Head of Prudential Financial Management

The Head of Prudential Financial Management is a senior Finance leader role accountable for the Group’s approach to capital, liquidity and financial resilience across its regulated entities.
The role sets the strategy, standards and governance framework for prudential assessments, stress testing, recovery, wind-down and solvent exit planning. It provides authoritative advice to the Group Financial Controller, CFO, senior management and governance committees on financial resource adequacy, regulatory requirements and the prudential implications of strategic decisions.

The role leads the Prudential Financial Management team and is accountable for the quality, integrity and timely delivery of the Group’s prudential frameworks, assessments and reporting.

*We are open to applicants based in either Edinburgh or London

Key responsibilities
Leadership and strategy

• Set the strategic direction, priorities and annual plan for Prudential Financial Management.
• Lead, develop and oversee the Prudential Financial Management team.
• Establish clear accountabilities across Finance, Treasury, Risk, Compliance and the regulated entities.
• Embed prudential considerations within financial planning, forecasting and strategic decision-making.

Prudential assessments

• Act as the accountable Finance owner for ICARA, the Group Capital and Liquidity Assessment and Finance contributions to ORSA.
• Set and approve the methodologies, standards and governance requirements supporting these assessments.
• Review and challenge material assumptions, judgements, vulnerabilities and proposed management actions.
• Oversee delivery by the Prudential Risk Manager and ensure appropriate evidence, review and governance approval.

Capital, liquidity and financial resilience

• Lead the assessment of capital and liquidity adequacy at Group and regulated-entity level.
• Assess the availability, transferability and fungibility of financial resources across the Group.
• Advise senior management on capital allocation, liquidity management, dividends, intra-group funding and other material strategic decisions.
• Identify emerging constraints and recommend proportionate management actions and optimisation opportunities.

Stress testing, recovery and wind-down

• Own the Group’s prudential stress-testing and scenario-analysis framework.
• Approve key scenarios, assumptions, methodologies and management actions.
• Oversee the financial analysis supporting recovery, wind-down and solvent exit planning.
• Ensure that plans and management actions are credible, practical and regularly tested.

Policies, risk appetite and reporting

• Own relevant capital, liquidity, stress-testing and financial resilience policies and methodologies.
• Lead the development of prudential risk appetite metrics, limits, triggers and early-warning indicators.
• Ensure senior management receives clear, forward-looking and decision-focused prudential reporting.
• Escalate material vulnerabilities, limit breaches and emerging financial resilience concerns.

Regulatory and governance responsibilities

• Act as the senior Finance subject matter expert on relevant prudential regulation, including MIFIDPRU, IPRU-INV and Solvency UK.
• Lead the Finance assessment and implementation of relevant regulatory change.
• Own the quality and integrity of prudential papers submitted to Executive and Board Committees.
• Present key findings, judgements and recommendations to senior governance forums.
• Lead Finance engagement with the FCA, PRA and other relevant regulators on prudential financial management matters, working with Risk, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs.

Controls and assurance

• Maintain an effective control framework for prudential assessments, models, forecasts and reporting.
• Ensure material data, model and methodology limitations are understood and appropriately disclosed.
• Oversee the resolution of relevant internal audit, external audit and regulatory findings.
• Drive continuous improvement and appropriate automation of prudential analysis and reporting.

Skills and experience
Essential

• Significant senior-level experience in prudential financial management, regulatory capital, liquidity or financial resilience.
• Demonstrable experience leading ICARA, ORSA, Group Capital and Liquidity Assessments or equivalent prudential processes.
• Strong understanding of capital and liquidity adequacy, stress testing, recovery and wind-down planning.
• Strong knowledge of MIFIDPRU, IPRU-INV and/or Solvency UK requirements.
• Experience advising senior management and presenting to Executive or Board-level committees.
• Strong leadership, judgement, analytical and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to explain complex financial and regulatory matters clearly to non-specialist audiences.

Desirable

• Qualified accountant, such as ACA, ACCA or CIMA, or another relevant qualification.
• Experience within wealth management, investment platforms, insurance or another regulated financial services business.
• Experience engaging directly with the FCA, PRA or another financial services regulator.
• Experience working across multiple regulated entities or regulatory regimes.

Success measures

• Effective leadership and development of the Prudential Financial Management team.
• Timely, accurate and well-governed prudential assessments.
• Clear and effective advice supporting capital, liquidity and strategic decisions.
• Early identification and escalation of emerging financial resilience concerns.
• Credible stress testing, recovery, wind-down and solvent exit analysis.
• High-quality Executive, Board and regulatory reporting.
• Robust implementation of regulatory change.
• Positive outcomes from governance, assurance and regulatory reviews.

A little about us 
We’re the Nucleus Financial Platforms group and we help make retirement more rewarding.
People come first - whether it’s our colleagues, or the advisers and customers we support, we know that working in partnership and collaboration leads to the best outcomes. Together, we’ve shaped the platform to how it is today. We work hard, and we celebrate hard too. 
Our ambition is to create a platform with a difference, putting the customer centre stage meant tearing up the rule book and starting from scratch. We’ve come a long way since then, but our mission remains just as focused. That’s why our culture, values, and social responsibility are things we keep at the top of our agenda – because we know they matter and have a big impact. 
Our culture is one of the many things that sets us apart from the pack. We want to have an environment where our people feel that they can make a real difference, know they’ll be rewarded for their efforts and more importantly, enjoy themselves at work. 
Are we a perfect match? Check out this video and find out! 
Inclusion and diversity at Nucleus 
As with most things in life, who cares, wins. We really care about inclusion. 
For us it’s not a tick box exercise; inclusion and diversity are embedded in our culture and everything we do. It’s a commercial imperative. It isn’t about being PC. It’s about being future-relevant and durable. We owe it to ourselves and the industry to ensure we are playing our part in creating a fair, balanced and transparent financial services sector. 
More diversity means broader experience, a wider set of perspectives and a better collective ability to problem-solve. And it means being more representative of customer groups, which supports areas such as product development. 
At Nucleus, we offer a generous blend of benefits for the things that really matter to our people, including a non-contributory pension, bonus, enhanced parental leave, paid time off for emergencies, health and wellbeing initiatives and flexible working options