Head of Risk and Resilience

Group UK&E Head of Risk and Resilience
Location: London / Hybrid 

Serco is a leading provider of public services, operating across complex and highly regulated environments where effective risk management and organisational resilience are fundamental to our success.

We are seeking a Group UK&E Head of Risk and Resilience to lead Serco’s enterprise-wide approach to risk management while taking direct responsibility for embedding and executing that framework across our UK & Europe Division.

This is a highly influential leadership role, operating across Group and UK&E and working closely with senior executives, functional leaders and the Board. You will ensure that Serco has a clear, coherent and forward-looking view of its risk exposure, translating complex risk, control and assurance information into practical insight that enables better strategic and operational decision-making.

You will own and continue to evolve Serco’s Group risk management framework, ensuring risk appetite, principal and emerging risks, key risk indicators and supporting methodologies are clear, practical and consistently applied across the organisation. Alongside your Group responsibilities, you will lead the execution of the risk framework within UK&E, partnering with the Divisional Executive team to ensure risk is actively managed, understood and embedded within business decision-making.

Key Accountabilities

As Group UK&E Head of Risk and Resilience, you will:

•    Lead and continually evolve Serco’s Group risk management framework, ensuring it remains aligned to our strategy, operating model and changing external environment.
•    Own the development and application of risk appetite across the organisation, ensuring it is clearly understood and actively informs strategic and operational decisions.
•    Lead the Group principal and emerging risk process, providing effective challenge and ensuring risks remain current, well defined and connected to Serco’s strategic priorities.
•    Strengthen Serco’s ability to anticipate emerging threats and opportunities through horizon scanning, scenario analysis and the effective use of internal and external intelligence.
•    Provide senior leaders, the Executive and Board with clear, concise and decision-useful insight into Serco’s risk exposure, trends and areas requiring action.
•    Lead the implementation and operation of the Group risk framework across UK&E, working closely with Divisional leadership to ensure risks are appropriately assessed, managed and brought within appetite.
•    Bring together risk, controls and assurance to provide a coherent view of control effectiveness, residual risk and organisational confidence.
•    Lead resilience planning and testing across UK&E, ensuring critical services are supported by robust and regularly tested business continuity and crisis management arrangements.
•    Oversee scenario analysis and stress testing to identify vulnerabilities and strengthen organisational resilience against severe but plausible events.
•    Own and enhance Serco’s Group risk system, Riskonnect, improving data quality, consistency and the use of data to generate meaningful risk insight.
•    Build organisational capability and a strong risk culture, encouraging ownership, transparency and constructive challenge rather than a compliance-led approach.
•    Work closely with Internal Audit, Governance, Controls and other assurance providers to create a joined-up view of risk, assurance coverage and organisational priorities.

What You’ll Need

You will be an experienced senior risk leader who has operated within a large, complex organisation and is comfortable influencing at Executive level.

You will bring:

•    Significant senior-level experience in enterprise risk management within a complex, multinational organisation.
•    Deep knowledge of enterprise risk frameworks, risk appetite, principal risks and emerging risk management.
•    Experience supporting Executive, Board and Audit Committee oversight of organisational risk.
•    A strong track record of translating complex risk information into clear, commercially relevant executive insight.
•    Experience operating within a PLC, regulated business or similarly complex corporate environment.
•    The judgement and confidence to provide constructive challenge to senior leaders while building strong and trusted relationships.
•    A pragmatic, business-focused approach, with the ability to balance effective governance with the realities of operating complex services.
•    Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to build risk capability and influence behaviours across a large organisation.

What we offer

•    A competitive six figure salary
•    Bonus potential (20% on target, 40% max)
•    A company car or car allowance
•    10% contributory pension
•    25 days annual holiday 
•    PMI for you and a partner
•    A range of corporate benefits

A little bit about us:
At Serco, everyone plays a vital part in delivering essential public services that make a real difference. As a global team of 50,000 people across Defence, Transport, Justice, Immigration, Healthcare, Leisure and Citizen Services, we’re united by a shared purpose: to improve the services that communities rely on. Guided by our values of Trust, Care, Innovation and Pride, our people make meaningful impact, every single day.

Our inclusive recruitment commitment:
We prioritise your skills and potential. As a Disability Confident Leader, a top Great British Employer of Veterans, and a Gold Inclusive Employer Standard holder, we champion equal opportunities for all. We offer flexible and hybrid working where possible and make reasonable adjustments throughout recruitment and employment.

• Guaranteed Interview Scheme: Applicants with disabilities, veterans and people with convictions, who meet the minimum job criteria, are guaranteed an interview. Simply opt into the relevant scheme on the application form.
• Ban The Box: We also support fair access for those with unspent criminal convictions through our ‘Ban the Box’ pledge (some roles may have security exemptions).

For support with your application, please contact recruitmentuk@serco.com.

Let’s impact a better future, together. Apply today.

justicejobs