UK

United Kingdom · Compliance, quality and safety · Director/VP (16-20 years)

Director, Global Risk & Assurance

Here is the whole job, in plain words. What it is, what you decide, how you're judged, how people get here and where they go next. Then the part no course gives you: twelve AI tutors who learn your work.

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  • Experience bandDirector/VP (16-20 years)
  • Direct reports25-100+ reports
  • Reports toChief Compliance_Quality_Health_Safety Officer (CCO)
  • UK framework levelUsually a director, accountable for a division and its numbers

Also advertised as VP, Enterprise Risk & Compliance · Global Head of Health, Safety, Environment & Quality (HSEQ) · Chief Risk Officer (Operational Focus)

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in qualifications employers recognise

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

NQual Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management NQual · Level 5 · covers 2 of 10 standards
GQA Level 5 Diploma in the Practice of Process Safety Management GQA Qualifications Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Sport Pearson Education Ltd · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Risk management NQual Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management
Maintain Systems and Processes for Health, Safety, Welfare and Environmental Protection in an Engineering Environment NOCN Level 5 Diploma in Computer Engineering (Information Technology and Data Science)
Manage risk in residential childcare NCFE CACHE Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England)
Understand how to comply with the relevant Regulations, Industry Standards and Management Requirements for Process Safety GQA Level 5 Diploma in the Practice of Process Safety Management
Risk & Safety Management in the Outdoors Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Sport

The future skills this job leans on

Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
AI Governance Fluency using AI responsibly
Sustainability Fluency building care for people and planet into the work
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Your Plan Illustration

Built for Director, Global Risk & Assurance

5 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

  1. Risk management NQual · covers 2 of 10 standards Level 5
  2. Maintain Systems and Processes for Health, Safety, Welfare and Environmental Protection in an Engineering Environment NOCN · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
  3. Manage risk in residential childcare NCFE · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
  4. Understand how to comply with the relevant Regulations, Industry Standards and Management Requirements for Process Safety GQA Qualifications Limited · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
  5. Risk & Safety Management in the Outdoors Pearson Education Ltd · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a Director, Global Risk & Assurance?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skill this role is being asked for

  • Integrated ESG Risk Management & Reporting
Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your Director, Global Risk & Assurance plan as you set up, starting with a Future Fluency module on using AI in your job. No card.

Your first Future Fluency module is free. After that, your AI tutor is £70 a month.

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3What this role really is

This role involves building and overseeing risk management and assurance across global operations. It covers enterprise-wide risk strategy, making sure operations stay safe, compliant and resilient. The work means anticipating operational risks rather than reacting to them, and helping build a culture where safety and quality are treated as strengths.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

Intelex, Cority, Enablon, ServiceNow GRC (or similar EHS/GRC Platforms) Strategic

Leading platform selection/RFP processes, managing vendor relationships, defining enterprise-wide data governance and system architecture, ensuring strategic alignment with business objectives.

Microsoft Power BI, Tableau (or similar Enterprise BI Tools) Architect

Defining the enterprise BI strategy for risk, overseeing the development of executive-level dashboards for board reporting, ensuring data integrity and actionable insights.

Compliance.ai, Wolters Kluwer Enablon (or similar Regulatory Intelligence Platforms) Strategic

Determining the scope of regulatory tracking services, integrating feeds into the core GRC system to automate compliance verification, and ensuring proactive awareness of global regulatory changes.

Microsoft SharePoint, Confluence (or similar Document & Process Control Systems) Strategic

Setting enterprise policy for document retention and control within the GRC framework, ensuring audit trails are robust for all critical risk documentation.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choiceComing in Where you are nowThe step above
Global Risk Strategy Definition N/A N/A N/A
Enterprise EHS/GRC Platform Selection N/A N/A N/A
Departmental Budget Allocation N/A N/A N/A
Response to Major Regulatory Non-Compliance N/A N/A N/A

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

Enterprise Risk Reduction (RAG Status)
Improvement in the overall Red/Amber/Green (RAG) status of critical enterprise operational risks.
Target · Achieve a 15% reduction in 'Red' rated risks and a 25% reduction in 'Amber' rated risks year-over-year, as defined in the enterprise risk register.

