Compliance Director - Retail Lending

Why HSBC

HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. Guided by our purpose of opening up a world of opportunity, our ambition is to become the world’s most trusted bank globally.

For over 160 years, we have provided peace of mind because we help meet our customers’ financial needs and support them to achieve their goals with the best products and services. In 2026, we develop and deploy some of the industry’s most advanced and innovative technology to make banking easier and more secure.

The opportunity

This is a director-level leadership role within HSBC UK’s Regulatory Compliance team, with responsibility for devising and directing compliance activity across HSBC UK’s Retail Banking and Wealth division, including its First Direct and Marks & Spencer Bank brands. This role is instrumental in enabling HSBC UK’s strategic commitment to put the financial well-being of our 15 million customers at the heart of everything we do.

As Compliance Director, you’ll set the compliance agenda for secured and unsecured lending, bringing strong judgement, confident challenge, and clear decision-making in partnership with senior business leaders. You’ll shape how the organisation anticipates regulatory change, manages material compliance risks, and delivers outcomes that stand up to regulatory scrutiny and meet customer expectations. You’ll also be a visible external face for HSBC UK, representing the bank credibly with regulators and industry bodies, and ensuring that our governance, risk decisions, and controls are robust, pragmatic, and consistently applied.

What you’ll be doing

• Lead and develop a team of regulatory compliance professionals covering secured and unsecured lending, setting clear expectations and building deep subject-matter capability
• Own the regulatory compliance coverage model for retail lending within Retail Banking and Wealth, ensuring effective oversight, challenge and escalation
• Provide clear, decisive advice to first line senior stakeholders, enabling well-governed decisions and timely delivery
• Identify, assess, report and escalate material compliance risks through the HSBC Risk Management Framework, ensuring emerging risks are surfaced early and acted upon
• Drive execution of regulatory compliance activity aligned to Retail Banking and Wealth priorities and governance expectations
• Influence and align stakeholders across multiple business areas to secure buy-in, action, and sustained change
• Represent HSBC and regulatory compliance in external engagements with regulators and industry associations, contributing to discussions that shape industry direction
• Play a senior governance role attending and contributing to Functional and Line of Business governance forums, bringing effective oversight and constructive challenge
• Act as a SMF16 delegate for the HSBC UK Head of Regulatory Compliance where required, operating with authority and credibility

What we’re looking for

• Extensive experience and strong technical knowledge of secured and unsecured retail lending
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams of regulatory compliance professionals (or comparable specialist teams in a regulated environment)
• Strong knowledge of regulatory compliance risks and issues, including industry and regulatory trends, priorities, and practices
• Proven capability to influence senior stakeholders, drive alignment across business areas, and convert decisions into action
• Experience applying non-financial risk management frameworks within a retail banking context
• Thorough understanding of Retail Banking business models, including products and channels
• Experience representing an organisation externally with regulators and/or industry associations