agree high quality actions with the business owners that address the root cause of issues identified within the assessments
• Ensure that the actions are appropriately completed. Provide guidance to business areas on enhanced processes and controls to improve delivery of intended business and regulatory outcomes, including compliance with any specific regulatory rules.
• Provide accurate and timely reports and other management information on the progress and outcomes of all compliance assessments and resulting actions.

9) Assessment Methodology and Development:

Act as the key point of contact with GWL Compliance function to apply the assessment methodology and support in the development of the assessment framework, inputting UK best practice approaches.

Demonstrate subject matter expertise related to assessment and testing methodologies and best practices.Ensure that t