Sector Resilience and Response Manager, Specialist Operational Risk

About this role

LEEDS OR LONDON BASED

Supervisory Risk Specialists Directorate

The Bank of England plays a central role in safeguarding the stability of the United Kingdom's financial system. Within the Supervisory Risk Specialists (SRS) Directorate, the Sector Resilience Division is responsible for helping ensure the sector can withstand, respond to and recover from major operational disruption.

We work at the heart of the UK's financial resilience ecosystem. We bring together financial institutions, authorities, and sector bodies to strengthen preparedness for emerging threats. We also coordinate collective responses during crises. Our work spans operational and cyber resilience, technology and third-party risk, incident management, and sector-wide exercising.

This is a unique opportunity to join a high-profile team operating at the intersection of policy, resilience and crisis response. Successful candidates will help shape the resilience of the financial sector and play a key role in the Bank's response to major operational incidents affecting financial stability.

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced and motivated Sector Resilience and Response Manager to join the Sector Resilience Division. This exciting leadership role requires a strong background in incident response, crisis management, and operational resilience. The goal is to deliver significant improvements to the UK financial sector's stability.

The role combines strategic capability development with hands-on leadership during incidents. You will maintain and evolve the Bank's key authorities and frameworks for sector response. You will also help develop future resilience capabilities across the financial sector.

Alongside a wider team of resilience and response specialists, you will manage and develop two direct reports. You will craft an inclusive and encouraging environment that fosters high performance, development, and wellbeing.

Key responsibilities include

Sector Incident Response and Crisis Management

• Lead the maintenance, improvement, and implementation of the Bank's key sector-level incident response frameworks. These include the Authorities Response Framework (ARF) and the Cross Market Business Continuity Group (CMBCG).
• Ensure these frameworks remain effective, credible and aligned to the evolving threat landscape.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships across firms, authorities and other critical stakeholders to support effective preparedness and response arrangements.
• Coordinate contingency planning, preparedness and readiness activities that enable rapid and effective sector-wide responses to operational disruption.
• Provide leadership and subject matter expertise during live incidents affecting financial institutions across the UK, supporting the Bank's crisis management and coordination objectives.
• Identify lessons from incidents, exercises and emerging risks and translate these into improvements to sector response arrangements.

Sector Resilience Capability Development

• Lead a strategic pillar of the Cross Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG), working with public and private sector stakeholders to design, develop and deliver resilience initiatives that strengthen the sector's preparedness.
• Find opportunities to improve sector resilience capabilities in areas such as operational and cyber resilience, technology and third-party risk, and crisis management.
• Contribute to the development and delivery of sector-wide exercises, workshops and capability-building activities.
• Help shape the future resilience agenda for the sector by contributing to policy development, strategic thinking and industry engagement.
• Build strong partnerships with firms, infrastructure providers, industry groups and public authorities to drive collective resilience outcomes.

Leadership and Team Management

• Lead, mentor and guide two direct reports, supporting their professional growth and helping them achieve high-quality outcomes.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative and supportive team culture that reflects the Bank's values.
• Prioritise work effectively across competing demands and support the wider team in delivering its objectives.
• Act as a role model for inclusive leadership, collaboration and continuous improvement.

Number of direct reports: 2

Role Requirements

Minimum Criteria

• Significant experience leading or supporting incident response, crisis management or operational coordination activities within financial services, government, critical national infrastructure or a similarly complex environment.
• Demonstrable experience designing, delivering or enhancing resilience capabilities at firm, sector or cross-organisational level.
• In-depth familiarity with operational resilience and its associated fields, such as cyber resilience, technology risk, third-party risk, business continuity, and operational risk management.
• Proven experience leading and developing individuals and teams, including setting direction, managing performance and supporting professional development.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with experience engaging senior decision-makers and influencing outcomes across organisational boundaries.

Essential Criteria

• Strong understanding of the financial services industry in the UK and the operational risks that could threaten its resilience and stability.
• Ability to operate effectively during fast-moving incidents, making sound judgements under pressure and communicating clearly with senior stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex issues clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• A collaborative and inclusive leadership style, with a track record of building high-performing teams and fostering positive working relationships.

Desirable Criteria

• Demonstrated involvement in sector-wide resilience forums, industry groups or public-private partnerships.
• Knowledge of the operational and cyber resilience regulatory framework applicable across the UK.
• Experience working with authorities, regulators, government departments or national security partners.
• Relevant professional qualifications in operational resilience, risk management, cyber security, business continuity or crisis management.

Why Join Us?

This role offers a rare opportunity to influence the resilience of the UK financial system at a national level. You will work with senior leaders across industry and the public sector, help coordinate responses to significant sector incidents, and shape the capabilities that underpin the resilience of UK financial services.

If you are motivated by making a tangible impact, enjoy solving complex resilience challenges, and want to contribute to protecting the stability of the UK's financial sector, we would love to hear from you.

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.

At the Bank of England, we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it's by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we'll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.