To support the Technology Operations Director in managing and reporting the risks faced by Technology Services and Business teams in delivering AJ Bell’s systems and services. This role is especially focused on those risks relating to IT Operations practices, including Incident, Change, Problem, Asset and Vendor Management. This could suit someone who is established in a Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) role, or someone currently delivering well in a Service role and looking to move towards this field.
The Technology GRC Manager will work with the business and the wider Technology Services teams to ensure the appropriate controls, policies and procedures are in place. To protect AJ Bell in-line with industry best practice and regulatory legislation.
In addition, this role will be responsible for coordinating and responding to activities affiliated with external/internal IT audits as well as due diligence exercises requested by our external business partners and those we perform on our suppliers.
The key responsibilities of the role are:
- Produce management reporting on the status of IT Operations and test the effectiveness of relevant controls —including Incident, Change, Problem, Supplier, and Asset Management—and prepare this information for presentation to Executives.
- Act as deputy chair of the Technology Governance Forum, supporting the Technology Operations Director in driving continuous improvement to the forum.
- Develop and deliver IT Operations policies aligned to industry recognised frameworks (primarily ITIL v3 and ISO 27001/2).
- Develop, manage, and report on the exception to policy process.
- Partner with Business and Technology teams to develop, track, and oversee remediation plans for identified risks and issues.
- Support and enhance the evaluation of service posture for key Third Parties to ensure alignment with AJ Bell’s required standards.
- Conduct risk profiling of AJ Bell’s information and technology assets.
Technical Skills:
- Strong understanding of IT risk management tools and techniques.
- Strong knowledge of best practices for IT Operations (e.g., ITIL).
- Experience with IT standards and frameworks such as ITIL and ISO 27001.
- Awareness and understanding of the IT risks facing modern Technology Departments, including the broader Information Security threat landscape.
- Awareness of IT service management tools such as CMDBs, ITSM platforms (e.g., JIRA, ServiceNow), and monitoring tools (e.g., SolarWinds, Grafana).
- Strong understanding of IT General Controls (ITGC) frameworks such as COBIT.
- Awareness of Operational Risk Management processes, including Risk & Control Self-Assessment (RCSA).
Competence, knowledge and skills
Competence
- Experience collaborating with both internal and external audit partners.
- Broad experience across ITIL process areas, including Incident, Problem, Vendor, Change, and Asset Management.
- Ideally, at least five years of experience within a financial services environment.
Knowledge & Skills
- Self-motivated, professional, tenacious and enthusiastic.
- Strong ownership of tasks, attention to detail and following through to conclusion.
- Ability to challenge approach, strategy and implementation to ensure Information Security is consistently considered and improved.
- Ability to work under own initiative to plan and communicate effectively with colleagues and customers.
- Structured, self-starting, flexible and enjoy working in fast-paced environments
- Effective communication skills, both written and verbal.
- Ability to plan, organise and follow through on assigned tasks and complete with little or no prompting from management.
- Ability to learn and develop new skills and take on new challenges
- Excellent attention to detail.
About us:
AJ Bell is one of the fastest-growing investment platform businesses in the UK offering an award-winning range of solutions that caters for everyone, from professional financial advisers to DIY investors with little to no experience. We have over 644,000 customers using our award-winning platform propositions to manage assets totalling more than £103.3 billion. Our customers trust us with their investments, and by continuously striving to make investing easier, we aim to help even more people take control of their financial futures.
Having listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2018, AJ Bell is now a FTSE 250 company.
Headquartered in Manchester with offices in central London and Bristol, we now have over 1,500 employees and have been named one of the UK's 'Best 100 Companies to Work For’ for six consecutive years and in 2025 named a Great Place to Work®.
At AJ Bell you can expect a friendly working environment with a strong sense of teamwork, we have a great sense of pride in what we do, and this is reflected in our guiding principles.
What we offer:
- Competitive starting salary
- Starting holiday entitlement of 27, increasing up to 31 days with length of service and a holiday buy and sell scheme
- A choice of pension schemes with matched contributions up to 8%
- Discretionary bonus scheme
- Annual free share awards scheme
- Buy As You Earn (BAYE) Scheme
- Health Cash Plan – provided by Simply Health
- Discounted private healthcare scheme and dental plan
- Free gym
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Bike loan scheme
- Sick pay+ pledge
- Enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave
- Loans for travel season tickets
- Death in service scheme
- Paid time off for volunteer work
- Charitable giving opportunities through salary sacrifice
- Calendar of social events, including monthly payday drinks, annual Christmas party, summer party and much more
- Personal development programmes built around you and your career goals, including access to personal skills workshops
- Monthly leadership breakfasts and lunches
- Casual dress code
- Access to a range of benefits from our sponsorship deals
Hybrid working:
At AJ Bell, our people are the heart of our culture. We believe in building strong connections by working together. That's why we offer a hybrid working model, where you'll spend 3-4 days per week in the office. For new team members, the first 3 months will be spent full-time in the office to help you immerse yourself in our business and build valuable relationships with your colleagues.
AJ Bell is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and all employees are empowered to bring their whole self to work.
We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, religion, physical and mental disability, marital status and any other characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. All decisions to hire are based on qualifications, merit and business need.
If you like the sound of the above, or just want to know more about the company and the role, we'd love to speak to you.
