Head of Risk and Assurance

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end-of-life charity. We are the largest non-NHS provider of end-of-life care in the UK, the only provider across all 4 nations, delivering community nursing and hospice care across the country, while providing information and support on all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement. Our leading research pushes the boundaries of what we know about good end-of-life, and our campaigns fight for a world where everyone gets to have the best possible quality of life while living with an illness, they’re likely to die from.

Our Risk & Compliance team ensures we meet regulatory expectations and manage risk effectively across the charity. We cover varied areas including risk management, internal audit, compliance and insurance, working collaboratively to support safe and effective operations.

We are now looking for a Head of Risk and Assurance to play a key role in driving forward and delivering an effective risk and assurance approach across the organisation. Working closely with Directors, functional Heads and individual risk owners, you will monitor and analyse the risk portfolio to ensure compliance with legislative and regulatory obligations. This is a new role where you will have the opportunity to shape and influence how risk and assurance are embedded across the charity.

Your Impact: 

• Collaborate closely with the Director of Governance Risk and Compliance to strengthen assurance frameworks, ensuring comprehensive and effective risk management across the charity.
• Support the Director to oversee the development, maintenance, and use of the Board Assurance Framework to safeguard the achievement of the charity’s strategic priorities and objectives and ensure effective reporting to the Board.
• Provide expert risk management guidance and support to risk owners, to assist with the accurate identification, assessment, reporting, analysis and monitoring of risks across the charity.
• Oversee continuous improvement of risk management, enhancing charity risk and resilience activities and drive forward the risk management culture
• Drive the integration of risk management activity to assurance, planning and performance, strategy development, and other relevant functions to support robust governance systems
• Lead and manage a team of Senior Compliance Managers and a Senior Risk and Assurance Manager.

Key Criteria:

• Significant experience in a similar risk management role within a complex organisation.
• Proven track record in strategic thinking and decision-making at a senior level, with extensive experience engaging senior leadership teams.
• Hands-on approach to embedding risk and compliance into operational processes ensuring seamless integration.
• Experienced in leading and managing teams, developing staff development plans, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.
• Skilled in handling sensitive issues with discretion, tact, and diplomacy, ensuring effective communication in high-stakes situations.
• Strong influencing, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills to manage complex stakeholder relationships.
• Professional qualifications such as IRM, ICA, IIA, ISO‑based certifications, or equivalent risk/assurance accreditations.

Please see the full job description here.

Application & Interview Process

• As part of your online application, you will be asked for a CV and supplementary details. Please review both the advert and job description and outline your most relevant skills, experience and knowledge for the role.
• Close date for applications: Wednesday 15 July. We encourage early applications as we may close the job advert sooner after receiving a sufficient number of applications.

Salary: £74,500 - £85,000 per annum depending on experience.

Contract:  Permanent, full time.

Based:  London Hybrid (2 days per week working from our Embassy Gardens headquarters in Vauxhall, London).

Benefits you’ll LOVE:

• Flexible working. We’re happy to discuss flexible working at the interview stage.
• 25 days annual leave (exclusive of Bank Holidays)
• Marie Curie Group Personal Pension Scheme (we will match your contribution up to 7.5%)
• Loan schemes for bikes; computers and season tickets
• Continuous professional development opportunities.
• Industry-leading training programmes
• Wellbeing and Employee Assistance Programmes
• Enhanced bereavement, family friendly and sickness benefits
• Access to Blue Light Card membership
• Subsidised Eye Care

At Marie Curie, our values are central to everything we do. They guide how we care for people, how we work together, and how we make decisions every day. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe for everyone — staff and volunteers alike — supportive, inclusive and rewarding.  We take stringent steps to ensure that anyone who joins our organisation are suitable for their roles and are committed to safeguarding all our people from harm. We actively consider our impact on the planet, embedding sustainability into everyday decisions to create a lasting, positive difference for the individuals we care for and the world we share.

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential. Marie Curie is deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, recognising both the social justice imperative and the strength a diverse workforce brings.  We actively encourage applications from people of all cultures, perspectives and lived experiences.

We are happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. If you require any support, please contact us at [email protected].

Every application we receive is personally reviewed by a member of our Talent Acquisition team, and in return, we ask that your application authentically reflects you — your experience, perspective and voice.