Risk Assurance Manager

📍Barcelona, Spain  |💰 €53,000 - €65,000, Incentive Awards tied to your performance ➕ benefits | Hear from the team 

⭐Our Risk and Compliance team

Monzo Bank Europe (MBEU) is the Irish-based subsidiary of the Monzo Group and the strategic launchpad for our expansion across the European Union. We are looking for a seasoned Risk Assurance Manager to provide independent Second-Line of Defence (2LOD) assurance over the design and effectiveness of the bank’s risk management framework, controls and processes. You will ensure that key risks are managed in line with regulatory expectations, internal policies and our risk appetite, providing robust oversight and challenge across the full spectrum of the bank’s risk universe.

In this role, you will ensure the bank complies with:

• Irish Regulatory Obligations, including CBI, CPC, AML/CFT legislation, and the Companies Act.
• EU Regulatory Requirements, including DORA, EBA Guidelines, ECB/SSM expectations, and GDPR.
• Internal Governance, including adherence to risk frameworks, policies, and risk appetite.

Reporting directly to the Director of Risk Assurance, MBEU, you will design, execute, and report on 2LOD assurance reviews covering conduct, financial crime, fraud, credit, and financial risks. Your remit will also include operational risk, ICT and information security, outsourcing, data protection and governance structures. This role is critical in fostering a sound risk culture and supporting senior management and the Board in their oversight responsibilities.You will be instrumental in providing stakeholders with the assurance needed to ensure our growth is safe, resilient and compliant.

The role you are applying for is a Controlled Function (CF-2) within the meaning of the Central Bank Reform Act, 2010. For this role, appointment will be conditional on Monzo being fully satisfied that the appointee meets the requirements as set out in the Fitness and Probity Standards 2018 issued by the Central Bank of Ireland. As a CF, the role holder will be subject to Conduct Standards under the Central Bank of Ireland Individual Accountability Framework and will be required to take reasonable steps to ensure that the relevant conduct standards are met.

🔑You’ll play a key role by...

• Assurance Plan: Planning, coordinating and executing comprehensive risk assurance activities, including effectiveness reviews to ensure EU-wide adherence to the enterprise risk framework.
• Thematic Reviews: Conducting targeted thematic reviews across specific risk areas (e.g., conduct, compliance, financial crime, IT, prudential and strategic risk) to provide in-depth assurance over design adequacy and operating effectiveness.
• Remediation: Identifying areas for improvement within the risk management framework and control environment, recommending practical, impactful solutions and tracking remediation efforts to completion.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Proactively engage with business and risk stakeholders to understand Monzo Europe’s products and risk profiles, fostering a collaborative and transparent risk culture.
• Strategic Planning: Contributing to the annual risk assurance plan by providing insights gathered through continuous monitoring of regulatory trends and horizon scanning, market practices and upstream developments.
• Framework Governance: Contribute to the continuous improvement of the 2LOD Risk Assurance Framework, Methodology and Terms of Reference to ensure they remain fit-for-purpose and market-leading.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partnering closely with First-Line of Defence (1LOD) control testing, Group 2LOD, and Internal Audit to ensure alignment while maintaining strict independent challenge.
• Reporting & Governance: Contributing to risk governance by reporting thematic insights, trends and remediation progress to senior management committees.
• Risk Culture: Promote a strong risk and compliance culture, awareness and training programs across the organisation.

🤩 We’d love to hear from you if…

• You have a strong background in risk assurance, internal audit and/or risk management within banking or fintech in the European regulatory and financial services landscape. 
• You have a proven ability to plan and execute diverse assurance activities, from effectiveness reviews to thematic deep dives, with a clear focus on root cause analysis.
• You’ve led reviews across a wide range of risk areas, including ICT and Information Security, Financial/Prudential (Liquidity, Treasury, Capital), Fraud and Financial Crime (AML/Sanctions), Operational and Conduct Risk (Consumer Protection/Vulnerability).
• You possess a deep understanding of risk and control frameworks (e.g., COSO, ISO) and can practically apply this knowledge to 2LOD oversight.
• You are skilled in the hands-on identification and testing of risks and controls, with a keen eye for detail and potential weaknesses.
• You have a track record of identifying gaps within risk management processes and frameworks and recommending practical, high-impact solutions.
• You combine sharp analytical skills with the ability to communicate findings clearly to diverse stakeholders, offering constructive challenge and influencing at all levels.
• You have strong data analysis skills, you know how to extract, interrogate and present data in a way that makes complex issues easy for stakeholders to understand.
• You’re proficient in Google Suite and can build high-quality decks for Committee and Board reporting. Experience with SQL or Python is a distinct advantage.

Not ticking every box? That’s totally okay! Studies show that women and people of colour might hesitate to apply unless they meet every single requirement. At Monzo, we’re dedicated to creating a diverse and welcoming team. If you’re passionate about this role and keen to learn and grow with us, we encourage you to apply— even if you don’t have everything that's listed just yet. Drop us your application, we’d love to hear from you!

🙌What’s in it for you

💰A base salary range of €53,000 - €65,000 ➕ Incentive Awards tied to your performance.

📍This role will have a hybrid working model, based in our Barcelona office 2 - 3 days a week, however, you will be expected to travel to Monzo’s head offices in Dublin and/or London from time to time.

⏰We offer flexible working hours and trust you to work enough hours to do your job well, and at times that suit you and your team. 

🏝 Annual Leave - 38 days including public holidays

📚€1,200 learning budget each year to use on books, training courses and conferences.

🏥Private healthcare scheme

💛Wellbeing benefits: financial education, women’s and men’s health support, mental health benefits, including coaching and counselling

🌈 The application journey has 4 key steps

• An introductory call with a member of our hiring team
• An initial call with the hiring manager
• A series of role specific and behavioural interviews
• A final call with a member of our Executive team

This process should take around 2-3 weeks - your schedule is really important to us, so we promise to be as flexible as possible! 

We have some guidelines on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ace an application and interview at Monzo. You can read them here.

We’ll only close this role once we have enough applications for the next stage. Please submit your application as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out. 

If you're successful in applying for this role, we'll work with you to find a start date. In some cases, there might be a delay in when you can be released from your current role so that we can make sure things continue to run smoothly. We’ll be sure to communicate this with you and keep you updated.

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