Head of Customer Controls

Responsibilities

• You'll lead the development and ongoing enhancement of our Customer Controls function, ensuring strong governance, meaningful reporting and effective control oversight across Customer Services activity.
• Key responsibilities include
• Leading and developing the Customer Controls framework, ensuring key risks, controls, ownership and assurance activity are clearly defined and maintained
• Providing oversight of customer related regulatory obligations, including complaint handling, Consumer Duty, vulnerable customer processes and customer communications
• Managing the Operational Fraud Team, providing leadership across fraud prevention, detection, case oversight and escalation
• Designing and delivering a proportionate assurance programme, including control testing, quality checks and remediation tracking
• Developing clear, insightful MI to support senior management, committees and board reporting
• Ensuring risks, incidents and control weaknesses are identified early, escalated appropriately and addressed effectively
• Partnering with Finance to monitor budgets, efficiency measures and operational performance across Customer Services
• Supporting operational change by embedding controls into new processes, systems and customer journeys
• Leading continuous improvement activity to strengthen controls, reduce risk and improve customer outcomes

Requirements

• Strong operational controls leadership experience in a regulated financial services environment, ideally within investments, pensions, wealth or platform services.
• Proven experience leading risk, controls, quality assurance or operational oversight teams
• Strong understanding of FCA expectations relevant to customer operations, including Consumer Duty and complaint handling
• Experience building governance frameworks, assurance plans and control reporting
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and challenge constructively at senior level
• Excellent analytical and reporting capability, with strong MI and data interpretation skills
• Confidence translating complex control issues into clear actions and decisions
• Strong written communication skills, including production of governance papers and senior reporting
• Experience managing teams and developing capability within a control environment
• Relevant professional qualifications such as ICA, CISI or CII would be beneficial, although equivalent practical experience is equally valued.
• About AJ Bell
• AJ Bell is one of the UK's fastest-growing investment platform businesses, providing award-winning solutions for everyone, from professional financial advisers to first-time investors.
• Today, over 723,000 customers trust us to manage more than £108.7 billion of assets. By continually striving to make investing simpler and more accessible, we're helping more people take control of their financial futures.
• We're proud to be recognised as one of the UK's Best 100 Companies to Work For for six consecutive years, and a Great Place to Work® in 2025 and 2026 a reflection of our supportive and collaborative culture.

Benefits

Additional Information

At AJ Bell, we're committed to delivering straightforward, high quality services that help customers invest with confidence. As we continue to grow, we're looking for a Head of Customer Controls to play a key leadership role in strengthening control oversight, customer outcomes and operational governance across our Customer Services function. This is a senior leadership role reporting to the Customer Services Director, with responsibility for building and leading a robust customer controls framework that supports operational efficiency, regulatory compliance and fair customer outcomes. You'll combine strategic oversight with hands-on leadership, working closely with senior stakeholders across Customer Services, Risk, Compliance, Finance and Change to ensure our controls environment remains effective, proportionate and fit for the future.

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