Head of Compliance

We’re Hiring: Head of Compliance 
Employment type: Full-time  
Location: Leicester, UK (with regular travel to office sites as required) 
Work Arrangements:  Hybrid (2-3 days a week onsite) 
Base Salary: Up to £60k-£65k + company car + bonus

Role Purpose 

• Provide senior leadership and assurance across compliance, quality, health & safety, and technical 
  governance functions. 
• Lead and align experienced specialist managers, embed a consistent and proportionate compliance culture, and provide confidence to the Managing Director and senior leadership that the organization operates to the required regulatory, accreditation, and governance standards. 
• This is a leadership, governance, and assurance role, not a hands-on technical position. 
• Technical delivery and subject-matter expertise remain the responsibility of the Quality, Health & Safety, and Technical Managers. 

Leadership & Culture 

• Provide clear, visible leadership to the Quality Manager, Health & Safety Manager, Technical Manager, and associated teams. 
• Set expectations, priorities, and standards for compliance performance across the organization. 
• Create a culture where compliance supports operational performance rather than constraining it. 
• Act as a coach and trusted sounding board for senior managers, particularly those newer to leadership roles. 
• Be a role model for integrity, accountability, consistency, and sound professional judgment. 

Compliance Governance & Assurance 

• Own the overall compliance framework, ensuring it is coherent, effective, and proportionate. 
  Ensure governance structures, controls, and reporting provide clear assurance to senior leadership. 
  Maintain oversight of UKAS, ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17025, and other relevant regulatory obligations. 
  Provide independent challenge where required and escalate material risks appropriately. 

Accreditation & Regulatory Oversight 

• Act as the senior point of accountability for the maintenance of all accreditations and certifications. 
• Ensure effective preparation for external audits and inspections, supported by specialist managers. 
• Review audit outcomes, trends, and systemic issues, ensuring corrective actions are robust and embedded. 
• Represent the organization confidently and professionally with auditors, regulators, and external stakeholders. 

Health, Safety & Risk Leadership 

• Provide leadership oversight of the health & safety strategy and performance. 
• Ensure business risks are understood, managed, and communicated effectively. 
• Promote a strong safety culture through leadership behavior rather than procedural control. 

Capability, Competency & Succession 

• Ensure effective competency frameworks are in place across compliance-critical roles. 
• Support the development of managers and teams to build capability, resilience, and succession. 
• Ensure training and competency systems remain aligned to regulatory, accreditation, and operational needs. 

Financial & Commercial Oversight 

• Own and manage the compliance function budget, ensuring effective cost control and appropriate investment. 
• Ensuring compliance activity is proportionate, value-adding, and aligned to business priorities. 
• Understand and articulate the financial impact of compliance, governance, and risk decisions on revenue and EBITDA. 
• Operate effectively within a private equity–owned governance environment, including structured reporting and assurance expectations. 

Reporting & Continuous Improvement 

• Establish clear compliance KPIs and assurance reporting for the Managing Director and senior leadership. 
• Identify emerging risks, trends, and opportunities for improvement. 
• Drive continuous improvement without introducing unnecessary complexity or bureaucracy. 

Essential Experience & Capability 

• Extensive senior leadership experience, typically gained over 10–15+ years, within regulated, performance-critical environments. 
• Demonstrated experience in owning and managing departmental budgets. 
• Strong understanding of governance, compliance, and risk within a corporate or private equity–owned business. 
• Ability to understand and operate confidently with financial metrics, including revenue and EBITDA. 
• Proven ability to lead experienced specialists and managers rather than delivering technical work personally. 
• High personal credibility, sound judgement, and professional integrity. 
• Direct technical specialism in UKAS, laboratory operations, or health & safety is not essential, provided the individual can effectively lead and govern specialist teams. 

Desirable Experience 

• Exposure to UKAS-accredited, ISO-regulated, or similarly controlled environments. 
• Experience operating across multi-site or operationally intensive organizations. 
• Background in engineering, construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, or comparable sectors. 

Personal Attributes 

• Calm, credible, and authoritative leadership presence. 
  Comfortable providing constructive challenge at senior level. 
• Pragmatic, proportionate, and commercially aware. 
• Strong coaching mindset with the confidence to hold boundaries. 
• Trusted advisor who balances compliance rigor with operational reality. 

Measures of Success 

• Sustained accreditation and audit performance. 
  Clear, reliable compliance assurance to senior leadership. 
• Improved confidence and capability of compliance-related managers. 
• Compliance function operating within agreed budgets. 
  Reduced reactive compliance issues and escalation.