Case Studies - Page 2 of 3 - Kind Consultancy

Collections

1 November 2023

A large, established motor finance company required additional support within their Collections team to work with vulnerable customers in relation to their payment plans.

Due to an ongoing relationship across previous recruitment projects, the client reached out to Kind Consultancy asking for assistance supplying experienced interim Collections Consultants for a 12-month project.

Kind selected professionals from the King Agile Solutions bench who had a mixture of collections experience and complaint handling experience across Financial Services, combined with a history of working with vulnerable customers. The combination required for the project was a very specialised skill set and the client recognised that these are not people they would be able to find on their own quickly – and that it would be especially difficult to build out a full team that met all of their requirements.

We submitted a shortlist of trusted contractors we knew could deliver on the client’s needs. The selected Kind Agile Solutions contractors went through training and route-to-competency with the client and were fully operational and supporting their permanent team within 4 weeks of the first request coming to Kind. The team quickly worked through the backlog of vulnerable customers who needed contacting, creating payment plans and agreeing terms that were suitable for each customer. With the Agile Solutions resource handling these needs, the organisation’s permanent team were able to continue delivering strong customer service for the client.

When a second request came for extra resource after the appropriate members of the Agile Solutions team were already placed with the client, Kind then conducted a deep market search using a mix of methodologies to identify key talent that could be utilised in this project, taking care of all screening and compliance requirements before they joined the client’s project. The very best of the contractors in this second batch were subsequently invited to join Agile Solutions after proving themselves on the project.

A tailored, consultative approach allows us to respond to complex client needs while consistently delivering exceptional results. For a confidential conversation about your organisation’s resource requirements and how Kind Consultancy may be able to help, contact us via our web-form today. If you’re a Collections contractor looking for exciting new projects, follow Kind Consultancy on LinkedIn to stay up to date with all of our opportunities.

Complaint Handlers

1 November 2023

Complaint Handlers are vital for any regulated Financial Services business in the UK, and Kind Consultancy has extensive experience of supplying both individuals and full teams of experienced Complaints professionals. In this Case Study, learn how Kind assisted a firm facing a serious Complaints build-up issue.

A large Retail Bank who we had previously worked with on a variety of projects, contacted us with an urgent requirement. Due to a backlog of complaints approaching the Ombudsman time limit, they needed a large team of Complaint Handlers to hit the ground as soon as possible. We immediately went to our bench of pre-screened Kind Agile Solutions contractors, selecting candidates who we knew were available and had the skills and experience that our client needed.

We conducted pre-interview calls with every candidate, confirming their interest and relevant Complaints Handling knowledge and experience. Within 24 hours we had submitted 40 profiles to the client. Within 48 hours of that submission, our client selected the candidates they wanted to progress, and began arranging and conducting video-interviews.

Our client made offers to their preferred candidates as the interview ended, and so were able to have the contractors start with them within 7 days of the original request. Due to the size of the project and the timeframe, our client had contacted multiple recruitment agencies but confirmed to us that Kind had single-handedly filled 95% of the positions they needed.

KYC Remediation

1 November 2023

KYC Remediation professionals perform the important work of reviewing existing customer records to ensure they comply with current regulations. Even a small number of legacy customers can take a substantial amount of time to appraise, evaluate and update – and for a large, longstanding business, it can be a colossal undertaking

Kind Consultancy supported a Big 4 consulting firm who were working on a large scale remediation project for a Tier 1 international bank who were reviewing all of their customer records in line with a significant regulatory change and had a need for specialist KYC Remediation talent. We were contacted by their resourcing team and asked to identify high calibre AML Analysts, KYC Analyst, Financial Crime Team Leaders and SMEs.

We immediately looked to the Kind Agile Solutions bench of pre-qualified, pre-screened candidates, knowing that it includes many Financial Crime specialists. We were able to fulfil all of the project requirements using exclusively Kind Agile contractors who were already known to us and who we could trust to deliver exceptional work. Due to the way the KAS service operates, we immediately had knowledge of which contractors were available in the timeframe.

Across the full lifecycle of the project, we deployed 25 KYC Remediation Analysts, 5 Team Leaders and 2 SMEs (Subject Matter Experts). The full project lasted for 18 months and 100% of our contractors were extended throughout that period in order to see the project through to completion. The client feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and they shared that they would return to Kind for any future Financial Crime hiring needs.

If your organisation has a need for KYC Remediation recruitment, get in touch with Kind now via our Contact page. If you’re a Financial Crime professional looking for your next project, make sure you’re following Kind Consultancy on LinkedIn to keep up with all of our new opportunities.

