Control Automation and Improvement Lead

Control Automation & Improvement Lead

Are you passionate about improving how organisations manage risk, controls and assurance? We are seeking an experienced professional to join our First Line Controls Centre of Excellence as a Control Improvement & Automation Lead. This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future of our control environment by introducing more effective, efficient and technology-enabled approaches to managing risk and control across Yorkshire Building Society.

Working across Operational Risk, Technology & Data Risk, Change Risk, Conduct Risk and People Risk, you'll play a key role in modernising our control environment. You'll help move us beyond traditional manual and retrospective controls by embedding control-by-design principles, automating controls, enhancing monitoring capabilities and supporting the adoption of continuous assurance techniques.

Your role will be crucial in helping the Society strengthen its control environment, improve operational efficiency and support better outcomes for our members. Working closely with business teams, control owners, technology specialists and our Control Testing team, you'll identify opportunities to simplify processes, improve controls and drive meaningful change across the organisation.

About the Role

• Lead Control Improvement and Automation: Identify opportunities to simplify, standardise and automate controls, reducing manual activity while improving control effectiveness and sustainability.

• Embed Control by Design: Work with business teams and change initiatives to ensure controls are designed into processes, systems and customer journeys from the outset rather than added retrospectively.

• Develop Automated Monitoring: Design and implement automated control indicators, risk indicators, dashboards and monitoring capabilities that provide timely insight into control performance and emerging risks.

• Support Continuous Assurance: Partner with the Control Testing team to identify opportunities to automate testing and introduce more continuous and data-driven approaches to assurance.

• Improve Processes and Controls: Analyse control testing results, incidents, risk events and operational data to identify root causes, control weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.

• Collaborate with Technology Teams: Work with technology teams and ServiceNow IRM specialists to develop automated workflows, dashboards and monitoring solutions.

• Build and Manage an Improvement Pipeline: Develop and maintain a prioritised pipeline of control improvement and automation opportunities aligned to risk, business value and strategic priorities.

• Influence and Support Stakeholders: Work with colleagues and senior leaders across the Society to implement practical solutions that strengthen controls, improve resilience and support better member outcomes.

About You

• Control Improvement and Automation Experience: Experience improving, redesigning or automating controls within risk, assurance, audit, operations, technology or transformation environments.

• Risk and Control Expertise: Strong understanding of control design, risk management concepts and control frameworks within a regulated environment.

• Process Improvement Mindset: Experience identifying inefficiencies, simplifying processes and implementing sustainable solutions that improve control effectiveness and operational performance.

• Data and Technology Knowledge: Experience using data, analytics, dashboards or technology-enabled solutions to improve monitoring, insight and decision-making.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Comfortable working with stakeholders at all levels, including Senior Manager and Director level, to influence change and drive improvement.

• Continuous Monitoring and Assurance: Understanding of monitoring, assurance, audit or control testing approaches and how technology can be used to enhance them.

• Organisation and Flexibility: Able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously while maintaining quality and delivering meaningful outcomes.

About us

At YBS we don’t have shareholders, we have members. We care about people and that includes you. So here, you’ll be respected for who you are, you’ll be able to bring your whole self to work, and you’ll have everything you need to build a long and rewarding career.

Flexibility. We offer a range of flexible working options without unsocial hours, which can help you find a healthy work-life balance. Whether it’s finishing early for an appointment or fitting your studies and hobbies in around your working hours, we can help make it work for you. We’re happy to talk flexible working and you can reach out to us anytime to discuss this during the recruitment process.

Development. We want you to feel challenged here. Whatever your ambitions, we’re committed to helping you develop your skills and move ahead in your career journey. From day one, we’ll set you up for success with a brilliant induction and full training plan, all designed to get you up to speed quickly.

Inclusivity. We’re passionate about creating an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome and able to be themselves. If you’ll go the extra mile to help our members, you’ll fit right in and feel you belong here.

About our Benefits

We offer lots of fantastic rewards that you can make the most of in and out of work, including:

• Holiday. You’ll get 28 days plus Bank Holidays, as well as the option to buy up to a further 5 days.
• Bonus. At YBS we work collaboratively and share in our success together, so when we reach our goals were all rewarded with an on target bonus of 7% of eligible pay (with the opportunity to earn up to a maximum 15%).
• Pension. We know how important it is to save towards the future, that’s why we’ll contribute up 11% into your YBS pension.
• Healthcare. Health and wellbeing are an important part of life at YBS, when you join us you’ll have access to a range of health benefits to suit your life including private medical insurance, dental and healthcare plans.
• My Benefits. When you join YBS you’ll have access to our self-service benefits portal, where you can access a range of retail, hospitality and health discounts.

Ready to apply?

If you’re excited about this role and want to be part of the YBS team, click apply now to send us your application.

Want more information?

If you have any questions about this role, please contact Pete Balmforth at pbalmforth@ybs.co.uk