If we start the year with 10 'Red' risks, you'd aim to have 8 or fewer by year-end, and similarly for 'Amber' risks. This isn't just about changing a colour; it's about demonstrable mitigation actions.

Regulatory Compliance Fines & Penalties
The total financial impact from regulatory non-compliance across all global operations.
Target · Maintain zero significant regulatory fines (above £100,000) and reduce the total value of all minor fines by 20% year-over-year.

Avoiding a £5M environmental fine in Q2 due to a proactive programme you implemented, or reducing dozens of smaller £5K fines across regions due to improved local compliance programmes.

Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) & Serious Incident Rate
The rate of injuries resulting in lost work time and the frequency of high-severity incidents across the global workforce.
Target · Achieve a 10% year-over-year reduction in LTIFR and a 5% reduction in serious incidents (e.g., those requiring hospitalisation or resulting in significant property damage).

If our current LTIFR is 0.8 per 200,000 hours, you'd be aiming for 0.72. This means fewer people getting hurt, which is, frankly, the most important thing we do.

Global Audit Programme Effectiveness
The percentage of critical non-conformances identified in internal and external audits that are closed on time and effectively.
Target · Maintain a 95% on-time closure rate for major non-conformances and demonstrate a sustained reduction in recurring audit findings across our global sites.

Ensuring that the 3 major non-conformances from the ISO 45001 external audit in Germany are closed within 90 days, and that similar issues aren't popping up in other regions.

Board & Executive Trust
Being seen as the trusted advisor on all matters of operational risk, compliance, and assurance by the C-Suite and Board.
  • You're proactively invited to strategic planning meetings, your input is sought on major investment decisions (e.g., M&A due diligence), and the Board relies on your assessments for their risk appetite discussions. They don't just listen
  • they act on your recommendations.
Organisational Risk Culture Maturity
Shifting the company's culture from reactive compliance to proactive risk ownership at all levels.
  • Improved scores in annual safety culture surveys, anecdotal evidence of business unit leaders embedding risk discussions into their operational meetings, and a noticeable increase in proactive 'leading indicators' (e.g., near-miss reporting, safety observations) rather than just 'lagging indicators' (e.g., incident rates). People are talking about risk before it becomes a problem.
Strategic Influence & Programme Adoption
Your ability to design and successfully implement enterprise-wide risk programmes that are adopted and embraced by business units globally.
  • High adoption rates for new EHS/GRC platforms, positive feedback from regional leaders on the value of your programmes, and demonstrable behavioural change across the organisation. Your initiatives aren't just 'tick-box' exercises
  • they genuinely change how we operate.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy
Protecting People and Planet

You'll find deep satisfaction in knowing your programmes directly contribute to fewer injuries, a cleaner environment, and safer products. It's not just about compliance; it's about genuine impact.

Seeing a significant drop in incident rates across a newly acquired business unit after implementing your integrated safety management system.

Shaping Enterprise Strategy

You'll thrive on influencing board-level decisions, seeing your risk insights integrated into the company's long-term strategic plans, and knowing you're a key player in the organisation's future.

Your recommendations on climate risk leading to a major investment in renewable energy for our manufacturing sites, becoming a core part of our ESG strategy.

Building High-Performing Teams

You'll love developing and mentoring a global team of risk and assurance professionals, empowering them to excel, and seeing them grow into future leaders.

A manager you've coached successfully leading a complex regulatory audit in a challenging market, exceeding expectations.

