Compliance Assurance Director

Reporting Line – MD, Head of India Compliance (primary) and MD, Head of Compliance Assurance (functional)

Purpose of the role: 

A highly skilled and experienced professional to lead our Compliance Assurance function in India. To provide assurance over the effectiveness of Compliance Risk Management across the bank. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the Compliance Assurance hub in India and provide supervision and people management for teams based in Pune and Mumbai.
• Lead and manage a team of Compliance Assurance professionals, providing guidance, mentorship, and performance management.
• Develop and implement the location strategy for Compliance Assurance and ensure highest standards of delivery.
• Own agreed set of assurance reviews focused on Barclays India as well as global reviews and execute the reviews in line with the annual plan.
• Drive the digital strategy for compliance assurance to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and coverage of Assurance work tthrough the use of AI, data analytics and technology.
• As part of India Compliance Management Team, provide leadership and management support for a fast-expanding Compliance hub in India, including contributing to the people agenda, governance and value proposition.
• Own, drive and execute Compliance Assurance reviews as part of Compliance Assurance MT

Leadership & Oversight:

Provide strategic and operational leadership to Compliance Assurance teams in India, ensuring alignment with global Compliance Assurance objectives, methodology and Barclays’ compliance framework.

Assurance Delivery:

Oversee the execution of a portfolio of risk-based assurance reviews, including those related to Barclays Global Service Centre (BGSC) India 

Stakeholder Engagement:

Collaborate with global Compliance Assurance Leadership Team, India Compliance, and business stakeholders to ensure effective communication, issue escalation, and resolution.

Talent Development:

Build and mentor a high-performing team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and professional growth.

Governance & Reporting:

Contribute to Compliance Assurance’s global governance forums and ensure timely and accurate reporting of assurance outcomes, issues, and metrics.

Data Analytics Integration

As a strategic enabler within Compliance Assurance, Data Analytics is pivotal in transforming assurance delivery through data-driven insights, automation, and innovation. Champion the use of data analytics in assurance activities, leveraging the Data Analytics Centre of Excellence (DA CoE) to enhance review quality and efficiency. The role holder will include the following key dimensions:

Strategic Integration

• Define and execute the vision for embedding data analytics into the Compliance Assurance methodology.
• Align analytics initiatives with global regulatory expectations and internal risk frameworks to ensure consistency and impact.

Analytics-Driven Assurance

• Develop and deploy advanced analytics models to identify emerging compliance risks, prioritise assurance reviews, and support continuous monitoring.
• Leverage predictive analytics to shift from reactive to proactive risk identification.

Innovation and Automation

• Explore and implement cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning and natural language processing to automate data extraction, pattern recognition, and anomaly detection.
• Drive automation of Management Information (MI), resource planning, and workflow tools to enhance operational efficiency.

Data Governance and Quality

• Establish robust data governance protocols, including sourcing, validation, and documentation, to ensure the integrity and reliability of analytics outputs.

Capability Building

• Mentor and upskill team members across global locations in analytics literacy and tools.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making.

Impact Measurement

• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of analytics in assurance outcomes—such as issue identification rates, review cycle times, and stakeholder feedback.

Collaboration and Integration

• Partner with stakeholders across the three lines of defence to embed analytics into governance and risk committees.
• Support the creation of a shared code library and scalable use cases to enable cross-functional analytics capability.

Required Skills:

• Bachelor's degree in a related field (e.g., Business, Engineering, Finance, Data Analytics, Economics).
• Extensive experience in compliance, risk management, or a related field, with a strong understanding of processes and controls.
• Experience and ability to undertake compliance assurance reviews and controls testing across a wide range of compliance functions.
• Senior leader with understanding compliance functions with expertise in one or more of the areas in business oversight compliance, employee compliance, regulatory compliance, financial crime and markets compliance.
• Proven leadership experience, with the ability to manage and motivate teams with varying responsibilities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex data and provide actionable insights.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
• Knowledge of relevant regulatory requirements and industry standards.
• Awareness of data analytics tools and technologies.

Desired Skills:

• Strong preference for qualified candidates with direct experience running compliance assurance, second-line control testing or internal audit function.
• Good understanding of compliance activities and functions in a complex matrixed global environment.
• A master’s degree or relevant certification is preferred.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.

Purpose of the role

To provide assurance over the effectiveness of Compliance Risk Management across the bank. 

Accountabilities

• Development and refresh of the Compliance Assurance Annual Plan, ensuring that the Annual Plan focuses on areas of highest risk and value in relation to Compliance Risk.
• Delivery of risk-based assurance activity to validate the effectiveness of controls and processes designed to mitigate Compliance Risk.
• Identification of potential risks associated with non-compliance or control weaknesses in relation to Compliance Risk.
• Verbal and written communication of Compliance Assurance reports and issues to enhance the effectiveness of Compliance Risk management and oversight.
• Build, development and maintenance of effective relationships between Compliance Assurance and stakeholders across the three lines of defence.
• Proactive adoption of Data Analytics capabilities to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and coverage of Assurance work.
• Continued focus on the Barclays Mindset and Consistently Excellent to enhance the Assurance that we deliver, how it is delivered and the culture within the bank.

Director Expectations

• To manage a business function, providing significant input to function wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policy and procedures for the function and plan, manage and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business wide..
• They manage the direction of a large team or sub-function, leading other people managers and embedding a performance culture aligned to the values of the business. Or for an individual contributor, they lead organisation wide projects and act as deep technical expert and thought leader, identifying new ways of working and collaborating cross functionally. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Provide expert advice to senior functional management and committees to influence decisions made outside of own function, offering significant input to function wide strategic initiatives.
• Manage, coordinate and enable resourcing, budgeting and policy creation for a significant sub-function.
• Escalates breaches of policies / procedure appropriately.
• Foster and guide compliance, ensure regulations are observed that relevant processes in place to facilitate adherence.
• Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to both monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays, when appropriate.
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of how the function integrates with the business division / Group to achieve the overall business objectives.
• Maintain broad and comprehensive knowledge of industry theories and practices within own discipline alongside up-to-date relevant sector / functional knowledge, and insight into external market developments / initiatives.
• Use interpretative thinking and advanced analytical skills to solve problems and design solutions in often complex/ sensitive situations.
• Exercise management authority to make significant decisions and certain strategic decisions or recommendations within own area.
• Negotiate with and influence stakeholders at a senior level both internally and externally.
• Act as principal contact point for key clients and counterparts in other functions/ businesses divisions.
• Mandated as a spokesperson for the function and business division.

All Senior Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.