Head of Risk UK (Crypto)

Responsibilities

Strategic Risk Leadership: Own and drive the UK risk strategy, aligned with the Group risk strategy, the business plan, and FCA expectations. Set and maintain the local risk appetite within the boundaries of the Group Risk Appetite Statement

Financial and Prudential Risk (group ): Own and lead the Group's financial and prudential risk framework - credit, liquidity, capital, cost, market, and concentration risk. Lead the Group and entity ICARA (or equivalent) processes end to end, including capital planning and wind down planning.

Stress Testing and Scenario Analysis: Design and lead the stress testing programme covering crypto market shocks, client behaviour, liquidity withdrawal, counterparty failure, and operational disruption.

Counterparty and Credit Risk: Set and monitor risk limits for crypto liquidity providers, exchanges, custodians, and banking partners. Oversee counterparty due diligence, concentration risk, and contingency planning for counterparty disruption.

Custody and Safeguarding Risk: Provide second line oversight of crypto-asset custody arrangements, key management, client asset safeguarding, and on-chain settlement risk.

Operational Risk and Controls: Oversee the UK RCSA cycle, incident and issue management, control testing, and KRI monitoring in the Group GRC platform.

Technology and Resilience Risk: Provide oversight of operational resilience, cybersecurity risk, and change management, leveraging group technology risk arrangements.

Outsourcing and Third Party Risk: Oversee UK's critical third party arrangements, including custody, cloud, and blockchain analytics providers. Ensure robust due diligence, ongoing monitoring, and exit plans.

Monitoring and Reporting: Maintain the UK risk register and KRIs. Deliver decision ready reporting to the UK Board and Audit and Risk Committee, including appetite breaches, emerging risks, incidents, and remediation progress.

Regulatory Alignment: Maintain close relationships with the FCA and support regulatory submissions, inspections, and remediation of findings. Ensure audit readiness and disciplined evidence management.

Requirements

• Crypto-Assets & Digital Assets (essential): Proven, hands-on experience with crypto-assets and digital assets is required for this role.
• Education & Experience: Experience in risk management within regulated financial services, with required, demonstrable depth in financial and prudential risk — credit, liquidity, capital, market, concentration, and cost risk. Brokerage or trading platform experience is an advantage.                   
• Regulatory Knowledge: Strong expertise in FCA requirements, including the UK cryptoasset regime, prudential frameworks (IFPR, ICARA or ICAAP). Prior FCA approval or fit and proper clearance is a strong advantage.
• Outsourced Service Management: Proven experience managing outsourced or shared service risk functions: defining service requirements, monitoring delivery quality, and escalating shortfalls. This is a critical differentiator for this role.
• Governance: Proven experience engaging with Boards and committees, managing escalation processes, and supporting regulatory inspections and audits.
• Technical Strength: Strong command of capital adequacy, liquidity and market risk, stress testing and scenario design, wind down planning, and counterparty risk. Understanding of crypto market structure, custody models, and on-chain risk is highly valued.
• Leadership: Proven ability to build and lead an independent risk function in a fast-paced environment, deputise credibly at group level, and challenge senior stakeholders with clarity and discipline.
• Integrity: High ethical standards, independence of judgment, and ability to meet FCA fit and proper expectations. Professional risk qualifications (FRM, PRM, CFA) are an advantage.