Controls and Assurance Specialist

As a Controls and Assurance Specialist, you will be the primary guardian of operational integrity for our savings business. Reporting to the Contracts & Operations Manager, your mission is to ensure that our third-party partner operates within the strict governance and quality assurance frameworks required for outsourced banking services.

You will act as the vital link between our internal teams and our external partner, ensuring that every process, policy, and regulatory obligation is met with precision. This is a high-impact role for a detail-oriented professional who excels at managing complex partnerships and maintaining 'gold standard' compliance.

Responsibilities:

• Provide day-to-day oversight of the third-party service provider, acting as the lead contact for service issues, escalations, and complex requests.
• Maintain the necessary controls and quality assurance frameworks required for outsourced retail banking. You will ensure full adherence to industry outsourcing regulations and internal policies.
• Execute regular and ad-hoc assurance checks to validate that critical outsourced services are performing effectively and compliantly.
• Lead the reporting and analysis of operational incidents, breaches, and complaints, identifying root causes and driving improvement opportunities.
• Prepare, compile, and present detailed performance reports to senior leadership committees, using data to tell the story of the partner's performance.
• Coordinate business continuity and disaster recovery planning, including leading annual reviews and managing the participation in large-scale partner testing and audits.
• Manage the governance of operational changes, ensuring they meet contractual requirements, while also validating monthly partner invoices and tracking change budgets.
• Serve as the internal expert for all outsourced operations, supporting due diligence activities and maintaining up-to-date procedures in line with regulatory shifts.

Qualifications:

• Exceptional skills in building professional relationships and communicating effectively with both senior internal stakeholders and external partners.
• A strong ability to review performance metrics and financial data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for enhancement.
• High level of accuracy in written and verbal communication, with a focus on maintaining rigorous audit readiness.
• A proactive 'self-starter' capable of managing multiple complex workstreams simultaneously while delivering high-quality results.
• A foundational understanding of working with third-party providers and the importance of 'Fair Treatment of Customers' in a regulated environment.
• The ability to follow established processes while knowing when to apply innovative thinking to resolve complex operational challenges.

Desirable:

• Experience in retail banking or financial services operations.
• Familiarity with operational risk event identification and data protection incident reporting.