Chief Regulatory Operations Officer

Chief Regulatory Operations Officer

About US

RICS is the world's leading professional body for those working within the natural and built environment with over 150 years of heritage, setting and upholding standards across land, property, construction and infrastructure.

RICS' regulatory responsibilities are delivered through Standards & Regulation, our independent regulatory function, overseen by the Standards & Regulation Board (SRB). Our role is to uphold confidence, and acting in the public interest is central to everything we do.

Through independent regulation and professional standards, we promote confidence, consistency and integrity across the built environment in the UK and internationally. We are recognised globally for the quality of our regulation provision.

The Opportunity

As Chief Regulatory Operations Officer, you will have executive responsibility for the operational effectiveness of RICS' independent standards and regulatory function.

Working within Standards & Regulation, you will ensure that standards and regulatory strategy and priorities are translated into delivery that is realistic, well governed and dependable in practice. You will bring operational grip to planning, performance, systems and financial oversight, ensuring the regulatory function can deliver consistently, at scale and is continuously improved.

The Chief Regulatory Operations Officer provides the operational assurance, governance and delivery discipline across standards and regulation enabling effective regulation without compromising independence.

You will work alongside experienced executive and regulatory leaders, providing confidence through clear reporting, assurance and operational discipline that regulatory activity is functioning as intended, with appropriate capacity, controls and infrastructure in place.

This is a senior, delivery focused role in an environment where independence, scrutiny and public confidence are fundamental. This role also requires an approach which is collaborative and team centric approach given our regulatory role is delivered within the RICS as a whole.

The Role

Reporting to the Senior Executive Officer, Standards & Regulation, you are accountable for the effective operation of the independent standards and regulatory function, including operational planning, performance management, systems, financial oversight and continuous improvement.

You will contribute a strong operational perspective to strategic discussions, testing priorities for feasibility and resilience, and ensuring decisions can be implemented effectively in practice.

You will work closely with RICS central services - including Finance, People, Technology, Communications and Procurement - to ensure effective support while maintaining regulatory independence and external confidence.

Through clear reporting and assurance, you will support effective oversight for the Standards and Regulation Board, providing visibility of performance, risk and delivery confidence.

Key responsibilities

• Executive responsibility for the effective operational delivery of RICS' standards and regulatory functions
• Translating Standards & Regulation Board strategy into clear, deliverable operational and business plans, developed with an understanding of the wider strategic direction set by the RICS Governing Council.
• Working as a key member of a high performing Standards and Regulation executive team, co-ordinating delivery across the four S&R Directorates
• Accountability for the regulatory budget, including planning, oversight and financial control
• Oversight of governance, operational systems, controls and assurance
• Leadership of operational modelling, business planning and resource planning
• Oversight of major systems, technology enabled change and project delivery - improving coordination with processes and systems delivered through wider RICS activities
• Providing clear visibility of performance, standards and regulatory risk, capacity and resilience
• Supporting the Standards and Regulation Board through high quality reporting and assurance
• Driving continuous improvement in regulatory effectiveness, including appropriate use of advanced technologies

About You

You are an experienced senior operational leader with a track record of running complex functions where delivery, systems and financial control are critical.

You work collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation as needed and are comfortable operating in environments where independence, scrutiny and public confidence matter, and where operational decisions carry real consequence. You bring clarity to complexity, ensuring work across multiple teams is coordinated, realistic and resilient.

You are confident working alongside subject matter experts, enabling their work to be delivered effectively at scale without needing to be the technical specialist yourself. You exercise integrity and sound judgement, particularly where priorities must be balanced and delivery needs to be dependable.

You contribute pragmatically to strategic discussions, offering an operational perspective on what is feasible and sustainable, and you value environments where credibility and control genuinely matter.