The Role
Our Story
Hello there. We’re Zopa.
We started our journey back in 2005, building the first ever peer-to-peer lending company. Fast forward to 2020 and we launched Zopa Bank. A bank that listens to what our customers don’t like about finance and does the opposite. We’re redefining what it feels like to work in finance. Our vision for a new era of banking puts people front and centre — we’ve built a business that empowers everyone to aim high, every day, to move finance forward. Find out more about our fantastic offerings at Zopa.com!
We’re incredibly proud of our achievements and none of it would be possible without the amazing team here. It’s not just industry awards we’re winning, we’ve also been named in the top three UK’s Most Loved Workplaces.
If you embrace unconventional challenges, are unafraid to think differently and are driven to make an outsized impact, you’ll thrive here at Zopa, so join us, and make it count. Want to see us in action? Follow us on Instagram @zopalife
The First Line of Defence (1LOD) Risk Function is responsible for managing risks across the organisation, working closely with cross-business stakeholders and adopting the bank’s risk framework to embed effective and efficient risk management into everything we do.
We are looking for a Senior Manager on a 12 month FTC to partner with our Chief Operating Officer to assess and manage operational risks. This role is an exciting opportunity for an operational risk specialist who is motivated by driving change, leading teams, and contributing to responsible growth and a truly customer-centric experience.
A day in the life:
- You’ll report into the Senior Director of First Line Risk and Compliance and collaborate with stakeholders across the three lines of defence to ensure Zopa operates within risk appetite through the application of effective mitigating controls.
- Lead a small team of risk professionals supporting Customer Operations and our People function.
- Identify areas of risk and demonstrate strong knowledge of operational risks and controls, including control design and testing.
- Lead the development of smart, proportionate, sustainable (e.g., automated controls over manual interventions), and considered risk solutions that address root causes rather than just immediate issues.
- Manage risk events pragmatically and proportionately to minimise impact to customers and the business.
- Manage interdependencies to support the timely and high-quality delivery of greed solutions and change initiatives.
- Ensure management information (MI) and reporting is delivered promptly to enable informed, risk-based decisions by accountable individuals.
About you:
- You are an experienced risk leader with a strong understanding of the retail banking environment and customer operations functions, and you are passionate about delivering positive customer outcomes.
- You have a proven track record of managing operational risk (ideally in the first line) within consultancy, fintech, or financial services.
- You have good awareness of the regulatory framework in which Zopa operates.
- You take a strong business partnering approach, helping stakeholders identify areas of risk, supporting change initiatives, and seeking opportunities to enhance risk-based practices.
- You are hands-on, keen to engage with the details of your partnered areas to fully support their risk management needs.
- You are technical, outcome-oriented, and able to apply the risk framework to propose proportionate, customer- and business-focused solutions.
- You are a clear communicator, able to articulate issues, highlight trade-offs, and gain buy-in for your proposals.
- You are passionate about continuously improving the risk environment and ways of working across supported teams.
- You act as a trusted source of knowledge and point of contact for colleagues across the business, including second line risk and first line counterparts.
- You guide first-line teams in conducting comprehensive risk assessments and foster a strong risk-aware culture across the organisation.
Bonus points for:
- Practical experience working in customer operations.
- Experience with change projects involving automated and technology-led solutions.
#LI-LK1
We're on the move!
Towards the end of 2025 Zopa will be relocating to a brand-new headquarters at 20 Water Street in Canary Wharf. The 44,000 square foot workspace will foster collaboration and inspire creativity for our 900 employees amidst our 2025 growth blitz.
At Zopa we value flexible ways of working.
We value face-to-face collaboration and a good work-life balance. This hybrid role requires you to come to our London office 2-3 days a week.
You'll also have the option of working from abroad for up to 120 days a year!* But no matter where you are, we’ll make sure you’ve got everything you need to thrive, both in your work and home life, from day one.
*Subject to having the right to work in the country of choice
Diversity Statement
Zopa is proud to offer a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds leads to better products for our customers and a unique company culture for our people. We are made up of nearly 50 nationalities, have a DE&I forum made up of Zopians wanting to make a difference and we are proud of our culture where everyone can bring their full self to work. Our approach to DE&I is reflected in our hiring process so please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.
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The Company
What We Do
We’re Zopa, and we want to make money work better for you. Our diverse team is united in their mission of creating simple, fair and honest financial products that have the customer’s needs at their heart. We’re proud that this dedication is reflected in our excellent rating on TrustPilot. We’ve always been unapologetically honest with our customers, and value the same in return. Their feedback helps us shape what we build, so we can provide a bank fit for today, and for the future. We’re not the new kids on the block though - we’ve been a pioneering force in finance for 16 years. In 2005, we built the first ever peer-to-peer (P2P) lending company, giving our customers access to loans built for real-life and intelligent investments backed by cutting-edge tech. In 2020, we launched Zopa Bank, meaning we could offer more – like fixed term savings backed by FSCS protection and a credit card to help customers take control of their finances. We’ve lent out over £6 billion and are proud to have made money work better for over half a million people across the UK, whether they were looking to borrow or save.
