* Employer: Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
* Location: Wirral, Mallory, 2 Alice Ker Square, Hybrid Working
* Contract: Permanent
* Working Pattern: Flexible Hours/Full Time
* Hours: 36 hours per week.
* DBS Check: No
* Closing Date: 27/04/2025 at 23:59
* Reference: FIN/25/308817
There has never been a more exciting time to join Wirral Council. We’ve got ambitious targets to meet and to achieve everything we have promised to our residents, we need people who are ready to deliver the very best for our communities and show how they can #BeTheDifference. Our vision is to secure the best possible future for our residents, defined by the community prosperity we create and supported by our excellent people and services. If you strive to #BeTheDifference and want to be at the heart of our change and improvement journey, then this could be the perfect job for you.
Head of Risk and Compliance
About the Role:
In this role, you’ll develop and lead a high-performing Risk and Compliance function that delivers assurance, insight and strategic oversight to support the Council’s objectives. This is a newly created team, bringing together several critical functions — including Internal Audit, Counter Fraud, Risk, Insurance, Business Continuity, and Health & Safety — under one strategic lead.
You’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the identity and culture of this new service, creating a shared vision and fostering strong collaboration between specialist areas, with clarity of purpose. We are looking to appoint a forward-thinking and collaborative Head of Risk and Compliance to join our Finance Directorate.
You will ensure we have strong, evidence-based governance frameworks and risk management practices in place, supported by effective audit and compliance structures. You will deliver a robust annual audit plan, ensure strategic and operational risks are identified and mitigated with adequate insurance cover in place to safeguard the organisation, acting as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and elected Members.
You will develop and lead a professional, multidisciplinary team that works with services across the Council to proactively identify risk, strengthen compliance, and safeguard public trust. If you enjoy leading change, influencing strategy, and think you have what it takes to be the difference for our staff and residents, then this could be the perfect job for you.
About the Candidate:
We are looking for someone who can lead by example, inspire others, and embed a culture of integrity, resilience and accountability across the Council. We are looking for someone with the vision and credibility to lead a newly formed service, bringing together diverse specialisms into a cohesive, collaborative and high-performing team.
You will be a natural relationship builder, with the leadership skills to inspire, support and align new team members around common goals. Your ability to create clarity in complexity, establish new working practices, and build trusted relationships across the organisation will be vital.
You’ll need to be qualified in a recognised professional body such as CIIA, CIPFA, ACA, CIMA, ICAEW, IOSH or equivalent, and have experience working in large, complex organisations. You will need a track record of managing multidisciplinary teams, developing service plans, working with political and corporate stakeholders, and driving improvements in governance.
You will have knowledge and understanding of audit standards, public sector governance, risk frameworks, insurance management, and health and safety legislation. Above all, you will be looking to improve the way we manage risk and assurance and deliver a compliant organisation — and ensure our residents are at the heart of a safe, transparent and accountable Council.
How to Apply:
If you wish to discuss this role or require further information, please contact Daniel Kirwan, Assistant Director for Finance and Investment on email danielkirwan@wirral.gov.uk. Interviews to be held week commencing 5th May 2025.
If you are a Wirral resident, are unemployed or out of work, and require help with your application, please contact Involve Northwest’s employment and skills team on info@involvenorthwest.org.uk or contact 0151 644 4500 or 0151 652 4349.
If you’re already a Wirral Council employee, as part of our Talent Strategy, we’re committed to strengthening opportunities for our people to learn, grow, progress, and thrive. For many of you, this may be preparing and applying for your next role with us, and we're passionate about ensuring you feel supported throughout your internal recruitment experience. Please get in touch if you want to know more about some of the ways in which we could support you by emailing recruitment@wirral.gov.uk.
Working at Wirral
You’ll also want to know what it’s like to work here so, as a start: Our values are more than just pieces of paper on our walls! We’ve all played a role in developing these, so they reflect the immense pride we have in what we do, what matters to us, what inspires us and inform how we think, approach things, and behave.
We believe in ensuring staff are well looked after, staff wellbeing is a priority for us. We’re serious about recognising and rewarding people for the great things they do. You’ll benefit from our track record of developing, growing, and investing in our people.
We have a range of staff benefits including staff discounts, an excellent pension scheme which includes a generous employer contribution rate, immediate life cover and ill-health protection. We have a strong flexible working approach, hybrid working, family-friendly employment initiatives and an annual leave package starting with 28 days leave plus public holidays.
We have an inclusive, engaged culture, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued for their contribution and understands the role they play in delivering our strategic priorities. Each voice is heard, each contribution valued. We embrace diversity in our workforce and recognise it is critical to our success. We support an inclusive culture that champions difference and nurtures a sense of belonging. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds, who share our values and our commitment to inclusion to apply for roles with us.
We want you to be your best at work, we create the conditions to help you thrive and we mirror this in our recruitment process. If you’d like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process to make it barrier-free and as accessible as possible, please contact recruitment@wirral.gov.uk.
Please note that in accordance with the Council’s policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.
It is Council policy not to re-appoint any employee who has left under the terms of the Council's Early Voluntary Retirement (EVR) scheme or who have left with a voluntary severance (VS) package, unless in exceptional circumstances.
Applications will be accepted until midnight on the closing date.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications.
Applications can only be accepted through the Jobs page following registration. Forms received via the post will not be processed.
All applicants invited to interview must evidence their right to work in the UK. Details of required documents can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the Jobs page.
The job description and other supporting documents will not be accessible once the vacancy closing date has passed so if a copy is required you should download it now.
We do not accept applications or CVs from recruitment agencies, unless otherwise stated. Therefore, any candidates submitted via a recruitment agency will not be considered for this role.
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