---
title: 'Head of Risk & Compliance (6 Month FTC) at Lawhive'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-risk-compliance-6-month-ftc-lawhive-london-ws58xy92afzg'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Head of Risk & Compliance (6 Month FTC) at Lawhive

- **Company:** Lawhive
- **Location:** London, United Kingdom
- **Compensation:** £90k–£120k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-09
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/lawhive/5bfe7a8f-11e3-41d2-9db3-a731f22069fe

## Job description

Salary: £90,000-£120,000

Location: Flexible/Hybrid

## ABOUT LAWHIVE

Our mission is to make the law accessible to everyone.

The legal industry is built on technology and process that hasn’t been updated in hundreds of years - that's why we've reinvented the entire model from the ground-up with our own bespoke AI operating system at the core.

Lawhive is a regulated law firm with an AI-native platform built to amplify expertise and revolutionise the way people practice law, leading to exceptional outcomes for clients and lawyers.

Lawhive Labs https://labs.lawhive.co.uk/ is how we bring this vision to life. It's our frontier lab that combines top engineering, design, AI and legal talent from around the world, joining forces to build the future of law.

We’re backed by top-tier investors including Google Ventures, Balderton Capital and TQ Ventures and in December 2024 we secured $40M Series A funding round to facilitate international expansion and to grow our team, representing one of the five largest Series A rounds in Europe for 2024.

We’re headquartered in London and in 2025 successfully launched in the US…and we’re just getting started.

## RISK & COMPLIANCE AT LAWHIVE

We are both one of Europe’s fastest-growing tech startups and an SRA-regulated Alternative Business Structure (ABS) on a mission to make legal help accessible to everyone. Backed by top-tier investors including Google Ventures, Balderton Capital, and TQ Ventures with a $40M Series A behind us, we are growing fast and reimagining what a general-practice law firm can be through our bespoke AI operating system.

Lawhive Limited is our technology company; Lawhive Legal Ltd is our SRA-regulated law firm through which all legal services are delivered. Within a clear Three Lines of Defence (3LoD) framework, we operate a technology-native law firm that supports an extensive network of consultant lawyers across the UK alongside an in-house delivery model.

To support our rapid growth, we are looking for a Head of Risk & Compliance to step in as our designated COLP, MLCO, MLRO, and DPO. In this independent Second Line role, you will take full ownership of our compliance framework, complete the embedding of remaining platform capabilities, and ensure our controls continue to operate seamlessly alongside our cutting-edge tech.

## The Role

As Head of Risk & Compliance, you will serve as the reliable, independent Second Line authority for compliance across Lawhive Legal Ltd. Holding the core statutory roles (COLP, MLCO, MLRO, and DPO), your mission is to maintain uncompromised adherence to regulatory principles while demonstrating sharp commercial awareness to enable business growth safely. Having nearly completed an extensive programme to strengthen our firm-wide framework, this role offers a high degree of ownership and direct access to the Board.

What You'll Do:

- Statutory Compliance: Hold the COLP, MLCO, MLRO, and DPO roles for Lawhive Legal Ltd with direct Board access, managing SRA relations and regulatory notifications, ownership of the EWRA.
- Control Embedding & System Adoption: Partner with tech and ops teams as platform features land, ensuring automated compliance gates for onboarding, AML, conflicts, and client money are fully embedded and operationalised.
- Commercial 2LoD Oversight: Deliver independent Second Line monitoring, challenge, and advice across regulatory, conduct, and financial crime risks.
- Financial Crime & SAR Management: Evaluate internal SARs, file external SARs, manage high-risk AML escalations, and maintain financial crime risk registers.
- Breaches & Escalations: Own the compliance breach framework, oversee incident/complaint reporting, and manage SRA reportability assessments.
- Pragmatic Advisory: Provide authoritative regulatory guidance to business leaders and legal teams to support innovation while safeguarding standards.
- Independent Judgement: Exercise independent regulatory judgement, challenge senior stakeholders constructively, and escalate issues when required.

## What You’ll Bring

Someone who will establish themselves as the go-to Second Line compliance authority across Lawhive Legal Ltd. You are unflinching on core regulatory principles, yet possess the commercial dexterity to help a fast-scaling tech platform thrive within regulatory boundaries. You enjoy taking ownership of established systems, embedding new tools, and running tight compliance operations autonomously with sound judgment.

Requirements:

- Experience: Substantial hands-on compliance experience in an SRA-regulated law firm (normally 7+ years), including holding COLP, MLRO, or MLCO roles, or acting as a senior deputy with significant responsibility for them.
- Regulated Role Capability: Proven experience exercising independent regulatory judgement and engaging senior stakeholders where regulatory and commercial considerations conflict.
- Knowledge: Strong generalist knowledge across SRA Standards and Regulations, SRA Accounts Rules, MLR 2017, and UK GDPR.
- Governance Understanding: Clear grasp of the 3LoD framework and the distinction between First Line supervision and Second Line independent oversight.
- Operational Focus: Proven ability to manage SARs, evaluate breaches, handle FIU/SRA correspondence, oversee registers, and embed system-led controls.
- Mindset: Pragmatic and commercially solutions-focused while maintaining uncompromising ethical and regulatory standards.

Nice to Have:

- Previous experience formally holding a COLP, MLRO, MLCO, or DPO role.
- Experience working within a technology led, hybrid, or fast-paced legal startup environment.
- Familiarity with modern operational and workflow tools (e.g., Intercom, Airtable, Slack).

