Governance & Controls Associate

Institutional control architecture across counterparty engagement requires continuous controls testing, governance documentation, audit coordination, and policy maintenance — the procedural integrity that makes compliance architecture operationally credible under examination conditions. The Governance & Controls Associate operates this execution layer of the controls function.

The role supports the Head of Compliance Operations in maintaining controls integrity across the firm — ensuring controls are documented, tested, and demonstrably effective when subjected to internal audit, external audit, or regulatory examination.

Operate controls and governance protocols across institutional engagement. Maintain controls testing, governance documentation, audit coordination, and policy operational integrity.

The Associate operates the controls execution surface across the firm — managing the procedural reality that makes controls effective rather than merely documented. The role coordinates controls testing cycles, maintains governance documentation, supports audit engagements, and ensures policy framework operational consistency across counterparty-facing functions.

Day-to-day, the role coordinates with the Head of Compliance Operations on controls effectiveness reporting, with the Financial Crime & AML Lead on AML control testing, with Institutional Risk Analyst on risk control monitoring, and with internal and external audit functions during audit engagements.

The function operates against the reality that controls integrity is examined through documentation, testing evidence, and remediation tracking — and that audit-primary discipline at the execution layer is constitutive of compliance credibility.

• Operate controls testing cycles across institutional control framework, including control design assessment, testing methodology execution, and testing evidence documentation
• Maintain governance documentation across compliance and risk functions, including policy documentation, procedure documentation, and governance committee records
• Coordinate audit engagements across internal audit, external audit, and regulatory audit functions, including audit preparation, document production, and audit response support
• Support policy framework maintenance, including policy review cycles, policy update coordination, and policy framework integrity across counterparty-facing functions
• Operate controls effectiveness assessment, including control performance monitoring, control deficiency identification, and remediation tracking
• Handle audit findings — internal audit findings, external audit findings, regulatory audit findings — through documented remediation protocols
• Coordinate controls awareness across counterparty-facing functions, ensuring control requirements are operationally understood
• Maintain audit trail integrity across compliance and risk functions, including controls testing records, audit response records, and policy maintenance records
• Support cross-functional coordination with Financial Crime & AML Lead, Institutional Risk Analyst, and Legal Operations Counsel on controls and governance matters

• Institutional control frameworks across UK, EU, and APAC regulatory regimes
• Internal audit function and external audit relationships (Big Four or equivalent institutional audit firms)
• Regulatory audit engagement across FCA, PRA, EBA, MAS, HKMA, and equivalent supervisory bodies
• Controls testing methodology including SOX-equivalent procedural rigor where applicable
• Governance committee architecture and committee record management
• Counterparty audit requests during counterparty due diligence and counterparty examination conditions
• Policy framework spanning compliance, risk, financial crime, and operational governance

• 3–5 years governance, internal audit, or controls operations at institutional financial firm, regulated payments institution, or comparable institutional finance environment
• Operating experience with controls testing methodology, audit coordination, and governance documentation at institutional scale
• Working familiarity with institutional control frameworks (COSO, SOX-equivalent, or comparable regulatory control regimes)
• CIA, CISA, or equivalent governance/controls professional certification preferred
• Audit engagement experience — operating familiarity with internal audit, external audit, and regulatory audit processes
• Procedural discipline appropriate for audit-primary institutional environments
• Documentation rigor — comfortable operating within institutional audit-readiness expectations