Kym Smith

Working for a just cause that contributes to social good is a key driver of mine, and I am only prepared to work for organisations whose values align with my personal moral belief system. This motivates me to continue to make strides within my profession, for myself and for others.

Currently, I head up the Risk, Governance and Assurance team of the largest cancer charity in the UK, which covers Internal Audit, Counter Fraud, Safeguarding, Health & Safety, Corporate Governance, Risk & Compliance, and Incident Management.

I am responsible for developing and embedding and improved risk management framework, including the development of a defined risk appetite to inform strategic business decision making aligned with the corporate objectives of the organisation – translating the direction of the organisation into an operational piece that enables and empowers the business. This involves a number of key skills, including communicating and influencing, stakeholder engagement and value-driven delivery that I have honed over my years of experience in my area of expertise and would look to bring these to this role.

My approach is one of continuous improvement, seeking opportunities to challenge why things are as they are and question alternatives. Some examples include:

• Running an org-wide risk culture survey to baseline the current awareness level
• Running risk workshops with internal teams to deepen their understanding and education level around the discipline of risk management
• Designing, developing and launching a new org-wide Risk Management Training module to increase the maturity of the existing risk culture
• Developing a risk appetite framework to support business decision making
• Establishing a network of peers within the sector through Airmic and IRM networking events to share best practice and lessons learned
• Reviewing existing policies, practices and procedures with a view to make them more robust and sound
• Recruiting additional risk management professionals to support the delivery of the Risk, Governance and Assurance strategy
• Putting forward a business case to introduce a risk management information system to drive consistency and efficiency across the organisation

I oversee the six-figure insurance complex portfolio of a large charity ensuring areas of exposure are identified and adequately covered. This involves engaging with key stakeholders across the various business functions at all levels of seniority to ensure emerging risks are identified, assessed and reviewed, and arrange extensions of cover via external brokers as required. I have a strong insurance background, developing expert knowledge through experience, keeping abreast of market developments, and through professional, industry recognised, project, risk management and insurance qualifications (Dip CII), for which I was awarded the Insurance Institute of London’s Commercial Insurance Contract Wording Prize at the IIL Diploma & Prize Giving Ceremony held at Lloyds of London in October last year for being the highest achiever of all IIL candidates.

I co-set the strategy for internal audit plans and ensure alignment with other interconnected functions, such as Risk & Compliance, as well as business needs, to ensure we operate a best practice three lines of defence model. I am confident to produce and present findings to senior leadership. I regularly update the executive leadership teams, committees and Trustees on topics such as corporate risk, emerging risks, insights/trends and compliance where I have developed and enhanced existing reports, which have been well received, by including emerging risk assessments and horizon scanning to offer a much more holistic view of our risk profile.

In addition, I work relentlessly to champion an inclusive culture within my direct team, and generate a more risk-aware culture in the wider organisation and beyond to my external network to support the embedding of risk management into every-day thinking. I have introduced numerous initiatives to create safe spaces and inclusive cultures for my team, while supporting them to also reach their career aspirations. I consider myself ambitious, but also ambitious for others, and have mentored several other aspiring professionals. Some examples include:

• Introducing showcasing small wins as part of our team meeting structure to recognise individual team members achievements,
• Rolling Chairing of meetings to raise visibility of other team members
• Research projects into individual access requirements to share learnings with the team
• Conducting core values exercises to understand how best to communicate with other colleagues and strengthen working relationships with peers
• Calling out exclusionary language and behaviours using the critical friend technique
• Pro-actively seeking and sharing feedback and feeding forward
• Taking time for self-reflection in terms of what a good leader looks like, role modelling those behaviours and encouraging others to do the same
• Advocated for equity of pay within my team

I offer consultancy rates for small firms needing advice and guidance to support designing and embedding best in class risk management practices.

Degree educated - BA Honours

Multiple Risk Management and Insurance related qualifications