What frustrates people
  • The sheer inertia of a large, global organisation when trying to implement new policies or systems.
  • Business units treating compliance as a 'check-box' exercise rather than a genuine commitment to risk reduction.
  • The constant tension between operational efficiency/cost reduction and robust risk controls.
  • Dealing with the aftermath of incidents that could have been prevented if earlier recommendations had been acted upon.
  • Budget cycles that don't always align with the multi-year investment needed for strategic risk programmes.
What this role does not give you
  • A quiet, predictable routine; expect constant shifts in priorities and urgent, high-stakes issues.
  • Direct operational control; your power comes from influence and expertise, not direct command.
  • Immediate gratification; many of your most impactful initiatives will take years to fully mature and show their true value.

8Who you work with

Your decisions and strategic direction directly shape the company's risk profile, regulatory compliance posture, and overall operational resilience. You'll drive multi-year transformation programmes that can reduce our exposure to fines, improve employee safety, enhance product quality, and ultimately protect our brand reputation and shareholder value. Frankly, you're a critical defence line for the entire business.

Inside the business
  • C-Suite (CEO, COO, CFO, General Counsel)
  • Board of Directors (especially the Audit & Risk Committee)
  • Business Unit Presidents/MDs
  • Heads of Operations, Supply Chain, and Product Development
  • Legal and Corporate Communications teams
Outside the business
  • Regulatory bodies (e.g., HSE, EPA, local authorities globally)
  • External auditors and certification bodies
  • Insurance providers and brokers
  • Industry associations and standard-setting organisations
  • Key strategic partners and major clients

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

  • Proven track record of leading large, multi-disciplinary teams (20+ direct/indirect reports) in a global operational risk, compliance, or HSEQ function for at least 5 years.
  • Extensive experience (10+ years) in designing, implementing, and managing enterprise-wide risk assessment and assurance programmes within complex, multinational organisations.
  • Demonstrable experience presenting to and influencing C-Suite executives and Board-level committees on critical risk matters.
  • Significant experience managing budgets of £2M+ and making strategic investment decisions for risk management technologies and programmes.
  • A deep understanding of the intricacies of global regulatory environments and the ability to translate complex legal requirements into practical business actions.
  • A history of successfully driving significant organisational change and cultural transformation related to safety, quality, or environmental performance.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

AI & Predictive Analytics for Risk

The ability to move from reactive to truly predictive risk management is the next frontier. AI and machine learning will allow us to analyse vast datasets (incident reports, sensor data, audit findings, external benchmarks) to identify patterns and forecast potential incidents before they occur. Your role will be to define the strategy for building and deploying these capabilities.

Machine Learning Models (e.g., Anomaly Detection, Classification) · Natural Language Processing (NLP) · Data Lake & Data Mesh Architectures · Ethical AI & Bias in Risk Models

  • This quarter: Commission a feasibility study on predictive risk analytics for a high-risk operational area.
  • Next 6 months: Engage with our data science team to understand current AI capabilities and potential applications for risk.
  • Next 12 months: Develop a roadmap for integrating AI-powered insights into our enterprise GRC platform.
  • Ongoing: Stay abreast of industry trends and vendor solutions in AI for risk management, attending relevant conferences.

Quick win: Identify one specific, high-volume data set (e.g., near-miss reports) and challenge your team to explore how AI could automate its analysis and identify trends. It's about starting small to demonstrate value.

Cyber-Physical System Risk Integration

As our operational technology (OT) becomes increasingly connected to IT networks (Industrial IoT, smart factories), the lines between cyber security and operational safety are blurring. A cyber attack could now directly lead to a major safety incident. Your role will involve integrating cyber risk considerations into our operational risk assessments and developing a holistic defence strategy.

Operational Technology (OT) Security · Convergence of IT/OT Risk · Supply Chain Cyber Risk · Cyber Incident Response for OT

  • This quarter: Establish a regular working group with our CISO and Head of Operations to discuss IT/OT convergence risks.
  • Next 6 months: Conduct a joint IT/OT risk assessment for a critical manufacturing site.
  • Next 12 months: Develop an integrated cyber-physical incident response plan.
  • Ongoing: Invest in training for your team on the fundamentals of OT security and cyber risk management.

