Head of Compliance

Primary DetailsTime Type: Full time

Worker Type: Employee

At QBE, our purpose is to enable a more resilient future.

Are you passionate about working for one of the world’s largest insurers that offers excellent opportunities to grow your career and with offices in 28 countries?

Leveraging our deep expertise and insights, QBE offers commercial, personal and specialty products and risk management solutions to help people and businesses manage risks. Today, we employ 12,000 people around the world.

QBE Europe SA/NV is headquartered in Brussel and while we are international in our outlook, we are also proudly local in our operations. QBE’s European Operations, which accounts for over 27% of QBE Group turnover, is a leading specialist in London market and European commercial lines business. Active in both the Lloyd’s and company market, QBE offers considerable diversity to the broking community. We are a socially responsible company and give our customers the ability to invest a portion of their premiums in environmentally and socially beneficial projects.

With our comprehensive product offering and underwriting expertise, we are able to cover a wide range of business risks, helping our clients to identify them and minimise their exposure.

The opportunity

We have a fantastic opportunity to join QBE's European Operations as a Head of Compliance.

This role leads the Compliance function of QBE Europe to ensure the delivery of the function’s strategic objectives, provide guidance and develop Compliance Managers and their teams and deputise for the Chief Risk Officer as appropriate.

Your new role

• Be a trusted advisor to the business, management and the Board on the full range of compliance matters.
• Be accountable for Compliance across the company and its branches.
• Maintain relationships with the regulator (National Bank of Belgium) on Compliance matters.
• Articulate the key objectives and priorities for the Compliance function and prepare the annual compliance strategy and plan
• Report to the Executive committee and the Board on Compliance strategy, activities and upcoming regulations.
• Propose and drive improvements to ensure the compliance framework remains relevant for the current business structure and is aligned to best practice.
• Assist in the implementation of relevant Compliance Risk processes, procedures and documentation to ensure SII compliance.
• Actively promote and embed a positive compliance culture throughout the business and promote the capabilities of the compliance team to provide high quality, cost effective and focused advice and support in respect of business initiatives.
• Build and maintain strong and effective relationships with key internal and external stakeholders to ensure that service delivery meets the business’ expectations.
• Coordinate with Compliance and business functions across QBE European Operations to maintain consistency while ensuring adherence to local regulations across all jurisdictions of the company’s operations.
• Maintain detailed knowledge of the regulatory requirements and developments across Europe and in the jurisdictions relevant to QBE Europe; maintain awareness of the key regulatory requirements and regimes relevant to QBE European Operations and how these requirements collectively mitigate compliance risk.
• Understand how the regulatory requirements apply to QBE Europe and assess/propose the required implementation approach on a proportionate and risk weighted basis, reflecting the existing collective control environment.
• Liaise with Risk team and other assurance functions in other lines of defence (e.g Underwriting Governance Department in the first line and Internal Audit function in the third line) to ensure a coordinated approach and minimize duplication.
• Coordinate responses to any internal audit reviews and regulatory risk assessments, visits or information requests.
• Support, advise and coach the team to develop their skills and knowledge and assist with delivery of other appropriate training needs.

About you

• Master’s degree in law (ideally a specialization in Financial Services Industry)
• FSMA Certificate
• Strategic thinker, able to recommend solutions that balances business and risk perspectives
• Management experience
• Business fluent in written and spoken English, fluent French or Dutch
• Ability to communicate effectively at all levels
• Ability to represent QBE to external stakeholders
• Have experience interacting with multiple regulators with different reporting requirements
• Experience in a senior supervision or policy role within a regulatory authority
• Management of projects and resources
• Significant experience in a senior compliance role within an insurance company

Why QBE? At My Best  

At QBE, we want our people to feel rewarded and inspired to perform at their best, that’s why we have created “At My Best”. It’s our connection, our way of showing we have your back. We understand that one size doesn’t fit all and that priorities can change depending on your life stage. That is why our blend of wellbeing initiatives and benefits offer flexibility to suit what matters most to you. It’s in the culture of our business, our QBE DNA, to support our people. Everything we do is underpinned by our QBE DNA - because we know it’s not just what we do that matters, it’s how we do it that makes the difference. In addition to this, we also offer flexible parental leave for both parents and have several employee network groups that support and empower our diverse workforce. 

At QBE, we view our people as our most precious asset. We understand the importance of fostering a work environment that is responsive to the changing needs of today's workforce. QBE aims to build a workplace that is fair and inclusive because we want to attract and retain the best people to do the job, we have adopted flexible working across the company and welcome this conversation. #LI-Hybrid 

Some of the award’s QBE are proud to have won, been a finalist for, and shortlisted for include;

5-star Diversity, Equity and inclusion (DEI) awards, 2023 Winner - Insurance Business Canada

Employer of the Year 2022 Winner – Insurance Insider 

British Claims Awards 2022 Winner - InsurTech Award

Insurance Times Claims Excellence Awards 2022 Winner - Claims Product Solution of the Year

Working Families Best Practice Awards 2021 Finalist for: Best COVID-19 Response

Insurance Post British Insurance Awards 2022 Shortlisted for: Best Customer Care, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year 2022, Specialist Insurer of the Year (for Construction), General Insurer of the Year

We are proud to have partnerships with organisations such as Stonewall and Working Families, and our commitment to the Women in Finance Charter, the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and Race at Work charter helps keep us accountable and transparent 

Inclusion of Diversity 

We are striving to create a workplace culture where all our people feel included, and we are committed to building a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we operate in. 

We know that diversity of thought, background and experience enables better decision making, improves the quality of our delivery and helps us to meet the needs of our customers.

ESG & Sustainability 

At QBE, we believe that integrating sustainability into our business helps us deliver on our purpose of enabling a more resilient future. Our three key focus areas include fostering an orderly and inclusive transition to a net-zero economy, enabling a sustainable and resilient workforce and partnering for growth through innovative, sustainable and impactful solutions. For further information regarding QBE’s sustainability targets, including our net-zero pledges and inclusion of diversity targets, and our award-winning impact investment initiative ‘Premiums4Good’, please visit our Sustainability homepage and read our latest Sustainability Report (Link). 

About QBE 

QBE is an international insurer and reinsurer, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and headquartered in Sydney. We employ more than 11,000 people, with a local presence in 27 countries. 

We are driven by our purpose of enabling a more resilient future – helping those around us build strength and embrace change to their advantage.

We’ve been cultivating resilience since 1886, when our founders started a marine insurance company in Australia to give early pioneers a safeguard against uncertainty. Today, we’re still giving our customers confidence to explore, innovate and take measured risks, secure in the knowledge they’re covered by a strong insurer. 

We work hard to build a culture that best supports our people, and not only represents our business, but the world around us.

As a business insurance specialist, QBE European Operations offers a range of insurance products from the standard suite of property, casualty and motor to the specialist financial lines, marine and energy. All are tailored to the individual needs of our small, medium and large customer base. 

To find out more about why you should work for QBE, visit our careers website. 

What next? 

If you have a passion to contribute to QBE’s vision of enabling a more resilient future for our customers and the community, we encourage you to APPLY NOW! Simply click the “apply” button to submit your CV and other relevant documents, and a member of our friendly Talent Acquisition team will be in contact to discuss your interest further if you meet the requirements of the role.

Please make the Talent Acquisition aware should there be any reasonable adjustments that may need to be made for the interview and the remainder of the recruitment process. 

How to Apply:

To submit your application, click "Apply" and follow the step by step process.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

QBE is an equal opportunity employer and is required to comply with equal employment opportunity legislation in each jurisdiction it operates.