Internal Process Control Specialist in Payments-

Contract role, 2 days hybrid, London – 12 months, inside IR35

About the Role

We are seeking a Compliance & Process Control Specialist to play a key role in strengthening internal risk management, controls, and governance within a regulated financial services environment. This is a hybrid role spanning compliance oversight and process control, working closely with Technical Quality, Client Services, and broader second-line functions.

The role is focused on ensuring that internal controls and operational processes are well designed, clearly documented, consistently applied, and aligned with both regulatory expectations and scheme requirements. This position will support teams by identifying risks, enhancing control frameworks, and embedding robust internal policies and procedures—allowing operational teams to focus on delivery while maintaining a strong control environment.

This is an internal-facing role, acting as a trusted partner to the business to ensure departments are functioning as intended, with effective governance, clear procedures, and demonstrable compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess and monitor adherence to internal policies, procedures, regulatory requirements, and scheme rules across the function.
• Design, review, and test operational controls to ensure they are effective, proportionate, and aligned with regulatory and internal risk frameworks.
• Review, maintain, and enhance Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), job aids, and process documentation in collaboration with operational leaders and internal stakeholders.
• Conduct internal control testing, dummy audits, thematic reviews, and case file reviews to validate compliance with documented processes.
• Identify process gaps, control weaknesses, and emerging risks, and work cross-functionally to implement pragmatic improvements.
• Support internal audit activity and readiness, including evidence gathering, issue tracking, and remediation support.
• Oversee and track mandatory training compliance, ensuring timely completion and escalation where required.
• Support complaints-handling oversight, ensuring processes align with regulatory expectations and internal standards.
• Act as a central point of coordination between operations, compliance, risk, legal, and quality teams to ensure consistency and clarity of controls and procedures.
• Promote a strong culture of internal compliance, accountability, and continuous improvement across the department.

Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in internal compliance, risk management, audit, quality assurance, or process control within a regulated environment (financial services strongly preferred).
• Strong understanding of internal control frameworks, regulatory expectations, and complaints-handling standards.
• Demonstrable experience creating, reviewing, and embedding SOPs (standard Operating Procedures), job aids, and operational controls.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to assess processes objectively and identify practical risk mitigations.
• Confident stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Highly organised, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple workstreams simultaneously.

Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting internal or external audits within Card Acquiring, Payment organisations.
• Familiarity with Salesforce for case management, reporting, or compliance monitoring.
• Experience working within large-scale transformation or integration programmes.
• Prior exposure to second-line risk, compliance operations, or technical quality functions.

What We Offer

• Hybrid and flexible working arrangements.
• The opportunity to play a pivotal role in strengthening internal governance and risk management.
• A collaborative environment where your expertise directly shapes controls, processes, and operational integrity.