Quick win: Ensure our next enterprise risk register explicitly includes cyber-physical risks and their potential impact on safety and environment. It's about making sure these conversations are happening at the highest level.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attend and present at international industry conferences on risk management, HSEQ, and ESG to maintain thought leadership and network with peers.
  • Participate in executive education programmes focused on global business strategy, organisational leadership, or advanced risk analytics.
  • Engage with regulatory bodies and industry associations to influence policy development and understand emerging compliance trends.
  • Mentor junior and mid-level professionals within your team and the wider organisation, fostering a culture of continuous learning.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

Integrated ESG Risk Management & Reporting

Investors, regulators, and customers are increasingly demanding transparent and robust reporting on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. Operational risks are a huge part of this. Your role will shift to seamlessly integrate ESG factors into our core risk assessments and ensure our public disclosures are accurate and defensible.

  • Double Materiality
  • TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures)
  • Supply Chain ESG Due Diligence
  • ESG Data Assurance

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Frameworks
  • Global Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Architecture
  • Crisis & Business Continuity Management
  • Advanced Root Cause Analysis (RCA) & Incident Learning
  • Leading & Lagging Indicator Strategy

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

  1. 1

    Regional Risk & Compliance Manager (L5)

    3-5 years at L5

    Skills to master

    • Mastering multi-region programme management, building and leading high-performing teams, owning a significant P&L, and developing executive influencing skills. You'll need to demonstrate a strategic mindset beyond your region.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully led a major regional risk transformation project from inception to completion.
    • Consistently exceeded regional risk reduction targets and compliance KPIs.
    • Developed and mentored at least two direct reports into more senior roles.
    • Proactively identified and mitigated emerging risks that impacted regional business performance.
    • Presented effectively to senior leadership on strategic regional risk matters.
  2. 2

    Head of Global Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)

    3-5 years in a similar global functional head role

    Skills to master

    • Expanding your scope beyond a single functional area (e.g., EHS) to encompass broader operational risk, quality, and assurance. This means understanding the interconnectivity of all these domains.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully integrated EHS programmes across multiple global business units.
    • Demonstrated ability to manage significant global budgets and teams within EHS.
    • Proven track record of influencing C-suite decisions related to environmental sustainability or safety investments.
    • Developed a holistic understanding of the business beyond just EHS, including quality and broader operational risks.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This role can lead to senior leadership positions or specialist expert roles in operational risk and assurance, including work as a non-executive director or a chief operating officer.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how Director, Global Risk & Assurance is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

Also named as a next step, with no page in the catalogue yet:

  • Chief Compliance_Quality_Health_Safety Officer (CCO) / Chief Risk Officer (CRO)

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Risk management, worked against Director, Global Risk & Assurance.

Risk management Level 5

Applied to your work in Director, Global Risk & Assurance

This unit aims to equip learners with a thorough understanding of the principles and importance of risk management within an organisation. Learners will be able to identify, assess, control, and mitigate different types of risks, and understand the importance of monitoring and reviewing risk management strategies to achieve organisational objectives.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

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Director, Global Risk & Assurance
  • Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Frameworks
  • Global Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Architecture
  • Crisis & Business Continuity Management
  • Advanced Root Cause Analysis (RCA) & Incident Learning
  • Leading & Lagging Indicator Strategy
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

Director, Global Risk & Assurance is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. Chief Compliance_Quality_Health_Safety Officer (CCO) / Chief Risk Officer (CRO)

    3-5 years as a Director

    Level 7 (C-Suite)

    • Financial risk management (strategic oversight)
    • Cyber security strategy (enterprise level)
    • Legal and regulatory affairs (broader corporate scope)
    • Global geopolitical risk analysis

  2. Chief Operating Officer (COO)

    5-7 years as a Director (often requires prior operational experience)

    Level 7 (C-Suite)

    • Operational excellence methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma)
    • Digital transformation of core business processes
    • Global logistics and distribution management
    • Workforce planning and labour relations
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, managing global risk and assurance is a massive undertaking. You're dealing with mountains of data, ever-changing regulations, and a constant need to be proactive. The good news? AI isn't just for tech companies anymore. We're already seeing how smart tools can dramatically cut down on the tedious, repetitive tasks for your team, freeing them up to focus on what truly matters: strategic risk mitigation and building a stronger safety culture.

