Chief Risk Officer (PB1)

Why this role matters

The Home Office operates in a complex and high-profile environment, delivering work that has a direct impact on the public, the Department and wider government.

Strong risk management is essential to ensuring that senior leaders can make well-informed decisions, anticipate challenges early and maintain confidence in the Departments ability to deliver its priorities.

This role is central to strengthening that capability: leading the Departments approach to strategic risk, improving assurance and controls, and supporting the Accounting Officer, Executive Committee, Director Generals and Ministers with clear insight on the risks that matter most.

By embedding high-quality risk management across the organisation, the postholder will help improve delivery, strengthen governance and support better outcomes for the public.

Key accountabilities

• Leading and developing a team to deliver a broad portfolio across risk, assurance and improvement - positioning the team as expert advisors to the business, our Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee and senior leaders across the department.
• Communicating the importance and value of risk management and being visible as its senior sponsor.
• Facilitating and driving management discussions, decisions and strategies on risk and assurance with Directors General, the Executive Committee, and Audit Committee.
• Leading the Home Offices risk framework and strategy, ensuring robust identification, management and reporting of organisational risks through proactive engagement with the business.
• Overseeing cross-departmental programmes to enhance risk controls and to ensure best-practice delivery.
• Being a core member of the Performance, Risk, Assurance & Governance directorates senior leadership team, contributing to our collective leadership of the team and cross departmental governance.
• Engaging with other Government Departments, internal and external auditors, and industry to develop insight and best practice on risk management.

Essential Criteria

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate:

• Professionally qualified in risk management, audit, assurance, governance or a related discipline, or able to demonstrate equivalent senior professional expertise.
• Practitioner experience of leading strategic risk management and assurance processes and reporting, in a complex organisation, including influencing multiple senior stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead high performing teams and deliver complex portfolios of work.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with credibility at senior official and board level.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex and technical issues clearly.