## INTERVIEW PROCESS

- Introductory call with our Talent team
- 1:1 with your hiring manager
- Practical skills assessment & Final Q&A
- We offer!

## BENEFITS

- ✈️ 33 days’ annual leave (25 + bank holidays) plus your birthday off
- 💰 Pension contribution via Nest
- 💷 20% off legal fees through Lawhive
- 💻 Top-spec equipment
- ⛳️ Regular team building activities and socials!

Diversity at Lawhive

At Lawhive we know that diversity of thought is critical to delivering outlier outcomes. As such, we’re always working hard to ensure we build a diverse, inclusive team. We’re not yet where we want to be but as we scale we’ll only ever increase the focus we apply to this.

## About Lawhive

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Lawhive is an AI-native consumer law firm that combines experienced, regulated lawyers with a proprietary AI operating system to make legal services more accessible, affordable, and transparent for everyday people.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B – raised $60M in 2026, with total funding exceeding $100M)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Not individually disclosed in search results (co-founders include a CTO named Jaime V. per LinkedIn, but full team not listed)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Legal Services / Legal Technology (AI-powered consumer law)
- Target customers: B2C and B2B (individuals and businesses needing help with immigration, employment, family, property, conveyancing, divorce, landlord-tenant, and consumer rights)
- Mission statement: “To make legal services accessible to everyone” by combining technology, AI, and a regulated law firm to simplify legal help as easily as opening a bank account.

## Products & Services
- **AI Operating System (Lawrence)**: A proprietary AI “paralegal” that assists lawyers with legal research, document drafting, client intake, case management, and communication – reducing cost and delay.
- **Full-Service Law Firm (SRA-Regulated)**: Lawhive itself is a licensed law firm that delivers end-toend legal support, from initial consultation to case resolution, across multiple practice areas.
- **Consultant Lawyer Platform**: Lawyers can join Lawhive’s network of 300+ consultants and receive a steady stream of pre-qualified, pre-paid clients, AI tools, and full administrative support (marketing, billing, compliance) – allowing them to focus only on billable legal work.
- **Online Client Portal**: Individuals can answer a few questions, get a transparent fixed-fee or hourly quote, and be matched with a dedicated lawyer quickly.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company; last round was Series B in 2026)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $116.2M (per LinkedIn) with Series B of $60M raised in 2026. Also reported over 12,500 satisfied clients, 2,000+ Trustpilot reviews with a 4.5-star rating, and a network of 300+ lawyers.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Mitch Rales (lead Series B), Google Ventures (GV), Balderton Capital, TQ Ventures. Also backed by England footballers Harry Maguire and Reece James.
- **Growth Signals**: 100.7% year-over-year headcount growth (now 201 employees); expanded into the United States and operates across 6 countries (UK, US, Hong Kong, Italy, Sri Lanka, Switzerland); acquired Woodstock Legal Services in early 2026; 20 active job postings as of mid-2026 with a strong focus on engineering, AI, and legal roles.

## Competitive Advantages
- **AI + Regulation Moat**: Lawhive is both a technology platform and an SRA-regulated law firm – a combination that is difficult for pure-play legal tech startups or traditional law firms to replicate.
- **Lawyer-Friendly Model**: Consultant lawyers get pre-paid clients, full admin support, and AI tools, enabling them to earn more without non-billable overhead. This attracts top legal talent.
- **Transparent Pricing**: Fixed-fee and hourly pricing with no surprises – a key differentiator in a traditionally opaque industry.
- **Strong Investor Backing**: Backed by top-tier VCs (GV, Balderton, TQ) and an iconic US industrialist (Mitch Rales), providing both financial stability and strategic credibility.

## Strategic Focus
- **US Expansion**: With a Managing Director for North America and a growing US presence, Lawhive is aggressively scaling into the American consumer legal market.
- **AI Platform Development**: Continued investment in “Lawrence” to automate more legal workflows and improve lawyer productivity.
- **Network Growth**: Increasing the number of consultant lawyers (currently 300+) to serve more clients across more practice areas.
- **Geographic & Practice Area Expansion**: Operating in 6 countries and adding new legal domains (e.g., immigration, family, property) to capture broader demand.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values-driven organization emphasizing *bias to action*, *obsession with customers*, *communication first*, and *attention to detail*. The team is described as moving fast, thinking deeply, and pushing boundaries.
- **Remote/Hybrid Policy**: Lawhive’s consultant lawyers work from anywhere; corporate roles (engineering, product, sales) appear to be based in London with some remote flexibility (many job postings do not specify fully remote, but the culture page highlights “work from anywhere” for lawyers).
- **Notable Perks & Environment**: Engineers and product people get to work on cutting-edge AI applied to a massive, underserved market (consumer law). The company offers the chance to “transform access to the law” alongside world-class investors and a high-growth environment with 100%+ headcount growth. Roles span legal, AI/engineering, product, operations, and sales – all contributing directly to mission impact.

## Sources
1. [lawhive.co.uk/careers](https://lawhive.co.uk/careers)
2. [lawhive.co.uk](https://lawhive.co.uk/)
3. [lawhive.co.uk/about-us](https://lawhive.co.uk/about-us)
4. [uk.linkedin.com/company/joinlawhive](https://uk.linkedin.com/company/joinlawhive)
5. [lawhive.co.uk/work-with-us](https://lawhive.co.uk/work-with-us)

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