As a Director, you're not personally doing all the day-to-day work, but you're responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of your entire department. Imagine if your managers and specialists could spend less time sifting through reports and more time engaging with operations. That's where AI comes in. It's about empowering your team to work smarter, giving you better, faster insights to make critical decisions.

Automated Incident Triage

Imagine AI reading every single near-miss and incident report that comes in. It automatically categorises the event, flags potential high-severity issues based on keywords, and even routes urgent reports directly to the right manager for immediate review. This means your team isn't manually sifting through hundreds of reports; they're acting on the critical ones faster. This alone can save your managers 3-5 hours a week, letting them focus on investigations, not admin.

Predictive Risk Hotspotting

This is where AI truly shines for a Director. Instead of just reacting, an AI model can analyse historical incident data, audit findings, maintenance logs, and even external factors like weather or economic indicators. It then predicts which sites, equipment, or even specific shifts are at the highest risk of an incident in the upcoming weeks. This allows you to proactively allocate safety resources, deploy additional training, or schedule preventative maintenance before something goes wrong. This isn't just time-saving; it's game-changing for risk prevention.

Regulatory Change Summariser

Keeping up with global regulatory changes is a nightmare. Your team spends countless hours sifting through dense legal texts. With AI, a tool can provide concise summaries of key changes to OSHA, HSE, or EPA regulations, identify which company policies are likely impacted, and even draft an initial impact assessment report. This means your compliance specialists are spending less time reading and more time interpreting and implementing, saving them 5-8 hours a month and ensuring we're always ahead of the curve.

First-Draft CAPA Generator

After a root cause analysis, your team needs to develop Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPAs). An AI assistant can suggest effective CAPAs based on similar past events, draft the initial entry in the EHS system, and even propose an owner and due date. This speeds up the closure process, reduces human error in CAPA formulation, and ensures consistency across the organisation. Your specialists could save 2-4 hours a week, allowing them to focus on verifying the effectiveness of actions, not just writing them down.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Director, Global Risk & Assurance?

Common routes in include Regional Risk & Compliance Manager (3-5 years at L5) and Head of Global Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) (3-5 years in a similar global functional head role). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Director, Global Risk & Assurance progress to?

This role can lead on to Chief Compliance_Quality_Health_Safety Officer (CCO) / Chief Risk Officer (CRO) (3-5 years as a Director) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) (5-7 years as a Director (often requires prior operational experience)), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Director, Global Risk & Assurance?

Increasingly, Integrated ESG Risk Management & Reporting. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

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17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 7

Same depth of qualification, different job. Useful if the work appeals but this particular role does not.

 More jobs in compliance, quality and safety

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.
If you leave this industry

Skills in enterprise risk management, governance and assurance transfer across industries. They apply to leadership roles in regulated sectors such as pharmaceuticals, aerospace, energy or financial services. The principles of managing complex operational risk stay the same even when the details change.

This role profile is © 2026 Growth Engineering Technologies Ltd. Built from UK occupational standards and regulated qualification data, and written for Zavmo.

You're not behind. You're right on time. The shift is only just beginning. Your role won't look the same in two years. Be the one who leads the change, not the one it happens to. Start my Director, Global Risk & Assurance plan, free What happens next: a free account, then we build your plan as you set up. No card. Build your plan, see your roadmap and meet the twelve tutors matched to you. All free. When you're ready to start learning, it's £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.