Director of Compliance & Conduct Exclusive role

Manchester | Full-Time | SMF 16 & 17 (Approved Role)Reporting to: Chief Risk OfficerDepartment: Risk & Compliance

Are you a strategic compliance leader with deep expertise in financial crime, regulatory change, and consumer lending? Ready to shape the culture and risk agenda of a growing UK bank? A dynamic and customer-focused financial services provider is seeking a confident, collaborative, and forward-thinking Director – Conduct & Compliance to join its Risk & Compliance leadership team.

This senior leadership role leads the second line of defence for all compliance, conduct, and financial crime risk matters. You’ll be responsible for oversight and challenge, ensuring regulatory obligations are met and risk appetite is maintained. The role also includes acting as the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and holding SMF 16 & 17 responsibilities under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR).

You'll sit on key executive committees, report directly to the Chief Risk Officer, and collaborate closely with senior leaders across the organisation.

• Lead and develop the Compliance team, setting the strategy and culture for conduct and compliance risk.

• Maintain and evolve risk frameworks, policies, and procedures aligned to FCA expectations and business objectives.

• Monitor and escalate emerging risks, ensuring readiness for regulatory developments.

• Manage relationships with key regulatory bodies and lead thematic reviews.

• Oversee financial crime risk management, including AML, sanctions, bribery, and fraud prevention.

• Support external reporting and enhance internal decision-making with insight-led compliance metrics.

• Extensive experience in senior compliance and financial crime roles within regulated financial services—consumer lending experience is essential.

• Track record of managing regulator engagement and driving regulatory change.

• Strategic mindset with the ability to apply risk-based, proportionate solutions.

• Strong stakeholder engagement and leadership skills with the ability to challenge and influence at all levels.

• Committed to upholding ethical standards and promoting a culture of good conduct.

This is an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact at a growing UK bank with a strong ethical foundation and an ambitious agenda. You’ll help shape the compliance culture and support sustainable, customer-first business growth.

Applicants must be located and eligible to work in the UK without sponsorship. Please note, should feedback not be received within 28 days, unfortunately your application has been unsuccessful. In applying for this role, you may be registered on our database so we can contact you about suitable opportunities in future. Your data will be managed in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which can be found on our website. If you would like this job advertisement in an alternative format, please contact MERJE directly.