Compliance Manager

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senior Trust-wide Compliance Lead focused on regulatory assurance, governance, risk, and compliance across both the Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated services and Charity Commission requirements.

 

Compliance Manager

• Non-executive senior manager level
• Reports to CEO
• Supported by a Compliance Officer

Hours: Full-time – 38 hours per week

Salary: £43,000 - £46,000 depending on experience
Location: Hybrid working, with regular travel across Trust services and sites as required
Contract: 6 months

 

 

Purpose of the Role

To lead and coordinate the Trust's compliance, governance, and assurance framework, providing independent oversight and challenge to ensure compliance with regulatory, statutory, contractual, and governance requirements.

The Compliance Lead will be responsible for developing and maintaining systems that provide assurance to the Executive Leadership Team and Board of Trustees that the Trust is operating in accordance with areas such as:

• Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulations
• Charity Commission requirements
• Health and Social Care legislation
• Companies House obligations
• Health and Safety legislation
• Data Protection and Information Governance requirements
• Safeguarding legislation
• Employment-related compliance requirements
• Fundraising and financial governance standards

The postholder will monitor compliance, identify areas of risk, coordinate audits and inspections, oversee governance reporting, and support continuous improvement across all Trust services and functions.

 

Key Accountabilities

Regulatory Compliance

• Lead Trust-wide compliance arrangements across all regulated and non-regulated services.
• Maintain oversight of compliance with CQC regulations and Fundamental Standards.
• Monitor compliance with Charity Commission guidance and charity law obligations.
• Ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory reporting requirements.
• Keep abreast of legislative and regulatory developments and assess organisational impacts.
• Act as the Trust's subject matter expert on compliance and regulatory assurance.
• Coordinate responses to regulatory inspections and external audits.
• Ensure effective systems are in place to monitor compliance across all business functions.

 

Governance and Board Assurance

• Lead the development and maintenance of the Trust's governance framework.
• Coordinate governance reporting to the Executive Team, Committees, and Board of Trustees.
• Prepare quarterly compliance and assurance reports for Trustees.
• Maintain an annual compliance assurance programme.
• Support the Company Secretary function where required.
• Ensure regulatory, governance, and compliance risks are clearly reported and escalated.
• Provide professional advice to senior leaders and Trustees on governance and regulatory matters

Risk Management and Assurance

• Maintain and manage the Trust-wide Risk Register.
• Coordinate risk management processes across all departments.
• Monitor organisational compliance risks and promote effective mitigation actions.
• Maintain and oversee routine testing of the Business Continuity Framework.
• Ensure lessons learned from incidents, complaints, audits, safeguarding concerns, and regulatory activity are communicated and embedded across the Trust.
• Provide assurance reports demonstrating risk trends and compliance performance.

 

Audit and Continuous Improvement

• Develop and deliver an annual programme of internal compliance audits.
• Lead thematic reviews and compliance investigations.
• Monitor action plans resulting from audits, inspections, complaints, incidents, and safeguarding reviews applying a Plan, Do, Check Act Methodology.
• Establish assurance metrics and organisational compliance KPIs.
• Provide challenge and support to leaders to drive continuous improvement.
• Benchmark organisational performance against regulatory standards and sector best practice.

 

Policy and SOP Regulatory Frameworks

• Maintain the Trust's policy governance framework.
• Oversee policy development, review schedules, version control, and implementation.
• Ensure organisational policies remain aligned to current legislation, regulation, and best practice.
• Monitor compliance with approved policies and governance arrangements.

 

Information Governance and Data Protection

• Act as the Trust lead for Data Protection and Information Governance.
• Oversee compliance with GDPR and Data Protection legislation.
• Oversee the Trust’s Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) process, ensuring DPIA’s are undertaken for new or significantly changed processing activities, approving completed assessments and maintaining the DPIA register
• Maintain information governance frameworks and assurance processes.
• Support Information Asset Owners and ensure organisational compliance with information management standards.
• Manage relationships with regulatory bodies where data protection concerns arise.

 

Safeguarding and Regulatory Reporting

• Maintain oversight of safeguarding governance arrangements.
• Monitor safeguarding compliance and assurance reporting.
• Ensure notifiable incidents are reported appropriately to regulators and relevant authorities.
• Review safeguarding trends and provide assurance on organisational learning and improvement activity.

 

 

Reporting Structure

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Works Closely With:

• Executive Leadership Team
• Director of Operations
• Registered Manager
• Head of HR
• Finance Director
• Head of Facilities & Estates
• Trustees
• Committee Chairs

 

Governance Interface:

• Care Committee
• Finance & People Committee
• Estate & Strategic Growth Committee
• Board of Trustees

 

 

Success Measures

• No significant regulatory breaches.
• Positive CQC inspection outcomes.
• Full compliance with Charity Commission requirements.
• Board assurance reports delivered on schedule.
• Risk register maintained and reviewed quarterly.
• Internal audit programme completed annually.
• Compliance action plans delivered within agreed timescales.
• Policies reviewed and maintained in accordance with schedule.
• Statutory returns submitted accurately and on time.

 

Person Specification – Compliance Lead

 

Essential Qualifications

 

• Degree-level education or equivalent senior experience.

 

• Relevant professional qualification in compliance, governance, quality or audit

 

Essential Knowledge and Experience

 

• Significant experience in a compliance, quality, governance or assurance role within a CQC-regulated environment.

 

• Working knowledge of CQC regulation, including the Single Assessment Framework and the Fundamental Standards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Experience of designing and delivering internal audit or quality assurance programmes across a full audit cycle, including action tracking and effectiveness verification.

 

• Experience of risk management frameworks and maintaining organisational risk registers.

 

• Experience of preparing and presenting reports at Board or Committee level.

 

• Knowledge of safeguarding legislation and practice in adult social care.

 

• Understanding of UK GDPR, Data Protection and information governance requirements, including Data Protection Impact Assessments.

 

• Experience of leading or coordinating responses to regulatory inspection.

 

Desirable Knowledge and Experience

 

• Experience within a charity, health, social care or housing environment.

 

• Knowledge of Charity Commission requirements and charity governance.

 

• Experience of supporting or performing a Data Protection Officer function.

 

• Experience of line management and developing others.

 

• Experience of services supporting people with sensory impairments or learning disabilities.

 

Skills and Behaviours

 

• Ability to provide independent challenge constructively and professionally at senior level.

 

• Strong analytical, investigative and report-writing skills.

 

• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.

 

• Ability to manage competing priorities and work independently to tight deadlines.

 

• Ability to build positive, credible relationships across departments and with regulators.

 

• High levels of integrity, professionalism and discretion.

 

• Commitment to continuous improvement and person-centred outcomes.

 

 

 

Wilberforce Trust also offers a wide range of benefits including:

• Milestone‑Based enhanced annual leave entitlement
• Benenden Health Care scheme (following successful probation)
• A paid day off to celebrate your birthday
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements where possible
• Paid exceptional leave days
• Blue Light discount card
• Pension scheme
• Life insurance (1 x salary)