Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager

Join our journey to create a new experience for the National Lottery and help us to power change for the greater good.

About us:

We are Allwyn UK, part of the Allwyn Entertainment Group – a multi-national lottery operator with a market-leading presence in Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus and Italy.  We have been officially awarded the Fourth Licence (10 year licence) to operate the National Lottery starting February 2024.

‍We’ve developed ground-breaking technologies, built player protection frameworks, and have a proven track record of making lotteries better.  Our aim is to create one of the UK’s most inclusive organisations – where people can bring the best of themselves, to do their best work, every day, for the benefit of good causes.

Allwyn is an Equal Opportunity Employer which prides itself in being diverse and inclusive. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or victimisation in the workplace.  All employment decisions at Allwyn are based on the business needs, the job requirements, and the individual qualifications.  Allwyn encourages applications from individuals regardless of age, disability (visible or hidden), sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

While the main contribution of the National Lottery to society is through the funds to good causes, at Allwyn we put our purpose and values at the heart of everything we do.  Join us as we embark on a once-in-a-lifetime, largescale transformation journey to build a bigger, better, and safer National Lottery that delivers more money to good causes.  

Role Purpose:

As a Senior Manager within the Regulatory Affairs team, this role provides a unique opportunity to help lead the National Lottery through a shift in regulatory model from the start of the Fourth Licence.

The Fourth Licence represents a step-change in the approach to regulating the National Lottery. It is centred on an outcomes-focused approach to regulation and reflects the Statutory Duties of the Commission. This approach places increased responsibility and accountability on the Licensee to interpret its regulatory obligations and operate the National Lottery to achieve outcomes consistent with the National Lottery etc. Act 1993.

This new regulatory model is articulated through a new Section 5 Licence to operate the National Lottery, new Section 6 Licences to promote National Lottery games, and a new Regulatory Handbook. These key regulatory documents place new obligations on Allwyn as National Lottery operator, which range from  specific prescriptive requirements to broadly stated outcomes. Importantly, this includes a new regulatory reporting framework through which Allwyn will demonstrate its performance against Licence outcomes and requirements, using new technologies and capabilities.

This Senior Manager for Regulatory Affairs will play a lead role, acting as an interface between Allwyn and the Gambling Commission, as the new Licence and regulatory reporting framework is embedded across the operation. This includes interpreting new regulatory requirements, providing expert guidance across the business, and working with business functions to ensure regulatory reports support the new outcomes-focused regulatory model by appropriately demonstrating Allwyn’s performance. This requires varying tactical and strategic regulatory engagement, underpinned by excellent communication skills, in order to build confidence through a shared understanding of performance and regulatory risk.

Role Responsibilities:

• Lead the interpretation of new regulatory reporting requirements, engaging with the Gambling Commission and drawing on support from the Outcomes and Governance team and relevant business functions, to ensure regulatory reporting obligations and associated processes are sufficiently embedded and delivered.
• Act as a key interface between the Gambling Commission and Allwyn to ensure regulatory reports remain up-to-date and fit-for-purpose as the operation evolves; engaging with the Gambling Commission to seek alignment where updates are required to appropriately demonstrate Allwyn’s performance against the Licence and its outcomes.
• Provide oversight and management of the Gambling Commission Portal; an information sharing interface between Allwyn and the Gambling Commission through which regulatory reporting obligations are delivered. This includes oversight of the tools evolution over time.
• Lead on regulatory engagement and consultation processes where changes are required to the Licence and Regulatory Handbook in relation to regulatory reporting obligations.
• Ensure appropriate internal oversight of regulatory reports, to foster a shared understanding of performance between the Gambling Commission and Allwyn’s governance fora.
• Manage and oversee a number of  Gambling Commission ‘notification’ requirements under the licence through a strategic approach that builds confidence and mitigates regulatory risk. This includes carrying out the necessary internal engagement to ensure notification requirements are well understood and appropriately embedded into processes.
• Provide ownership of the Exceptions Policy for the reporting and escalation of regulatory issues and incidents. This includes the ongoing maintenance of the policy, ensuring it is understood and embedded into functions, providing guidance to the compliance team and governance fora on materiality of impact on the Licence, Exceptions classification and escalation. Importantly this includes the strategic management of any associated Gambling Commission engagement, with an aim to build regulatory confidence and mitigate regulatory risk.
• Lead the management of regulatory issues and enforcement escalations, including Ad Hoc Exceptions Assurance Statements
• Managing and overseeing GC information requests and regular queries related to regulatory reports and Exceptions.
• Support the wider Regulatory Affairs team as required to secure necessary regulatory consents in support of business plans and activities, and establishing regulatory policy positions accounting for regulatory Best Practice.
• Provide line management of a Regulatory Affairs Executive, supporting their personal and professional development, ensuring high quality deliverables, and acting as a point of internal escalation as required.
• Deputise for the Head of Regulatory Affairs as required.
• Champion an understanding of the Fourth Licence across the business, (including Section 6 Licences and the Regulatory Handbook).

Key Measures of Success:

• Reportable Exceptions.
• A good understanding of the Fourth Licence and its obligations across the business.
• The timely delivery of regulatory reports, and management of associated Gambling Commission queries.
• Shaping proposed amendments to the Regulatory Handbook through the Gambling Commission consultation process.
• Productive and pro-active engagement with the regulator.

Key Skills and Experience:

• Bright, highly analytical and intellectually agile, able to learn and manage complexity quickly.
• High level of integrity whilst also able to successfully partner with the business in meaningful ways through building trusting relationships and connections.
• A strong collaborator, influencer, listener, to build consensus and a constructive working relationship across the organisation.
• Excellent communication skills and executive presence, and ability to influence a variety of internal and external stakeholders across all levels of seniority.
• Strong commercial acumen and strategic solutions driven mind-set.
• Strong experience with regulatory exposure.
• Demonstrate experience of management and development of colleagues, effective delegation, and proactive ownership of high priority projects.

Here is our list of benefits

• 34 days paid leave (This includes bank holidays)
• 2 x Life Days
• 4 x Salary of Life Insurance
• Pension: We’ll contribute 8.5%
• BUPA
• £500 wellness allowance
• Income Protection

As part of our onboarding processes, all successful candidates will need to complete both a Pre-Employment Screening process and a Fit & Proper check by the Gambling Commission. These checks include a DBS (an enhanced check, which shows convictions and conditional cautions), credit and social media checks. As part of our application process, you will be asked to identify in advance if you have spent or unspent convictions that we need to be aware of.

Should you not disclose convictions at the application stage, not pass the Fit & Proper Check process or not complete your Pre-Employment Screening then unfortunately you may not pass our probation process.

All data will be handled in accordance with our data policies and treated with utmost confidentiality.