Head of Regulatory Compliance, Conduct, Framework & Governance at Equity Bank Kenya

Job Purpose: 

The Head of Regulatory Compliance & Governance provides independent second line leadership and oversight of the Bank’s Regulatory Compliance and Conduct risk framework, ensuring full alignment with applicable laws, regulations, and supervisory expectations. The role is responsible for establishing and maintaining a robust Regulatory Compliance Programme, including policy ownership, regulatory obligations management, and integration into the Enterprise Risk Management Framework. It delivers independent advisory and challenge to business activities, ensuring compliance risks are identified early and managed through effective controls, escalating material risks and requiring corrective action where necessary. The role also oversees regulatory engagement, correspondence, and reporting, ensuring timely, accurate, and audit-ready interactions with regulators. Through data-driven dashboards, horizon scanning, and regulatory strategy, the role enables proactive risk management, strengthens compliance culture, and ensures the Bank maintains a structured, forward-looking, and regulator-aligned control environment.

Key Accountabilities: 

• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous enhancement of the Bank’s Regulatory Compliance Programme, providing strategic direction on the identification, assessment, and management of compliance risks across the organization while ensuring alignment with applicable laws, regulations, and supervisory expectations.
• Own the Regulatory Compliance and Conduct Risk Frameworks and Policies, ensuring they are current, aligned to regulatory requirements, and effectively translated into procedures and embedded within business strategy and day-to-day operations.
• Establish and maintain the Bank’s Regulatory Obligations Register as a comprehensive, enterprise-wide control framework, ensuring full regulatory coverage and effective translation of regulatory requirements into actionable obligations and controls.
• Lead the development and execution of regulatory strategy, incorporating proactive engagement, regulatory interpretation, and participation in industry forums to anticipate, influence, and respond to evolving regulatory expectations.
• Ensure alignment and integration of compliance risk within the Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF), including risk registers, control libraries, and enterprise-wide risk reporting mechanisms.
• Oversee the identification, interpretation, gap analysis, and dissemination of new and evolving laws, regulations, and supervisory expectations, supported by proactive horizon scanning processes to ensure timely implementation of regulatory change.
• Provide independent regulatory advisory and second line oversight on new products, business initiatives, and strategic activities, ensuring compliance risks are identified early and that appropriate controls are embedded by design.
• Establish and enforce governance over regulatory correspondence, including notifications, submissions, applications, and supervisory interactions, ensuring consistency, quality, completeness, and auditability while maintaining regulatory confidence.
• Ensure timely, accurate, and comprehensive responses to all regulatory enquiries, requests, and supervisory actions in line with regulatory expectations and internal governance standards.
• Lead the design, development, and continuous enhancement of integrated Conduct and Compliance dashboards, delivering accurate, real-time, and forward-looking risk insights to Senior Management, EXCO, and the Board while enabling data-driven decision-making.
• Drive the automation and digitization of compliance processes through the implementation and optimization of GRC system and reporting infrastructure to enhance efficiency, control effectiveness, and reporting accuracy.
• Oversee the implementation and embedding of conduct, ethics, and integrity frameworks, including Speak Up, Conflicts of Interest, Insider Trading and Market Abuse, Gifts and Entertainment, and Anti-Bribery and Corruption, ensuring consistent application across the organization in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
• Provide effective oversight and challenge to ensure Compliance frameworks, policies, and procedures remain aligned to applicable regulatory requirements and best practices while maintaining clear second line independence.
• Oversee the effective functioning of governance forums, including the Financial Crime Risk Committee, ensuring adherence to approved Terms of Reference and robust governance standards.
• Ensure timely escalation of material regulatory breaches, policy exceptions, and risk tolerance breaches, including notification to Senior Management, the Board, and regulators where required, and oversee the implementation and closure of appropriate remediation actions.
• Exercise independent second line oversight with clear authority to challenge business decisions, escalate material risks to EXCO and the Board.
• Lead the development and execution of a Government and Regulatory Relationship Plan (GRRP) to strengthen engagement with regulators, enhance supervisory relationships, and generate actionable regulatory and market intelligence for the Bank.
• Build and maintain strong internal and external networks to ensure continuous awareness of regulatory developments, emerging risks, and industry best practices, thereby supporting the ongoing enhancement of the Bank’s compliance and conduct risk management capability.
• Lead, mentor and develop team members under the Regulatory Compliance and Governance unit.

Qualifications

Education and Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in law, Business, or any related field.
• Professional certifications such as Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP), ACAMs or equivalent.
• Master's degree in Law, Business or related fields is an added advantage.
• 10+ years of experience in Compliance, at least 5 - 7 years in a senior leadership role, with proven capability in leading frameworks, managing regulatory relationships, and providing independent oversight in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Deep regulatory expertise, strong governance capability, and independence of thought to provide oversight, influence outcomes, and embed a robust compliance and conduct culture.