Chief Compliance Officer- ZLAP

Zurich Life Assurance plc (ZLAP) is currently recruiting for a Chief Compliance Officer. ZLAP is the Zurich Group’s legal entity for writing life and pension business in Ireland and is based in Dublin.

The role of the Zurich Life Assurance Plc Chief Compliance Officer is to ensure that the Company is compliant with all applicable laws and regulations, and is responsible for assisting management to promote an Ethics Based Culture, to deliver practical solutions, guidance, training and awareness, to implement policies, processes and controls relating   to the Compliance Risk Universe and to provide assurance to management that Compliance risks are identified and managed supported by relevant metrics. The role holder will lead the ZLAP Compliance team as the accountable executive in the ZLAP Executive Management Team. The role holder is responsible for running an efficient and effective compliance function.  As a member of Group Compliance, this role reports to the Regional Compliance Officer, EMEA with a matrix reporting line to the CEO, ZLAP. In addition, this role will report to the Board, via the Board Audit Committee. This role will have a country co-ordination role and will coordinate certain country level Group compliance activities for example, Group driven initiatives that impact cross Business Units.

The role of Chief Compliance Officer is a Pre-Approval Controlled function, and the applicant will require approval from the Central Bank of Ireland in respect of two specific roles under the Fitness and Probity Regulations (PCF-12 Head of Compliance and PCF-52 Head of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Compliance).

ZLAP is the second largest life insurer in Ireland and has seen substantial growth in its business in recent years. Its business is largely conducted via brokers. Its main products are unit-linked savings/pension products and life protection products. ZLAP has an in-house asset management team who have a strong investment performance track record for ZLAP’s unit-linked customers. ZLAP has active customer portfolios in Ireland and Germany and legacy unit linked saving and investment portfolios in Spain and Sweden that are closed to new business.
 

• Ensures Compliance strategy is aligned with business strategy, legal and regulatory requirements, and trends.  
• Assesses new laws and trends and their applicability and implementation to Zurich's operations in the jurisdiction, in alignment with Legal, in order to ensure that the Compliance Risk Universe is fully identified and managed. 
• Advises the first line of defence with respect to policies (i.e., their adoption, development, implementation, and maintenance), practical guidance, training, relevant controls, and processes for mitigation of risks within the Compliance Risk Universe. 
• Advises and supports management in its regulatory relationship management regarding topics from the compliance risk universe thereby upholding the organization's public image. Identifies and interacts with internal stakeholders to further the comprehension of the functional mandates and ensure functional involvement in matters of relevance. 
• Ensures that relevant stakeholders are informed, understand and support Compliance activities and prioritization. 
• For compliance oversight establishes and maintains locally a log on each of the matters subject to reporting to local regulatory authorities. 
• Regular interaction with and reporting to management and other appropriate bodies on a local, regional and Group level. Sets direction and leads the Compliance function, assesses, and reports to management with respect to adequacy of resourcing allowing the function to discharge its mandate in order to protect the organization's assets. 
• Leads a diverse functional team, setting objectives, reviewing performance, managing relevant employee engagement and participates in selection, promotion and development decisions to ensure that staff have the necessary skills and understanding to deliver the team's objectives

Additional Job Activities

• Supports local team during assurance activities (final review) and provide timely feedback. Maintains and support people development including definition of the defined career and development plan. Organizes and delivers functional projects within the defined scope and time frame and in accordance with agreed cost and quality targets. Takes action to manage own personal development and encourages others to do the same. Undertakes responsibilities and functions foreseen in local regulation.
• Attend the Board and relevant committees as required to report on Compliance matters and advises on compliance with laws and regulation

• Develops and implements an effective legal and regulatory compliance program in line with the Solvency II Directive and the Zurich Compliance Charter and Compliance Program
• Adhere to Conduct Standards and Additional Conduct Standards as set out in the CBI Individual Accountability Framework and discharge those inherent, prescribed and other responsibilities allocated to the ZLAP Chief Compliance Officer under the Senior Executive Accountability Regime (SEAR)
• Creates sound internal controls and monitors adherence to them
• Drafts and revises company policies
• Provide assurance to the business that the function inherent risks are being identified, managed, and mitigated where possible
• Shares assurance activities' results and agrees on actions with management and other relevant stakeholders and follow up with business on agreed improvement actions
• Identifies, prioritizes and documents monitoring, or reviews required by regulation and other possible areas as a result of continuous observation of the environment or from the compliance risk assessment and execute monitoring program
• Evaluates business activities (e.g. investments) to assess compliance risk. Conducts regular awareness campaigns reminding employees of the respective Group Policy and how they can report a violation or a concern. Advises and supports first line of defence with regard to the adoption of Compliance Policies
• Reports progress against plan and ensure approval in case of significant plan changes by local governance committees and management and regional Compliance
• Performs Compliance Oversight, establishes and maintains reports to relevant stakeholders, as foreseen in internal policies and local regulation. Advises and support management in its regulatory relationship management regarding topics from the compliance risk universe thereby upholding the organization's public image
• Participates in project and products steering committees as appropriate with no dedicated legal sub project, ensuring that legal requirements and considerations are taken into account
• Aligns with Legal to ensure the highest standards of corporate governance are maintained in order to ensure Zurich is compliant with regulatory and legal requirements
• Conducts the annual compliance risk assessment to satisfy local and Group Compliance internal and regulatory requirements and communicate assessment results to management, governance committees and other stakeholders, as applicable, coordinating action plans settlement whenever is necessary
• Establishes, maintains, and works external networks with financial and insurance industry associations and with regulatory authorities to gather intelligence, advise the business of relevant developments and support the business in defining actions as seen fit
• Ensure timely escalation of material compliance matters to the CRO, Ireland and ZLAP CEO
• Ensure strong position of Compliance with senior business leaders/management within ZLAP
• Advise executive management regarding regulatory and other compliance matters
• Drive co-ordination with other assurance providers particularly Risk and Internal Audit
• Acts as Data Protection Officer for ZLAP and provides advice and guidance in relation to Data Protection matters
• Acts as the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) for ZLAP and provides advice guidance and oversight in relation to the ZLAP Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing framework to ensure compliance with relevant AML and CFT legislation
• Has overall responsibility for the outsourcing of the audit function as a key function
• Maintain strong relationship with the ZLAP Board

• Stakeholder Management: Expert
• Business Acumen: Expert (including advanced understanding of the Irish Life insurance market): Advanced.
• Effective Communication: Expert
• Negotiation: Advanced
• Critical Thinking: Expert
• Education & Experience Required
• 7 years of experience in related field Education & Experience Preferred
• Bachelor's Degree (or equivalent) in Economics, Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Audit, Risk or Legal Leadership