Distribution Governance Specialist | Edinburgh, UK

abrdn plc; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 65,000

Job description

Distribution Governance & Oversight Analyst

We are a global investment company that helps clients and customers to plan, save and invest for the future. By doing so, we enable our clients and customers to be better investors. Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry's best talent. Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders and society.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, Investments, Adviser and interactive investor (ii), each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients' evolving needs.

• Investments manages £368bn of client assets, offering investment capabilities built on the strength of our insights from wide-ranging research, worldwide investment expertise and local market knowledge.
• Adviser provides financial planning solutions and technology to over half of the UK's financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their businesses and clients.
• ii, the UK's second-largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, helps over 430,000 individual customers to plan, save and invest in the way that works best for them.

About the Department

The Distribution Governance team at Aberdeen is dedicated to ensuring that the company adheres to regulatory standards and maintains robust governance across its client and distribution operations. This team plays a crucial role in strengthening oversight and control of distribution activities, ensuring compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Product Governance, and Cross Border obligations.

About the Role

We are seeking a Distribution Governance & Oversight Analyst to join our team, reporting to the Head of Distribution Governance & Oversight. The successful candidate will be responsible for delivering proportionate, risk-based oversight across internal and external parties to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct proportional, risk-based due diligence and oversight of distributors at onboarding and on an ongoing basis for the duration of each distributor relationship in line with current regulatory landscape (including CSSF circular 18/698 in Luxembourg and FCA Product Governance & Consumer Duty rules in the UK).
• Execute timely client onboarding, periodical review of Know Your Distributor (KYD)/ AML as well as Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)/Customer Due Diligence (CDD), on Ongoing Due Diligence (ODD), including the accurate completion of risk assessments.
• Perform screening of all related parties against PEP/Sanctions & adverse media.
• Liaise with the second Line of Defence (2LOD)/AFC as appropriate.
• Liaise with distributors to obtain key performance indicator data, analyse data received and provide onward qualitative reporting through internal governance forums.
• Build and develop relationships with, and coordinate amongst, internal stakeholder teams (in particular the Distribution function, Client Service, 2nd Line Risk Anti Financial Crime Team, Legal, Product Governance and CRM Team) to support the DG&O process, build team profile and awareness across the business of DGO's remit & responsibilities.
• Assist the Head of DG&O with day-to-day management of team responsibilities including the management of team mailboxes, regular review of and maintenance of key documentation (i.e. procedures, and preparation reports, escalations and Board papers).
• Maintain oversight over teams BAU activities and tasks (including Distributor onboarding, Due Diligence refreshes, regular reporting and email queries), assessing priorities and ensure DGO delivers in line with deadlines.
• Act as primary point of contact for key service provider "ume"; taking ownership for the maintenance of the ume platform including monitoring user access and processing Aberdeen entity Due Diligence Questionnaires.
• Assist the Head of DG&O and work in conjunction with Aberdeen's technology teams to develop, implement and maintain the team's data and technology strategy.

About the Candidate

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

• Comprehensive Regulatory Knowledge: In-depth understanding of Global, EU, UK, and Luxembourg AML and delegate compliance regulations.
• KYC Expertise: Extensive experience in KYC onboarding and refresh processes within the fund industry.
• Regulatory and Industry Awareness: Proven awareness of regulatory and industry standards, with a strong commitment to developing and implementing robust governance frameworks.
• Report Writing and Presentation Skills: Exceptional ability to write reports and deliver presentations effectively.
• Language Proficiency: Fluent in both oral and written English; proficiency in additional languages is advantageous.
• Technical Proficiency: Solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office products.
• AML/KYC Toolkit Experience: Hands-on experience with AML/KYC toolkits, including World-Check One and aberdActimize.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. Therefore, if you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire and one of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days' annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits - including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas - our vectors of growth - focused on our clients' changing needs.

We're committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense - this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.