Risk and Compliance Manager

Summary

Join the African Leadership University (ALU) as the Manager: Risk and Compliance, providing enterprise-wide oversight of ALU’s operational integrity. Lead the development and refinement of systems, processes, and frameworks ensuring ethical behavior, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence. This strategic and hands-on role involves designing governance, risk, and compliance processes; advising on high-risk operations; ensuring internal controls; overseeing ethics case management; and preparing for audits and certifications. You will work closely with various teams, conduct investigations, guide mediation, and build trust in ALU’s reporting mechanisms. The role also includes leading risk identification, mitigation planning, and Business Continuity Plan development. You will establish and lead ALU’s internal controls function, monitor compliance, and report to senior leadership and the Board. Finally, you will oversee vendor contracting and procurement, ensuring alignment with best practices and ALU values.

Requirements

• 8–10 years in roles spanning risk management, ethics/compliance, quality assurance, internal audit, or legal operations
• At least 3 years in a senior or cross-functional role with exposure to governance, operational design, and stakeholder reporting
• Proven track record in designing and implementing audit, compliance, or quality frameworks in complex environments
• Internal Audit & Control: Designing and executing risk-based audits and internal controls
• Process Improvement: Building scalable systems and policies to support institutional performance
• Risk Management: Identifying enterprise risks and leading mitigation or response strategies
• Ethics & Governance: Leading ethics case management with discretion, sensitivity, and legal awareness
• Quality Assurance: Driving organisation-wide performance standards and operational excellence
• Data-Driven Reporting: Developing dashboards and reports that highlight trends, gaps, and institutional risk posture
• Integrity & Trust: A reputation for confidentiality, fairness, and sound judgment
• Influence & Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills to engage senior leaders, external vendors, and internal teams
• Analytical Thinking: High capacity to connect the dots, identify systemic issues, and recommend pragmatic solutions
• Calm Under Pressure: Poise in managing high-stakes issues and navigating ambiguity with professionalism
• Change Orientation: Comfortable driving improvements and leading stakeholders through process changes

Responsibilities

• Works closely with the Board, ExCO and the Legal, Finance, People & Culture and Student Delivery teams within ALU to ensure governance and compliance at all levels
• Serve as the primary point of contact for confidential ethics concerns, reports, and complaints from ALU stakeholders
• Conduct preliminary assessments of ethics claims, ensuring fairness, professionalism, and confidentiality
• Oversee and coordinate impartial investigations in collaboration with relevant internal or external parties
• Guide mediation and resolution strategies that fairly consider the rights and responsibilities of all parties
• Build trust in ALU’s reporting mechanisms and promote an internal culture of accountability and ethical leadership
• Lead organisation-wide risk identification, mapping, and mitigation planning across academic, operational, financial, and reputational domains
• Design risk management frameworks, escalation pathways, and decision trees for key operational processes
• Develop, maintain, and lead the implementation of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to ensure critical operations can continue or resume rapidly in the event of disruption
• Coordinate cross-functional risk reviews and advise the Senior Leadership Team on emerging or unmanaged risks
• Establish and lead ALU’s internal controls function, developing scopes, executing reviews, and recommending remediation plans
• Monitor internal controls and recommend improvements in contracting, procurement, finance, data management, and HR practices
• Ensure compliance with internal policies, donor/funder requirements, and applicable regulatory standards
• Report independently to senior leadership and the Board on internal audit findings, gaps, and status of corrective actions
• Oversee the Ethics Committee, Disciplinary Committee, Whistleblowing, and Safeguarding processes and policies, ensuring relevant resourcing, training and information is in place for effective management of student, staff and other key stakeholder requirements
• Design and oversee implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) across core operational areas
• Evaluate ALU’s systems and processes for consistency, effectiveness, and alignment with institutional goals
• Collaborate with teams to implement corrective or improvement measures, ensuring continuous quality enhancement
• Oversee readiness for ISO and other certification processes relevant to ethics, quality, and compliance
• Provide risk and quality oversight to the contracting process, from vendor due diligence to performance monitoring
• Develop procurement risk guidelines and frameworks, ensuring alignment with global best practices and ALU values
• Monitor procurement-related compliance and audit vendor relationships for risk exposure or ethical concerns

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing confidential investigations or ethics casework is highly advantageous
• Familiarity with ISO, regulatory audits, or donor-funded program requirements is a strong plus
• Experience working in diverse, multi-country or fast-scaling environments is preferred