Senior Compliance Manager - 2LOD Assurance

About Allica Bank

Allica is the UK’s fastest growing company - and the fastest-growing financial technology (Fintech) firm ever. Our purpose is to help established SMEs, one of the last major underserved opportunities in Fintech.

Established SMEs are the backbone of local communities - representing over a third of our economy - yet have been largely neglected both by traditional high street banks and modern fintech providers.

Department Description

Compliance is Allica Bank's second line function for regulatory challenge, oversight and assurance. The team helps the Bank grow safely by providing clear standards, independent judgement and evidence-based insight over the risks that matter most to customers, regulators and the business.

This is a new senior role leading a dedicated 2LOD assurance capability across financial crime, conduct, compliance and operational risk. The role will build the assurance model, lead the team and give the CCO a reliable view of whether key risks are understood, controlled, evidenced and escalated.

Role Description

• Lead the design, build and delivery of Allica's 2LOD assurance programme on Financial Crime, Conduct, Compliance and Operational Risk moving the function beyond duplicative 1LOD control re-testing and towards risk-based, process-led and outcome-led assurance.

• Develop and run a data-led compliance monitoring model that uses business, customer, operational, risk and control data to identify emerging risks, inform assurance priorities and support targeted testing.

• Provide independent assurance to the CCO, and onward to ExCo and Board, on whether financial crime, conduct, compliance and operational risks are properly identified, controlled, monitored and remediated.

• Lead and develop the assurance team, setting clear standards for planning, scoping, testing, evidence, reporting, issue grading and closure validation.

Principal Accountabilities

• Build and maintain the annual 2LOD Assurance Plan, ensuring coverage is risk-based, dynamic and aligned to regulatory priorities, customer harm indicators, risk appetite, incidents, breaches, complaints, Internal Audit findings and material business change.

• Create and maintain the assurance methodology, including standards for assurance universe mapping, scoping, sampling, test matrices, evidence, workpapers, finding grading, root-cause analysis, reporting and action closure validation.

• Ensure every review has a clear test matrix linking regulatory obligation, risk, control, test objective, population, sample, evidence, expected outcome, result, finding, root cause and management action.

• Design and deliver assurance reviews across financial crime, conduct, compliance and operational risk, including assessment of risk identification, control design, operating effectiveness, MI reliability, customer and regulatory outcomes, issue management and management oversight.

• Develop a 1LOD QA reliance and validation model, making clear when 2LOD can rely on 1LOD testing, when it should validate 1LOD work and when it must perform independent testing.

• Use data, analytics and, where appropriate, governed AI-enabled techniques to improve risk identification, sample selection, exception analysis, thematic review, evidence assessment and reporting, with clear human review and documented limitations.

• Produce concise, evidence-based assurance reporting for the CCO and relevant governance forums, covering key findings, themes, emerging risks, risk appetite implications, systemic issues, management response quality and overdue remediation.

• Track assurance findings through to closure, validating that actions address root cause rather than symptoms and escalating overdue, ineffective or repeatedly extended actions.

• Challenge senior stakeholders constructively where risk assessments are weak, controls are poorly designed, evidence is insufficient, MI is unreliable, or remediation does not address the underlying issue.

• Coordinate assurance coverage with 1LOD and Internal Audit to reduce duplication, close gaps and maintain clear 2LOD independence.

Personal Attributes & Experience

• Proven experience leading or materially contributing to 2LOD assurance, compliance monitoring, financial crime assurance, operational risk assurance or 3LOD internal audit in a regulated financial services environment, ideally within UK business banking.

• Clear understanding of the difference between 1LOD QA, 2LOD assurance and 3LOD Internal Audit, with the judgement to build a proportionate assurance model that tests risk, controls, outcomes, MI and oversight rather than simply repeating control checks.

• Strong knowledge of UK banking regulatory expectations across conduct, compliance, financial crime and operational risk, with the ability to translate obligations into practical assurance scopes and test matrices.

• Must be comfortable using analytics and AI-enabled tools safely and pragmatically, with appropriate attention to data quality, governance, explainability, validation and human judgement.

• Strong data literacy, including the ability to use MI, population analysis, exception reporting, trend analysis and targeted sampling to form assurance hypotheses and evidence conclusions.

• Able to define what good looks like for controls and outcomes, assess both design and operating effectiveness, identify root cause and write clear findings linked to regulatory risk, customer harm and required remediation.

• Confident leader who can build a new team, set quality standards, coach reviewers, calibrate findings and create a disciplined delivery rhythm.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce CCO and committee-level reports that are concise, risk-based and decision-useful.

• Able to challenge senior stakeholders with a straight bat: firm on evidence and risk, practical on solutions, and independent without becoming detached from the business.

Working at Allica Bank

At Allica Bank we want to ensure our employees have the right tools and environment in which to succeed in their role and in support of our customers.

Our employees are at the heart of everything we do, so our benefits are designed with you in mind:

• Full onboarding support and continued development opportunities

• Options for flexible working

• Regular social activities

• Pension contributions

• Discretionary bonus scheme

• Private health cover

• Life assurance

• Family friendly policies including enhanced Maternity & Paternity leave

Don’t tick every box?

Don’t worry if you don’t have all the skills or requirements listed on the job description. If you think you’ll be a good fit, we’d still love to hear from you!

Flexible working

We know the ‘9-to-5’ isn’t right for everyone. That’s why Allica Bank is fully committed to flexible and hybrid working. Please let us know what is best for you and, if we can, we will do our best to accommodate.

Diversity

We’re a diverse bunch here at Allica, with all kinds of experiences, backgrounds and lifestyles. Our openness and differences make us stronger, and we want everybody to feel comfortable bringing as much of themselves to work with them as they like.