Head of Compliance - #2077331

We're partnering with a fast‑growing, FCA‑regulated digital wealth platform that is redefining how modern professionals build and manage their wealth.

The business has been built to address a clear gap in the market - giving mass‑affluent individuals (e.g. high‑earning professionals, founders, and entrepreneurs) access to sophisticated financial tools and investment opportunities traditionally reserved for private banking clients.

Their platform combines:

• Actively managed investment portfolios
• Tax‑efficient savings solutions
• Lending products (portfolio‑backed credit)
• Access to alternative investments (e.g. private markets - current and upcoming)
• A financial advice proposition

Having already surpassed £100M+ AUM within a short period, the business is now entering a true scale‑up phase, with a clear trajectory toward £1B AUM.

The team is still relatively small (~20 people), but highly capable, and the culture is:

• Ambitious and fast‑paced
• Highly collaborative
• Product‑led and customer‑focused
• Built around ownership and accountability

This is a business that is building something genuinely differentiated in wealthtech, not simply iterating on existing models.

This is a critical leadership hire - taking ownership of the compliance and financial crime function as the business scales and product complexity increases.

The current framework is strong (no legacy issues), but the next phase requires someone who can evolve compliance into a scalable, product‑embedded function.

You will:

• Take ownership of (or step into) SMF16 & SMF17 responsibilities
• Lead and scale a lean compliance & financial crime function
• Embed compliance into product, engineering, and operations
• Support the rollout of new and increasingly complex investment products
• Oversee regulatory areas including:
  • MiFID / COBS
  • Product governance
  • Consumer Duty
  • Financial crime frameworks
  • CASS / client money permissions
  • Financial promotions
• Act as the primary point of contact with the FCA
• Guide the business through key regulatory milestones, including:
  • Scaling AUM
  • Client money permissions
  • Launch of financial advice
• Build systems and processes that enable scale, rather than relying on manual oversight
• Shape the overall compliance culture of the company
  
  

• You're not inheriting a broken function - you're scaling an already strong one
• The product stack is multi‑layered and evolving quickly
• Investment propositions are becoming increasingly sophisticated and differentiated
• You'll operate at the heart of product and strategy, not as a back‑office function
• You'll work directly with a high‑calibre founding team
• You'll have real influence over how compliance is built in a modern wealth business
  
  

• Strong experience in investment or wealth‑management compliance
  (MiFID, COBS, suitability/appropriateness, investment platforms, portfolio oversight, or similar)
• Experience operating in an FCA‑regulated environment
• Strong understanding of financial crime / AML frameworks
• Ability to operate at senior / Board level
• Experience building or significantly evolving compliance frameworks
• Comfortable across multi‑product environments
• Appetite to take on (or step into) SMF16/17 responsibilities
  
  

• Experience in wealthtech, fintech, or high‑growth environments
• Exposure to:
  • CASS / client money
  • Alternative investments
  • Lending alongside investments
  • Advice or advisory models
• Experience working closely with product & engineering teams
  
  

This role will suit someone who:

• Combines strong investment‑regulatory knowledge with a practical, commercial mindset
• Enjoys building and scaling, not just maintaining
• Is comfortable operating in a lean, fast‑changing environment
• Can strike the right balance between control and enabling growth
• Wants to be part of a business shaping the future of wealth, not following it
  
  

• £90,000-£115,000 base salary (flexible for the right candidate)
• Equity participation
• Cardiff or London based (3-4 days per week preferred)

If you're looking for a role where you can own, shape, and scale compliance within a genuinely innovative wealth platform, this is one of the most interesting opportunities currently on the market.