Regulatory Compliance Consultant

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About Benchmark

Our award-winning, proprietary solutions cover regulatory, platform and investment services, and are designed to support advisers at every step of their journey - from starting and running a financial advice business more productively and effectively, to accelerating its growth and realising its value.
We support high quality financial advisers with our award-winning technology and support services.

And with our own Financial Advice business, we help families find solutions to meet their needs and aspirations and achieve peace of mind. By providing access to higher quality solutions, we make it easier for them to meet and exceed their goals.

Ensuring good client outcomes, with the client's interests central to decision making, is very important at Benchmark. Treating Customers Fairly principles are embedded within our organisation and we take responsibility for embracing and promoting our duty of care to all clients, including those who may be more vulnerable than others.

The base

You'll be based at home or our Broadlands Business Campus near Horsham in West Sussex. Without being in the city, a big, countryside campus means life will feel a little different. We support our offices by using cutting edge software and hardware and our spacious campus facilities mean there's a great working environment for the team. With an on-site restaurant, coffee shop and gym, our campus has much to offer. And commuters can relax on our dedicated regular shuttle bus to and from Horsham's main line train station.

Who we're looking for

The Regulatory Compliance Consultant's role reports to the Group Technical Compliance Manager, with responsibility for supporting the regulatory change and compliance advisory aspects of the Compliance Technical function. The role holder's primary responsibility is to assess and help operationalise regulatory requirements, both existing and new. You will provide practical insight, and assist decision makers within the Benchmark Capital Group to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations, with specific focus on Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) outputs. This includes providing timely and practical regulatory guidance, regulatory research, and assistance to relevant stakeholders; their teams; and other compliance colleagues, on applicable regulatory requirements and industry best practice standards.

The role will be responsible for providing analysis; assessment; and documentation for regulatory initiatives of all sizes, following output from horizon-scanning activity.

You will also support projects and corporate initiatives, and must have experience solving regulatory compliance issues, bringing specialised perspectives, and be comfortable (when required) to lead regulatory projects and support all projects where regulatory guidance is required. The role holder will also be able to advise on creating solutions for the business which best integrate the need to meet regulatory requirements, with the needs of our customers; clients; and our business.

The successful candidate will have a strong understanding of the impact of regulatory initiatives on the financial services (FS) industry and impacting business functions, working closely with other business areas, such as Risk &Compliance; Operations; Change, as well as Schroders (Compliance; Legal; and Public Policy) to collaboratively assist in delivering regulatory change programmes.

What You'll Do

• Assist the Group Technical Compliance Manager with regulatory change horizon scanning, to identify and diagnose material regulatory developments impacting all aspects of the Benchmark Capital business. This also includes maintaining medium-term horizon scanning to identify emerging regulatory risks to the Group, engaging with business contacts and other stakeholders (including Schroders) on issues raised.
• Support the Technical Compliance Manager to track, record, and communicate FCA and other bodies' regulatory outputs, as well as assist on assessing the relevance to the Group's FCA authorised firms.
• Following output from horizon scanning activity, provide regulatory analysis and document requirements for regulatory initiatives,
• Working closely with subject matter experts in compliance and the business to support detailed impact assessment of regulatory developments, and tracking of required actions for implementation.
• Interact with all relevant business functions, and develop an understanding of each impacted area to advise on potential appropriate solutions.
• Assist with implementation of regulatory developments, working collaboratively with the business and compliance functions to facilitate appropriate impact assessments and gap analysis, and ensure relevant implementation requirements are executed to a good standard and in a timely manner.
• Providing timely and concise regulatory summaries and updates to stakeholders across the Benchmark Group, including producing a Quarterly Regulatory Change update.
• Assessing the impact of both existing regulations and new regulatory developments, and operationalise such regulatory requirements in a pragmatic and proportionate way.
• Provision of accurate and timely expertise and advice (including on application of the FCA handbook) to regulatory queries from the business. A risk-based and common-sense approach needs to be taken
• Assist in projects to provide compliance analysis and review of new business initiatives; developments, corporate projects, by providing support and guidance.
• Guide the assessment; development; and writing of new policies and procedures, to support operational areas of the business.
• Supporting the establishment of robust control frameworks and processes, to embed regulatory requirements throughout the business.
• Attend meetings and act as the regulatory compliance representation.
• Liaise effectively with senior management and external stakeholders.
• Attend industry (including professional services and legal) events to identify emerging standards and trends, to ensure the Benchmark remains aligned to best business practices.
• Awareness-raising among Group employees regarding compliance risk, and the strengthening of the compliance culture within Benchmark / Schroders.
• From time to time, support Group Head of Risk & Compliance with FCA engagement, including regulatory visits; returns; notifications; and responses to consultations, as well as ad-hoc requests.
• Take on tasks and projects as delegated by the Group Technical Compliance Manager and Group Head of Risk & Compliance, applying a can-do attitude and a timely approach.
• Ensure that the Group Technical Compliance Manager and Group Head of Risk & Compliance is made aware of any issues which the Regulatory Compliance Consultant deems material.
• Maintain up to date Continuous Professional Development (CPD) records demonstrating that the skills and knowledge required to do the job are being maintained and enhanced.

