Job Title: Senior Risk Management Expert, Pearson Qualifications PMO Role purpose Serve as the PMO's subject matter expert for risk across PSQ (Pearson School Qualifications) and VQ (Vocational Qualifications), providing hands-on leadership for day-to-day risk practices. Design, embed, and continuously improve the risk management policies, frameworks, tools, playbook, and operating rhythms. Operate a single, centralised view of risk, enabling early identification and mitigation of risks, and provide input into the feedback loop of incident management and continuous improvement. Lead scenario planning, contingency planning, and simulation exercises to test resilience and improve readiness across cross-functional delivery teams. Provide independent risk assurance to senior stakeholders, supporting regulatory compliance, operational resilience, and continuous improvement. Key responsibilities Frameworks, governance, and standards Author and maintain the risk management policies and framework (including playbooks, runbooks, templates, risk matrix, and communication protocols) in line with corporate policy and regulatory expectations; submit updates for approval to key senior stakeholders. Define and enforce minimum standards for risk registers and control documentation across PSQ and VQ; ensure version control and audit-ready documentation. Risk management operations Run the end-to-end risk lifecycle: periodic risk identification, assessment, scoring, and mitigation planning across operational series and on-demand operations; facilitate risk workshops with delivery teams. Maintain the centralised risk register and heatmaps; define and track metrics and early warning indicators; build and maintain dashboards that surface exposure trends and control effectiveness. Challenge and support risk owners to develop preventative controls and time-bound action plans; track actions to closure; escalate overdue or high-exposure items per governance. Perform targeted control testing and risk deep-dives; coordinate with Internal Audit, Corporate Risk, Regulation, and relevant SMEs to address findings. Resilience, contingency, and simulations Lead scenario planning, failure mode and stress testing for high risks ahead of peak series; define and maintain contingency plans and workarounds. Plan and run tabletop exercises and live simulations at defined intervals; track readiness gaps and remediation actions. Tooling, data, and reporting Own the day-to-day administration and data standards for risk tooling (e.g., risk registers and dashboards); ensure single source of truth, data quality, and timely updates. Produce regular risk reporting packs for Operational Governance Boards and other forums; provide an independent risk view and recommendations to support go/no-go and trade-off decisions. Define and report metrics such as risk score, residual risk, control effectiveness, and audit finding closure time. Regulatory, audit, and assurance Ensure risk practices meet relevant regulatory obligations (e.g., evidence for Ofqual or other regulators) and internal policies; maintain complete audit trails. Partner with the Regulation team on submissions as required; prepare materials for audits, reviews, and inquiries. Incident management linkage Translate risk appetite into incident severity thresholds, escalation criteria, and decision rights; embed in playbooks. Ensure RCAs (root cause analyses) and corrective actions update risk registers/controls and are tracked to verified closure; prioritise by exposure reduction. Provide rapid risk assessments during major incidents; chair or co-chair Risk-Incident Governance Forum to review trends and drive systemic actions. Continuous improvement linkage Translate risk insights and near misses, into prioritised continuous improvement opportunities with clear problem statements and expected benefits. Hand over to and collaborate with the continuous project managers; track benefits realisation and close the loop back to risk exposure reduction. Stakeholder engagement and capability building Act as the central point of contact for risk within the PMO; coach Operational Delivery Managers and wider teams on best practices. Run training, clinics, and knowledge sharing to uplift risk capabilities across the operation and supplier partners. Decision rights Authority to require risk mitigation actions, owners, and timelines; to challenge inadequate plans; and to escalate non-compliance with the framework. Authority to recommend hold/continue decisions at readiness gates on risk grounds; final decisions sit with governance boards. Authority to select and administer risk tools and dashboards within approved budgets and standards. Measures of success Reduction in high/critical risk exposure and recurrence rate of similar incidents. Completion of actions to agreed timelines; verified effectiveness of preventative controls. Readiness scores from simulations and pre-peak exercises; closure of readiness gaps. Quality and timeliness of risk reporting and audit/regulatory evidence. Adoption of frameworks and standards across PSQ and VQ (measured through assurance reviews). Required experience and qualifications Extensive experience leading risk management in complex, high-stakes, and regulated environments; qualifications/assessment, financial services, healthcare, government or similar preferred. Proven track record designing and embedding risk frameworks. Strong familiarity with regulatory expectations for high-stakes operations and audit evidence requirements. Experience running scenario planning, business continuity and crisis simulations. Proficiency with risk tooling and reporting (e.g., Excel, Smartsheet, SharePoint, Power BI and ServiceNow/Jira for incident tooling integration). Desirable certifications: IRM (e.g., CMIRM), CRISC, PRINCE2/APM; Lean/Six Sigma exposure for RCA. Additional information Participation in out-of-hours work during peak series or major incidents will be required. Occasional travel to operational sites, suppliers, and regulator/partner locations. Who we are: At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to help people realize the life they imagine through learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. We are the world's lifelong learning company. For us, learning isn't just what we do. It's who we are. To learn more: We are Pearson. Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you are an individual with a disability and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career site as a result of your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by emailing TalentExperienceGlobalTeam@grp.pearson.com. Job: Program Management Job Family: ENTERPRISE Organization: Enterprise Learning & Skills Schedule: FULL\_TIME Workplace Type: Hybrid Req ID: 21961 \LI-REMOTE