Risk & Assurance Officer (Hybrid)

Hybrid Working with 2 days in Preston, Lancashire
Circa £40,000 per annum, plus benefits | 37 hours a week

A glance at the role:

Join LPPA as our Risk & Assurance Officer and play a key role in the delivery and continuous development of our enterprise risk management and assurance arrangements. Working within Risk & Governance, you will help ensure that strategic, operational, regulatory, financial and emerging risks are identified, assessed, monitored and reported effectively. You will maintain risk frameworks and registers, coordinate assurance activity, provide constructive challenge to risk and control owners, and turn complex information into clear, decision-useful reporting for senior leaders and governance forums.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join our fast-paced, collaborative and member-focused business. You will be part of a friendly, welcoming and sociable work culture, with opportunities for continuous personal and professional development and support to reach your full potential.

A bit about us:

Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) is a multi-award-winning organisation and one of the UK’s leading pension administration companies. We strive to deliver the best experience for over 1,500 employers and more than 738,000 members of Local Government, Police and Firefighter pension schemes, keeping them fully informed about their pensions whilst working closely with employers to continuously educate and support them.

What we can offer you:

- Competitive salary of circa £40,000 per annum.
- 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays and 2 additional concessionary days and 1 day for your Birthday, with the ability to ‘buy and sell’ leave.
- Access to an excellent pension scheme (Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contributions.
- Access to Health or Dental Plan.
- Access to our Enhanced Employee Assistance Programme for when you might need some support.
- The opportunity to earn through our Employee Referral Scheme.
- Access to our bespoke Reward Discount Scheme – ‘Your Perk Site.’
- Opportunities to attend Wellbeing webinars and social events.
- Daily free fruit and snacks available to you in our office.
- Free Car Parking in Preston City Centre,

What you’ll be doing:

- Lead the day-to-day operation and continuous development of LPPA’s enterprise risk management framework, ensuring it remains effective, proportionate and aligned with strategic objectives.
- Maintain departmental risk registers, ensuring risks, controls, mitigations, actions and ownership are clearly documented and regularly reviewed.
- Lead periodic risk reviews and deep-dive assessments, working with senior leaders and business owners to identify changes in exposure and control effectiveness.
- Provide independent and constructive challenge to risk owners on risk assessments, controls, mitigation plans, target positions and action timescales.
- Prepare high-quality risk and assurance reports, dashboards and management information for senior management, governance committees and Boards.
- Monitor the risk appetite framework, escalating actual or potential breaches and supporting appropriate remedial action.
- Coordinate assurance activity, map assurance sources, identify gaps and maintain a proportionate assurance plan.
- Track actions arising from risk reviews, audits, assurance activity, incidents, breaches and governance reviews through to resolution.
- Provide risk advice and challenge to projects, programmes and significant business change.
- Lead horizon-scanning and emerging-risk assessments across regulatory, legislative, technological, economic and sector developments.
- Support operational resilience and business continuity arrangements and develop risk awareness and training activity.
- Maintain risk policies, standards, procedures and guidance, and build effective relationships with senior leaders, auditors, clients and specialist advisers.

What we need from you:

- Substantial practical experience in enterprise risk management, internal control, assurance, audit or a comparable governance role.
- Demonstrable experience of leading risk reviews, control assessments or assurance activity from planning through to reporting and action follow-up.
- Experience of maintaining corporate or departmental risk registers and providing constructive challenge to risk owners.
- Strong knowledge of enterprise risk management, risk appetite, internal controls and assurance arrangements.
- An understanding of the three lines model, operational resilience, business continuity and third-party risk.
- Strong analytical, critical-thinking and report-writing skills, with the ability to translate complex risk information into clear recommendations.
- Confidence to challenge senior stakeholders professionally, work independently and take ownership of defined frameworks, processes and outputs.
- High standards of accuracy, integrity, discretion and professional independence.

Nice to have:

- Experience within pensions administration, financial services, local government or another regulated environment.
- Experience of risk systems, data visualisation, dashboard reporting or Board and committee governance.

Qualifications and professional development

- A relevant professional qualification or advanced study in risk management, internal audit, governance, compliance or a related discipline would be desirable.
- Membership of a relevant professional body would be desirable.

Working with and upholding our values:

- Working together
- Committed to excellence
- Doing the right thing
- Forward thinkingc