Compliance Consultant – Section 166

1 November 2023

Section 166 reviews are one of the most powerful tools the FCA has to try to correct the actions of Financial Services organisations who they have concerns about. Section 166 gives the regulator the power to require a “skilled person” to carry out an independent review of a business.

An established Consumer Credit firm reached out to Kind Consultancy for support to help them work with the regulator following a Section 166 notice being issued. The client had not worked with Kind before but were aware of our reputation for Interim Compliance resourcing. We met with their Head of Compliance and discussed the situation and their needs in detail – in their case the FCA had asked them to appoint the skilled person themselves.

We then providing them with one of an experienced Compliance Consultant from our Kind Agile Solutions bench, to work with the senior management team on the appointment of an FCA approved Skilled Person. We work with a number of Compliance SMEs and we knew this situation required someone who had previously completed Section 166 reviews, and also had experience of guiding a business through large scale remediation projects based on the recommendations arising from an S166.

The review required an assessment of more than 4,000 customers over a period of 5 years, so in addition to our Compliance Consultant, we also supplied a number of Compliance, Collections and Credit Risk professionals to complete the necessary appraisal in time.

We achieved the confidence of the FCA and a successful remediation project through detailed remediation methodology documentation, accurate and timely reporting, the demonstration of structured planning, and effective 3 lines of defence activity.

Head of Compliance – SMF16

1 November 2023

Head of Compliance is the most senior Compliance title in most Financial Services organisations – and as such recruiting the right one is of the utmost importance in running a successful regulated business. Holding the SMF16 senior management function means that Heads of Compliance are the individuals with overall responsibility for ensuring their firm is fully compliant with all regulatory requirements.

Kind Consultancy was approached by the Chief Risk Officer of a growing challenger bank which was seeking to identify a new Head of Compliance following the previous incumbent moving on from the business.

The Kind team had a face-to-face meeting with the CRO, taking a full brief of the role and building an understanding of the expectations for the Head of Compliance as an individual and how they fit into the bank’s wider business plans. We used all of this information to help the client draw up a detailed role profile.

We then set to work utilising a mix of methodologies to map the market and identify a list of relevant individuals who met client specifications and were at the top of their game in Compliance, including individuals currently holding the SMF16 responsibility at some of the bank’s closest competitors and other comparable organisations.

The Kind team confidentially approached these candidates, and discussed their experience and skillset but also their individual motivations and long term career aspirations – making sure we were only moving forward with candidates who had held SMF16 and wanted to do so in their next role. We submitted a shortlist of 4 candidates who had the relevant expertise, but who we also knew were personally aligned with the values and goals of the bank.

We supported our Head of Compliance candidates and the client throughout the interview process, and following a second stage interview an offer was made to and happily accepted by one of our candidates. We continued to check-in with our candidate and client, throughout their probation period to ensure both parties are fully satisfied with the placement.

Compliance Monitoring Manager

1 November 2023

Compliance Monitoring Manager is a crucial title within a Financial Services firm’s Compliance function, with oversight of the assessment of how well Compliance policies and procedures are working in the business’s day to day activities.

A growing challenger bank approached Kind Consultancy with a need to recruit a permanent Compliance Monitoring Manager as they expanded their Compliance team. Monitoring responsibilities had previously been handled by their Compliance Manager, and they were now at a size where a dedicated Monitoring Manager was required.

They had previously attempted to fill the role themselves and had been turned down by the two candidates that they had offered the position to. The bank’s headquarters are not in a major city, and the location had been a dealbreaker for both of their past candidates.

We took a full brief on the job and the long-term plans for the business, and contacted a number of Compliance Monitoring professionals who were already part of our extensive database of Compliance talent, as well as confidentially approaching some Compliance Monitoring Managers who were at the time working for similar sized challenger banks. We made sure that any candidate we considered shortlisting was open to commuting to the office location.

Selecting the people from both sources that we felt had the necessary skills and experienced and were personally aligned with the bank’s long term plans, we submitted a shortlist. Shortly after interviews were conducted, the client offered one of our candidates who happily accepted.

The candidate unfortunately then faced a number of complications and delays in their relocation, and they were unsure they would be able to start the role.

Staying close to both candidate and client, Kind were able to devise and suggest an arrangement where the candidate would come on board immediately as a contractor working remotely, and would then be taken on permanently once the relocation was completed. Both parties were happy with this solution, and the selected Compliance Monitoring Manager candidate was screened and on-boarded as a contractor in just a few days.

