The Opportunity
Shape Risk. Strengthen Governance. Drive Business Confidence.
This is a pivotal role that will support the development of the Group's risk maturity, strengthen governance arrangements, and provide independent assurance across a diverse and fast-paced business. Acting as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, you will drive risk-informed decision-making, deliver risk-based assurance activity, and champion a positive and accountable risk culture across the organisation.
Operating within the second line of defence, you'll work closely with stakeholders across operational, commercial, procurement, legal, and leadership teams to ensure key risks are identified, managed, and mitigated effectively.
Risk Management
- Lead and facilitate risk workshops, assessments, and reviews with senior leaders, project teams, and operational functions.
- Support the consistent identification, assessment, and management of enterprise risks across the Group.
- Provide insight, guidance, and constructive challenge on emerging risks, operational vulnerabilities, and regulatory changes.
- Maintain and enhance risk registers, loss event reporting, key risk indicators, and emerging risk tracking processes.
- Support continuous improvement of risk management frameworks, controls, and reporting mechanisms.
- Monitor external risk trends and support effective risk integration across acquisitions, projects, and business change initiatives.
Risk Assurance
- Design and deliver a proportionate, risk-based assurance programme aligned to principal business risks.
- Conduct end-to-end assurance reviews, including thematic reviews, control assessments, and deep-dive investigations.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of governance arrangements, risk management practices, and key controls.
- Provide practical, value-adding recommendations that strengthen operational resilience and control environments.
- Monitor and challenge remediation activities, ensuring actions are completed effectively and root causes are addressed.
- Deliver assurance insights and reports to senior leadership and key stakeholders.
Stakeholder Engagement & Risk Culture
- Champion a positive, proactive, and accountable risk culture across the Group.
- Develop and deliver risk management training, guidance, and awareness initiatives.
- Act as a trusted subject matter expert on risk and assurance matters.
- Build strong relationships with stakeholders across operational, commercial, legal, procurement, and business development functions.
- Support wider governance, risk, and compliance initiatives that drive continuous improvement across the business.
Essential
- Demonstrable experience implementing, embedding, and improving enterprise risk management frameworks.
- Strong knowledge of recognised risk management methodologies and standards, such as ISO 31000, COSO ERM, APM PRAM, or similar.
- Proven experience designing and delivering risk-based assurance programmes and assurance reviews.
- Sound understanding of governance, assurance, audit, and control frameworks.
- Experience working within complex, fast-paced, operationally focused organisations.
- Ability to identify, assess, and communicate business risks effectively.
- Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the confidence to engage and challenge at all levels.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting to senior leadership teams.
- Advanced analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking abilities.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver objectives through to completion.
- Strong reporting, investigation, and risk analysis capabilities.
Desirable
- Experience within engineering, utilities, construction, infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, or related sectors.
- Experience working within large group structures, multi-business environments, or global organisations.
- Professional qualification in Risk Management, Internal Audit, Governance, Compliance, or a related discipline.
- Experience operating within a second-line risk or assurance function.
- Knowledge of regulatory and contractual compliance frameworks.
- Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, organisational change, or business transformation programmes.
- Familiarity with risk management software, assurance tools, and reporting platforms.
At OCU, we believe that meaningful work should come with meaningful support. That's the principle behind Careers with Purpose, our commitment to ensuring every person at OCU feels supported, developed, and valued, not just in their role today, but throughout their career with us.
Alongside the opportunity to work on some of the UK's most significant infrastructure projects, we offer a benefits package that we are continuing to develop as we grow, and the kind of career acceleration that only comes from being inside a business moving at this pace.
As a rapidly growing organisation, there are genuine opportunities to progress, broaden your experience, and build a long-term career within OCU Group.
We review applications every day and may close this vacancy early if sufficient applications are received. We encourage early applications.
At OCU Group, we don’t just deliver infrastructure - we help power modern life.
As one of the UK’s fastest-growing utility and infrastructure businesses, we deliver complex, nationally critical projects across power, energy transition, water, telecoms, and digital infrastructure. Over the last five years, OCU has grown five-fold to a £1.1bn organisation, expanding both organically and through strategic acquisitions across the UK, Australia, New Zealand and India.
Our growth is driven by ambitious people, operational excellence, and a commitment to doing things properly. We work on projects that genuinely matter by supporting the UK’s energy transition, strengthening essential infrastructure, and helping build more sustainable communities for the future.
Whether you’re an experienced professional looking to take ownership of major projects and influence delivery at scale, or someone starting your career through an apprenticeship, graduate programme, or placement route, OCU offers real opportunity to grow, develop, and make an impact.
We are building a business where high performance, collaboration, innovation, and accountability sit at the centre of our culture. Our people are trusted to lead, encouraged to challenge thinking, and supported to continuously develop their skills and careers.
At OCU, you won’t just join a growing business, you’ll help shape it.
Our Culture & Values
At OCU, our values are at the heart of everything we do. We care about safety, lead with integrity, strive to be better every day, make a positive impact, and deliver to grow, together, as One Company United.
Our Commitment to Inclusion
At OCU Group, we believe diversity, inclusion, and belonging are fundamental to building stronger teams, better ideas, and a more successful business. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to creating an environment where everyone feels valued and supported.
As part of our commitment to fairness and equality, candidates may be asked to complete an equal opportunities monitoring form during the recruitment process. This information is used for monitoring purposes only and plays no part in hiring decisions.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and are committed to offering interviews to candidates with disabilities or long-term health conditions who meet the essential criteria for the role.
To ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to join our team, please inform us if you require any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment and interview process is, by emailing
[email protected].
