Introduction
Oxfam is a globally recognised organisation committed to addressing poverty, inequality, and humanitarian crises through long-term development work and emergency response. Operating across multiple countries and partnerships, the organisation relies on strong internal systems to ensure accountability, transparency, and ethical practice in all its operations.
The Head of Risk & Assurance position plays a central role in strengthening these systems. This temporary, full-time global role focuses on improving how risks are identified, managed, and reported across the organisation. It supports leadership in making informed decisions that protect both people and organisational integrity.
About the Role
The role sits within Oxfam’s Integrity Team, which is responsible for safeguarding ethical standards and ensuring compliance across all operations. This team brings together key functions such as legal compliance, fraud prevention, internal audit, safeguarding, risk management, and anti-terrorism financing.
The Head of Risk & Assurance works closely with the Strategic Lead for Integrity to ensure that risk governance systems remain effective, consistent, and aligned with organisational goals. The role ensures that risks are not only identified but also clearly communicated to leadership in a way that supports timely and strategic decision-making.
Key responsibilities include:
- Coordinating global risk reporting systems across Oxfam’s affiliates and regions
- Strengthening enterprise risk management frameworks
- Supporting oversight of emerging and high-priority risks
- Ensuring leadership receives clear, actionable risk insights
- Promoting consistency in risk governance and assurance practices
- Advising teams on improving accountability and compliance structures
Strategic Importance of the Position
In a complex global organisation like Oxfam, risk is not limited to financial concerns. It extends to safeguarding vulnerable communities, maintaining public trust, and ensuring ethical delivery of humanitarian programs. This makes the Head of Risk & Assurance role highly strategic.
The position ensures that risks related to governance, operations, finance, safeguarding, and reputation are effectively monitored and managed. By providing structured oversight, the role helps prevent organisational failures and strengthens resilience in unpredictable environments.
It also plays a key role in promoting a values-driven approach to risk, ensuring that decision-making is not only compliant but also aligned with Oxfam’s mission and ethical commitments.
Working Within the Integrity Team
The Integrity Team brings together multiple disciplines that support organisational accountability. These include legal services, fraud and corruption prevention, internal auditing, safeguarding systems, and risk oversight.
Within this structure, the Head of Risk & Assurance acts as a coordinating and advisory leader. The role helps integrate these functions into a unified system that supports transparency and reduces duplication or gaps in oversight.
By working across departments and regions, the role ensures that risk management is not siloed but embedded into everyday decision-making processes.
About Oxfam’s Mission
Oxfam works globally to address inequality and injustice. Its programmes focus on emergency response, poverty reduction, climate justice, gender equality, and governance reform. The organisation partners with local actors and communities to ensure sustainable impact and locally driven solutions.
This mission requires strong accountability systems to ensure that resources are used effectively and ethically. The Head of Risk & Assurance contributes directly to this mission by safeguarding organisational credibility and ensuring that operational risks are well managed.
Key Skills and Competencies
While the job description highlights technical responsibilities, the role also demands strong leadership and strategic thinking skills. Ideal candidates are expected to demonstrate:
- Deep understanding of enterprise risk management and assurance frameworks
- Experience working in complex, international organisations
- Strong analytical and reporting capabilities
- Ability to influence senior leadership and cross-functional teams
- Knowledge of compliance, safeguarding, and governance systems
- Strong communication skills for presenting risk insights clearly
The role also requires the ability to work collaboratively across cultures and regions, reflecting Oxfam’s global structure.
Conclusion
The Head of Risk & Assurance role at Oxfam is a critical leadership position that strengthens organisational integrity and accountability across global operations. By coordinating risk governance systems and ensuring effective oversight, the role supports informed decision-making at the highest levels of the organisation.
Beyond technical risk management, the position contributes to protecting Oxfam’s mission, reputation, and the communities it serves. It is a strategic role that ensures the organisation can continue delivering humanitarian impact responsibly, ethically, and sustainably in a complex global environment.
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