Underwriters

1 November 2023

Underwriters are the lifeblood of any Mortgage function within Financial Services and an essential part of the Credit Risk apparatus. Hiring underwriters with the right knowledge, skills and experience is vital to the success of any lending organisation.

Kind Consultancy have a long working relationship with a large building society, who were experiencing an increase in applications and simultaneously launching multiple new products. To keep up with this escalating rate of activity, they were looking to hire 2 new permanent underwriters, and requested Kind’s assistance after failing to fill the positions on their own.

Kind Consultancy used a truly consultative approach, taking the job specification, learning how the need for these roles fit into wider business plans and discussing with the client where their own recruitment attempts had not been successful. The client had found that their rural location without good transport links had been a major hurdle for all of the most promising candidates they had previously had in process. The Kind team showed the client that if they allowed remote work, they could access higher quality candidates.

Kind selected a mix of candidates who were already known to them as part of their extensive database of Financial Services professionals, as well as newly sourced candidates who were actively seeking underwriting jobs. As the client continued to grow and experience a rise in customer interest, the initial request for 2 positions became an extended resourcing project, with Kind Consultancy acting as the client’s exclusive recruiter for all underwriting positions.

Across 6 months, Kind Consultancy successfully placed multiple Underwriters, Senior Underwriters and Manual Underwriters with the client, all in permanent positions, and continues to work with them on all underwriting talent needs.

Interim Deputy CRO

1 November 2023

One of the largest groups of Financial Services Mortgage & Protection Networks in the UK contacted Kind Consultancy seeking an Interim Deputy Chief Risk Officer. The organisation had recently acquired a new company and needed extra specialist resource to support the Enterprise Risk framework and function during the transitional period.

Kind Consultancy immediately contacted one of the Kind Agile Solutions bench of expert contractors who we knew had a substantial Risk history including specialist Enterprise Risk work within the mortgage sector and a track-record of successful framework design. As a member of the KAS bench, the Kind team already knew that this person was currently available for work and had a familiarity with their professional history.

We connected the client to our selected contractor and within 2 weeks of taking the initial brief, the client made an offer, the candidate accepted and was at work the following week, with a total turnaround time of 3 weeks. The client has been very happy with the contractor’s work and has repeatedly extended their contract.

Prudential & Credit Risk

1 November 2023

A Building Society contacted Kind Consultancy looking to recruit a permanent Risk Manager who would be predominantly responsible for Prudential Risk and Credit Risk Management.

The client wanted to run the search as a retained project, because they had worked with Kind on a recurring retained basis in the past and we had been successful in all previous assignments.

The Kind Consultancy team began by running a market mapping exercise, identifying passive candidate headhunting targets as well as looking at available active candidates who were a good fit. Utilising a combination of these methodologies, Kind built, pre-screened and interviewed a longlist of candidates, using their own interviews to narrow down the shortlist to 6 which was then submitted to the client.

The Building Society interviewed 3 of the shortlisted clients and selected one to hire immediately. The client reported they were once again very happy with the service and would continue to use Kind for retained searches whenever a permanent recruitment need arises.

Internal Audit Team

1 November 2023

The Chief Internal Auditor at an International Bank contacted Kind Consultancy looking to build out the Internal Audit team for their recently-expanded UK Bank.

With a full team needing to be provided, we used a mix of methodologies, looking at industry-best specialists who were already known to us, active candidates in the marketplace, and identifying and confidentially approaching individuals in similar positions at competing banks. Combining all of these we conducted initial pre-screen interviews and selected a shortlist of recommended candidates which we then submitted to the client.

As part of this project we placed 9 people in total – two Head Of positions, three Senior Managers and four Internal Audit Managers, working across the Commercial and Retail Banking divisions of the business.

Collections

Complaint Handlers

KYC Remediation

Compliance Consultant – Section 166

Head of Compliance – SMF16

Compliance Monitoring Manager

Underwriters

Interim Deputy CRO

Prudential & Credit Risk

A Building Society contacted Kind Consultancy looking to recruit a permanent Risk Manager who would be predominantly responsible for Prudential Risk and Credit Risk Management.

Internal Audit Team

The Chief Internal Auditor at an International Bank contacted Kind Consultancy looking to build out the Internal Audit team for their recently-expanded UK Bank.

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A Building Society contacted Kind Consultancy looking to recruit a permanent Risk Manager who would be predominantly responsible for Prudential Risk and Credit Risk Management.

The Chief Internal Auditor at an International Bank contacted Kind Consultancy looking to build out the Internal Audit team for their recently-expanded UK Bank.

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Call Us

Email Us

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