The Knowledge, Experience and Qualifications You Need

• 3+ years' experience within a FS Compliance function, ideally within an advisory / support role in the wealth / investment management industry.
• Good knowledge of investment / wealth management industry, including pensions and platforms.
• Well-developed regulatory compliance experience, and ability to operationalise regulatory change.
• Good understanding of relevant regulatory rules (especially FCA) and their interpretation / application, gained through previous exposure and/or professional qualifications. This includes the ability to evaluate FCA sourcebooks in the handbook as well as thematic outputs; and the ability to interpret regulation and regulatory, and distil likely commercial and operational impacts.
• General awareness of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) and other related legislation.
• Good understanding of current and emerging regulatory compliance market trends, methods, and tools.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills (written and spoken) with the ability to build strong working relationships with key stakeholders in the business and compliance.
• Ability to communicate the impact of regulatory developments to a range of senior internal and external partners, in a concise and articulate manner.
• Highly developed investigative; analytical; and observational skills, with the ability to distil complex information quickly.
• Competent with Microsoft Office programs, including data analysis/manipulation in MS Excel.

The knowledge, experience and qualifications that will help

• Project management skills; excellent planning, organizational, and time management skills.
• 5+ years' experience working on regulatory initiatives in FS industry, with a strong understanding of the impact of FCA regulatory expectations on the wealth / investment management industry. This includes significant compliance experience within the financial services, preferably in an investment, insurance, and pensions environment.
• Experience working within a network or firms with appointed representatives (ARs) as well as in platforms and Self-invested Personal Pension (SIPP) operators.
• Ability to interpret legal requirements and other jurisdiction-based regulations and directives.
• University (ideally law degree) and/or professional qualifications desirable, but not essential.
• Significant progress towards the achievement of further qualifications desired.
• Be a champion of good process design, and support customer focused development and outcomes on all projects.
• Strong partner management abilities, operating optimally across a matrix structure
• An ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels (including boards and senior management) by building effective, collaborative relationships, and using knowledge and reasoning. This includes negotiating skills, and having the confidence to express a point of view with conviction.
• Good presentation and training skills

What you'll be like

• Promoter of the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) principles and Consumer Duty, and deliver your own responsibility for the duty of care to our clients
• Team player, who can be flexible.
• Ability to work unsupervised and manage own workload.
• Self-motivated; proactive; organised; and able to use initiative and prioritise multiple tasks in a fast-paced and constantly changing environment, with the ability to work to a high standard against tight deadlines. This includes the ability to handle a varied workload and competing priorities.
• Pragmatic and can-do approach.
• Strong sense of ownership, with ability to work on challenging issues and overcome constraints and obstacles.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Completes tasks to a high standard, and applies initiative to accommodate for wider issues.
• Inquisitive, curious, and analytical mind. This includes being good at problem solving, taking a collegial and collaborative approach.
• Sound and independent judgement, particularly when assessing the regulatory landscape and publications.
• Proactively looks for improvements, and follows through on ideas.
• Desire to self-improve and broaden knowledge.
• The desire to keep up to date with regulatory, business and industry updates.
• Curiosity and an appetite to tackle and master areas of regulation.
• Leadership skills, including a strong dedication to supporting and coaching the personal development of others (whether within the direct team or elsewhere).

We're looking for the best, whoever they are

Benchmark is an equal opportunities employer. You're welcome here whatever your socio-economic background, race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious belief, age or disability.

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