Kennedys is looking for a Risk Operations Lead to join our global Risk & Compliance team. The Risk Operations Lead is responsible for coordinating key governance and compliance activities across the Firm, helping to ensure regulatory obligations are met, Risk & Compliance policies and procedures remain current and effective, and compliance programmes are delivered consistently across jurisdictions.

The role acts as a central point of coordination between Risk & Compliance, Business Services teams and relevant stakeholders, providing oversight of key activities and supporting effective governance, reporting and continuous improvement across Risk Operations.

We are looking for someone with experience of coordinating governance, compliance or regulatory processes who can bring strong organisational and analytical skills, attention to detail and a proactive approach to improving processes and service delivery. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the effective delivery and continued development of Risk Operations services within a growing global law firm.

The role can be based in Chelmsford, Leeds, London or Manchester on a hybrid basis and reports to the Head of Risk Operations.

Team

Kennedys' Risk & Compliance (R&C) team advises on and oversees a broad range of risk, regulatory and governance matters for the firm. Acting as an in house legal and compliance function, the team supports the partnership and Business Service teams globally on matters including regulatory compliance, professional conduct, data risk, insurance, client due diligence, quality and audit, and risk management.

The Risk Operations team provides the operational backbone of Risk & Compliance, coordinating the global Risk & Compliance helpdesk, client due diligence, regulatory and insurance renewals, company secretarial activities, governance, reporting and internal communications. The team supports the consistent and effective delivery of Risk & Compliance services globally, strengthening processes and controls while driving operational efficiency, transformation and continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities

• Coordinate the Firm's global regulatory renewals programme, ensuring that regulatory registrations, renewals and associated compliance obligations are identified, tracked and completed within required timescales.
• Coordinate the Risk & Compliance policy lifecycle, including scheduling and facilitating the development, review, approval, publication and ongoing maintenance of policies, procedures and associated guidance.
• Coordinate the Firm's compliance training programme, including global, regional and role-specific mandatory training requirements, and support the development, delivery and monitoring of a comprehensive compliance training schedule.
• Work with regional stakeholders and subject matter experts to identify and coordinate jurisdiction-specific regulatory, policy and training requirements.
• Maintain relevant governance registers, schedules and records, and support the effective operation of Risk & Compliance governance arrangements.
• Coordinate management information and reporting relating to regulatory renewals, policies, training and other governance activities, identifying overdue actions, emerging issues and matters requiring escalation.
• Drive consistency, accountability and continuous improvement across governance and compliance processes, identifying opportunities to simplify, standardise and strengthen existing arrangements.
• Build effective relationships across Risk & Compliance and the wider Firm to ensure responsibilities, deadlines and required actions are clearly understood and progressed.

Required experience

• Experience working within Risk, Compliance, governance, legal operations, risk operations or a comparable regulated environment.
• Experience coordinating compliance, governance or regulatory processes involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience managing structured processes such as regulatory renewals, policy reviews, mandatory training or governance programmes would be advantageous.
• Strong organisational and project coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple activities, priorities and deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and an ability to maintain accurate governance records and documentation.
• Experience producing clear management information, reports, trackers and status updates.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to work effectively with stakeholders at different levels and across different functions.
• A practical understanding of risk and compliance principles and the importance of effective governance and documented controls.
• Ability to work across jurisdictions and coordinate global requirements while recognising regional and local regulatory differences.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 applications, particularly Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Teams.

Please let us know if you require any additional support or adjustments to be made in order to submit your application to Kennedys.

*where a level of experience is indicated, this is a guideline only and represents the amount of time we would usually expect a candidate to accumulate the requisite level of experience. This does not preclude applications from candidates with more or less experience.

About Kennedys

Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 3,000 people in 45 offices across 18 countries around the world we have some of the most respected legal minds in their field.

Our lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services, for many industry sectors but we have particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.

We're a fresh-thinking firm, and we're not afraid to bring challenging new perspectives to the table way beyond the traditional realm of legal services. We empower our clients with a diverse range of ideas, tools and technology to make their lives easier, as well as delivering exceptional results, every time.

What do we have to offer?

We welcome high-performing lawyers, business services professionals, secretaries, graduates and apprentices to join our rapidly expanding global firm. Whatever your role at Kennedys, you'll be involved in exciting and stimulating work, where your input will make a difference.

Our culture and values form a big part of who we are and we take them seriously. We make a difference by being approachable, straightforward, supportive, distinctive and ambitious. Our values are at the core of who we are and what make us a great firm to work with and for.

The Firm recognises the value of investing in our people's development and believes our culture and values contribute to the quality of our work and of our client relationships. With a culture of on-the-job and experiential learning, peer to peer learning, mentoring, resources and tools that enable you to drive your career, we can support your development in your current and future roles. A variety of other opportunities are available including secondments to clients and our global offices.

We strive to celebrate diversity, empower our people and ensure everyone can bring their authentic selves to work. We've created a culture based on client service, professional excellence, hard work and trust, where diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key priority. We recognise that many of our people want to work for an employer that is aligned to their values, which is why we are building an inclusive culture, decarbonising our operations and supporting our people to thrive at work. Our people are the key to driving this change and helping us to make a difference to our clients, our people and the communities in which we live and work.

Kennedys is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We expect all employees to be aware of and comply with all relevant policies and procedures within their jurisdiction, including those relating to Information Security, Data Protection and Quality Management, refer any breach promptly to Risk & Compliance and to complete all mandatory training when requested.

Documents

• JD- Risk Operations Lead - October 2026.pdf (92.00 KB)