Risk & Compliance Director

| India | Group Services

Purpose of the Role

The Risk & Compliance Director is responsible for leading the Risk & Compliance team supporting Financial Accounting Services (FAS), Procure-to-Pay (PTP), Employee Services and Payroll Solutions (ESPS), and Commercial Services (CS).

Acting as a key member of the Second Line of Defence (2LoD), the role provides leadership, subject matter expertise, independent challenge and assurance across the Group Services (GS) control environment. The role is accountable for strengthening control ownership, improving control effectiveness, maximising the assurance obtained from 2LoD activities and supporting the continued evolution of the Operating Model (OM).

The role acts as a key interface between GS leadership, Global Internal Audit (GIA), external auditors and other assurance providers, ensuring effective coordination of assurance activities while continuously strengthening the control environment.

As GS continues to evolve, the role plays a critical part in ensuring risks and controls are appropriately considered as new entities and processes transition into the OM (e.g. Asset Management, OT, Simandou). In addition to leading a team, the role holder is expected to personally develop assessments, methodologies, governance papers, assurance reviews, strategic recommendations and control documentation.

Key Accountabilities

Leadership and Culture

· Lead, coach and develop the Risk & Compliance (R&C) team, creating a high-performing and engaged culture.

· Foster an environment of collaboration, inclusion, accountability and continuous learning.

· Build technical capability across the R&C team in internal controls, assurance and governance.

· Establish clear objectives, performance expectations and development plans for R&C team members.

· Promote employee respect, wellbeing, engagement and psychological safety.

·Champion Rio Tinto values, leadership behaviours and expected standards of conduct.

· Support succession planning and capability development across the Controls & Assurance function.

Controls and Assurance Leadership

·Lead R&C activities across FAS, PTP, ESPS and CS.

· Act as the primary subject matter expert and trusted advisor on internal controls, governance and assurance matters.

· Provide independent challenge and oversight from a 2LoD perspective.

· Support the development of a strong controls culture focused on ownership, accountability and continuous improvement.

·Promote effective risk management practices and control discipline throughout GS.

· Support the General Manager Controls & Assurance in delivering strategic objectives and priorities across Group Services.

Control Ownership and Operating Model Governance

· Maintain ownership of the R&C control framework across the supported functions.

· Partner with 1LoD to ensure risks and controls remain appropriately designed and operated as the OM evolves.

· Ensure 1LoD accountability and ownership for key controls are clearly defined, documented and understood.

· Review and challenge existing control design to ensure controls remain effective, efficient and sustainable.

·Support the embedding of controls into new operating models, organisational structures and service delivery arrangements (e.g. Asset Management, OT, Simandou, or legacy-Arcadium).

Stakeholder Partnership

·Act as the primary R&C partner for the General Managers of FAS, PTP, ESPS and CS.

·Build strong and trusted relationships with leaders across GS.

·Provide pragmatic and commercially focused advice on risk, controls, governance and assurance matters.

·Influence decision-making through constructive challenge, insight and recommendations.

·Support leaders in addressing control deficiencies and strengthening their respective control environments.

· Facilitate collaboration between GS and stakeholders across Rio Tinto (e.g. M-ERP project).

Assurance and Monitoring

·Develop and execute risk-based assurance activities across GS.

· Continuously seek opportunities to increase assurance coverage and stakeholder confidence while reducing burden on the 1LoD and 2LoD when it comes to testing.

· Consolidate assurance obtained from audits, reviews, monitoring activities, management oversight and other assurance sources.

·Identify control deficiencies, emerging risks and systemic issues.

· Perform root cause analysis and assess the effectiveness of remediation activities.

·Develop meaningful assurance metrics and reporting to support leadership decision-making.

· Drive the adoption and expansion of tools such as Continuous Control Monitoring and data-driven assurance methodologies.

Internal Audit and External Assurance Coordination

· Act as the primary R&C representative for GIA reviews impacting GS.

· Assess audit observations and determine broader implications for the GS control environment.

·Support the development of practical and sustainable remediation plans.

· Build and maintain effective working relationships with external auditors.

· Act as the primary coordination point for external audit activities impacting FAS, PTP, ESPS and CS.

· Review and coordinate responses to external auditor enquiries and requests.

· Challenge and discuss auditor observations where appropriate, ensuring findings are accurately understood and supported by evidence.

· Identify opportunities to increase auditor reliance on existing assurance activities and controls.

·  Promote efficient audit delivery whilst minimising disruption to 1LoD.

Continuous Improvement and Control Excellence

·Identify opportunities to standardise, simplify and automate controls and assurance activities.

·Promote preventive and automated controls wherever possible.

·Challenge inefficient, duplicated or low-value control activities.

·Drive initiatives aimed at improving both control effectiveness and operational efficiency.

·Lead initiatives that strengthen the overall maturity of the GS control environment.

·Stay abreast of emerging risks, industry developments and leading practices in internal controls, governance and assurance.

Operating Model Transformation and Strategic Projects

· Partner with transformation teams to assess the control implications of new entities (e.g. OT, Simandou, legacy-Arcadium), processes (e.g. asset management) and services transitioning into GS.

·Ensure appropriate governance, control ownership and accountability arrangements are established for new activities entering the OM.

·Provide controls and assurance leadership to major organisational, system and OM change initiatives.

·Ensure lessons learned from previous operating model transitions, audits and assurance activities are incorporated into future projects.

·Work closely with stakeholders to embed sustainable, scalable and efficient control environments during periods of change.

Documentation and Governance

·Independently prepare and maintain risk assessments, control assessments and assurance reviews.

· Independently prepare governance, position papers, recommendations, training materials, methodologies, standards, guidance documentation and leadership presentations.

·Ensure documentation remains accurate, complete and aligned with regulation requirements.

·Present findings, recommendations and assurance outcomes to senior stakeholders and governance forums.

·Support the preparation of materials for leadership teams, governance committees and strategic decision-making forums.

Financial and Resource Management

· Monitor the R&C cost centre and review actual expenditure against budget on a monthly basis.

· Support forecasting, budgeting and resource planning activities.

· Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and optimise costs whilst maintaining assurance outcomes.

· Provide regular financial updates and insights to the General Manager Controls & Assurance.

·Support decisions relating to sourcing, resource allocation and delivery models to optimise value and assurance outcomes.

Success Measures

·Strengthened control environment across FAS, PTP, ESPS and Commercial Services.

· Increased assurance coverage and stakeholder confidence in Second Line activities.

· Successful support of OM evolution and entity transitions.

· Improved control ownership and accountability across the 1LoD.

· Increased use of automation, analytics and Continuous Control Monitoring.

· Reduction in repeat audit findings and control deficiencies.

· Improved standardisation and simplification of controls and assurance activities.

·Strong engagement, performance and development of team members.

·Effective management of budget and resources.

· Positive feedback from General Managers, senior stakeholders, GIA and external auditors.

· Continued enhancement of assurance effectiveness whilst reducing burden on the 1LoD.

About Rio Tinto
 

Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. We operate in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminium, critical minerals, and other materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities, and nations to thrive.
 

We have been mining for 150 years and operate with knowledge built up across generations and continents. Our purpose is finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs – striving for innovation and continuous improvement to produce materials with low emissions and to the right environmental, social and governance standards. But we can’t do it on our own, so we’re focused on creating partnerships to solve problems, create win-win situations and meet opportunities.

Respect and Inclusion

At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, women, the LGBTQ+ community, mature workers, people with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds.

We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard, all cultures respected and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome – they are essential to our success. We treat each other fairly and with dignity regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or anything else that makes us different.

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