Regulatory Compliance Manager

We’re Capital on Tap 👋 💳 Capital on Tap started because small businesses were underserved. Big banks were slow, their products weren't fit for purpose, and small business owners often couldn't access what they needed. We set out to fix that. Today we're a financial platform - not just a credit card company. We offer a best-in-class business credit card, SME-focused spend management platform, a savings product that hit £1 billion in funds within its first year, and a growing suite of tools and financial products that make running a small business easier.  1,000+ employees, £20bn in annual card spend, 200,000+ customers, 17,000+ Trustpilot reviews averaging 4.7 stars, and we're profitable. We’ve done a pretty good job so far, but we’re just getting started!  🏡🏢This is a Hybrid role, with a minimum of 3 days a week in our London office. Risk & Compliance at Capital on Tap The Risk & Compliance team is the second line of defence at Capital on Tap, working at the intersection of regulation, product and business growth. As our Risk & Compliance Assurance Manager, you'll develop the compliance monitoring plan, co-ordinating with other second line teams, develop and maintain monitoring best practice, and independently test how well the business is managing risk and complying with the rules, providing oversight, challenge and governance that gives the Risk Committee, regulators and partner banks confidence that controls are working as intended. The Role This is a senior leadership role for someone who has built and run an independent monitoring programme before and wants to do it again at a fast-growing FinTech. You'll own the Risk and Compliance Monitoring Plan, design the thematic reviews and control tests that pressure-test first-line controls, and lead the follow-up of actions to closure. The ideal candidate will combine significant monitoring expertise, analytical judgement, and a pragmatic, problem-solving and risk-based approach. What You’ll Be Doing * Monitoring Leadership: Lead Capital on Tap's Risk and Compliance Monitoring Plan, sitting in the second line, operating independently from the advisory team. Provide oversight, challenge and governance to the first line. * Risk-Based Plan Design: Design a risk-based monitoring plan. Set the standards for how reviews are scoped, conducted and reported. * Thematic Reviews & Control Tests: Design and conduct thematic reviews and control tests, with particular focus across risk and regulatory compliance, that assess whether first-line risk and compliance controls are working as intended across products, processes and partner banks. * Cross-Team Co-ordination: Co-ordinate monitoring across UK Compliance, Financial Crime and US Compliance teams. Share standards and findings to lift the overall quality bar. * Action Tracking & Closure: Own follow-up of monitoring actions to closure. Surface ageing actions to the Risk Committee and engage the business constructively where actions are not progressing. * Risk Committee Reporting: Produce monitoring reporting for the Risk Committee, senior leadership and partner banks. Translate findings into clear, actionable recommendations the business can implement. * Quality Assurance of Reviews: Quality-assure monitoring reviews carried out by other areas, ensuring independence and consistency of approach. * Business Enablement: Provide pragmatic, business-minded challenge that helps the first line improve controls. We’re Looking For * Independent Monitoring Experience: Hands-on experience owning or running a Compliance Monitoring or independent assurance programme in a UK FCA-regulated firm. Designing and running reviews end-to-end, not just participating in them. * Second-Line Mindset: Proven experience operating in the second line, independent of the first line. Confident providing constructive challenge to the business when controls fall short. * Risk-Based Planning: Track record of building risk-based monitoring plans. * Regulatory Expertise: Solid working knowledge of FCA SYSC and the EMD/PSD regime, applied in practice, not just in theory. * Control Testing: Demonstrable experience designing thematic reviews and control tests, including confidence in analysing data and systems. * Stakeholder Influence: Confident presenting findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders, governance forums and partner banks. * Action Tracking Discipline: Track record of driving monitoring actions to closure, including navigating the harder conversations about ageing actions. * Analytical & Written Communication: Clear, evidence-based reports and policy documents. Nice To Have * FinTech / Payments Background: Experience in an FCA-regulated EMI, payments or banking firm, with recent experience in fraud, safeguarding, or operational resilience is helpful. * Cross-Jurisdictional Monitoring: Experience co-ordinating monitoring across multiple jurisdictions (for example UK and US) or across financial crime and broader compliance. * Professional Qualifications: A recognised qualification such as ICA Diploma in Compliance, ACAMS, IIA, or equivalent. Big 4 or consulting background in financial services compliance or audit also welcome. Diversity & Inclusion 🌈 We welcome, consider and encourage applications from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusivity. Join us in creating a space where authenticity thrives, and everyone can do their best work. Great Work Deserves Great Perks We try not to take ourselves too seriously (all the time) so we make sure our office is decked out with a pool table, arcade machine, beer tap, and a couple of office dogs thrown in for good measure. Check out our benefits: 🏥 Private Healthcare including dental and opticians services through Vitality ✈️ Worldwide travel insurance through Vitality ❤️ Access to a women's health platform via Hertility 🎁 Anniversary Rewards (£250, £500, £750, 4-week fully paid sabbatical) 👛 Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme up to 7% match 🏖️ 28 days holiday (plus bank holidays) 📖 Annual Learning and Wellbeing Budget 👪 Enhanced Parental Leave 🚲 Cycle to Work Scheme 🚂 Season Ticket Loan 💬 6 free therapy sessions per year 🐶 Dog Friendly Offices 🍫 Free drinks and snacks in our offices Check out more of our benefits, values and mission here. Other Info 👍Check out our ‘Top Tips’ for interviewing. ✔️Keep updated on new job opportunities by following us on Linkedin. 📧Email careers@capitalontap.com if you have any questions. Excited to work here? Apply! If you’d like to progress your career within our fast growing, profitable fintech then click apply and we will aim to get back to you within 3 working days (during busy periods this could take up to 5 working days.)

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.