Who are we?

Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 18,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

The Role

Howden Group is an international insurance intermediary group composed of a number of specialist Operating Entities. 

The jobholder is wholly assigned to an Operating Entity (within which there may be a number of distinct Trading Companies). The jobholder will report directly into the Senior Compliance Manager - Europe.

The jobholder will support the European Compliance Department in ensuring that the European offices of the Operating Entity maintain regulatory systems and controls that comply with applicable laws and regulations. This includes:

Implementing and monitoring the Compliance Plan.

Identifying and interpreting regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions.

Developing, reviewing, and updating compliance policies and procedures.

Preparing regulatory reports for the Operating Entity and governance committees.

Supporting the implementation of risk-based compliance controls.

Assessing business operations for regulatory impact.

The role requires collaboration with other Compliance Officers, business stakeholders, and regulatory bodies, ensuring a consistent compliance approach across European operations.

The jobholder will:

Work closely with the European and UK Compliance & Data Protection Teams to manage overlapping responsibilities.

Support the Senior Compliance Manager – Europe in handling compliance-related queries from European offices.

Oversee the execution of the European Offices’ elements of the Annual Compliance Plan.

Work with the Compliance Monitoring Team to ensure robust second-line monitoring of European Offices.

The jobholder will ensure that responsibilities and agreed objectives are completed in accordance with the relevant Company and/or Group policies, and consistent with their assigned responsibilities.

Location: This role can be based in either our Luxembourg, France, Germany or Italy office.

Assigned Operating Entity: Howden Specialty Luxembourg Sarl

Who we're looking for

Technical:

Assist in the execution of the European Compliance Plan and regulatory framework implementation.

Monitor regulatory developments affecting European offices and ensure timely updates.

Identify and mitigate compliance risks, working with first and second-line defence teams.

Provide expert regulatory advice to internal stakeholders and address compliance-related queries.

Ensure accurate and timely regulatory filings and reporting obligations.

Support compliance monitoring programs to identify and address emerging risks.

Coordinate responses to regulatory audits, inspections, and investigations.

Identify training needs and assist in developing and delivering compliance training (including induction programs).

Promote a culture of compliance awareness among employees.

Manage Fit & Proper assessments for relevant personnel.

Oversee training records to ensure compliance with regulatory competency requirements.

Supports the Senior Compliance Manager - Europe with ad-hoc projects

Policy, Process and Procedures:

Assist in the delivery and maintenance of second-line policies and procedures for European Offices.

Draft, review, and adapt policies and procedures to ensure compliance with EU insurance regulations.

Ensure policies and operational procedures are consistently applied across European entities.

Regularly review Operating Entity’s policies and procedures to ensure they remain fit for purpose.

Implement actions based on regulatory instructions and policies.

Environment, Customer Focus and Relationships:

Maintains awareness of organisational structures and activities, including cross-border activities and intercompany relationships/dependencies, in order to understand business dynamics, pressures and needs.

Maintains awareness of regulatory developments and supports the business in assessing impacts and enhancing controls where necessary.

Responds to the clients (both internal and external) requirements as appropriate

Behaves with all clients (both internal and external) fairly and ethically

Shares information that could be beneficial to the Operating Entity/Group

Personal Development:

Actively undertakes personal development to ensure up to date knowledge and understanding of best practice

Remains aware of external, industry, legal and regulatory developments etc. to ensure practice and outputs are of a sufficiently high standard

Keeps informed of all legal and regulatory developments relevant to the Operating Entity/Group

Regulatory and Compliance:

The Board of each Operating Entity expects the highest standards of corporate governance, operational excellence, and financial reporting from all employees. Specific responsibilities include:

Ensuring compliance with all applicable legal, fiscal, and regulatory obligations in the form of policies and procedures.

Ensuring correct authorisation is obtained and processes followed in accordance with the Operating Entity and/or Group requirements.

Ensuring performance, HR, and T&C records are maintained accurately and meet the Group’s requirements (including for any direct reports).

Maintaining accurate records and handling correspondence appropriately.

Operating in an honest, professional, and ethical manner.

Strictly adhering to the Group Employee Code of Conduct.

Completing all relevant regulatory training.

Ensuring ongoing competency in compliance roles, including oversight of team members where applicable.

Must have experience of identifying and interpreting the application of European insurance regulatory requirements, and development or oversight of associated systems and controls to comply with such requirements.

Must be knowledgeable on the expectations of the Insurance Distribution Directive and other applicable EU insurance directive and their application to insurance broking organisations. 

Experience of identifying and interpreting regulatory requirements across various EU states.

Will ideally have some experience and knowledge of working within a financial services firm, ideally within the insurance industry.

Will ideally have some knowledge and understanding of insurance, principles, products and services.

Who we're looking for

Strong desire to learn and develop in order to build up an understanding of regulatory and insurance processes

Self-starter

Strong written and oral communication skills.

Analytical and problem solving skills

Team worker

Logical  

Influencing skills

Actively listens

Good planning, organisation, delivery and time management skills.

Able to prioritise effectively.

Ability to articulate complex concepts simply

University degree in Law, Finance, Risk Management, or a related field

Professional certification in compliance, risk, or insurance.

Minimum 3 years of experience in compliance, legal, or risk functions within insurance or financial services.

Fluent English required; French, German, or Italian is a plus.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs.  Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

Permanent