Regulatory Counsel

Zinc screens candidates across the UK, EU, US and APAC for employers in regulated and unregulated sectors, from financial services and healthcare to education, security and the public sector. As we grow, the volume and complexity of regulatory questions is growing faster than our team, and too much of what we know sits with too few people.

This is a new role in our Regulatory Compliance team, part of Zinc's wider Risk function. You will own the interpretation of the regulation behind our checks, so that our product, customers and commercial teams can rely on clear, defensible answers. You'll work closely with Legal, Product, InfoSec and our commercial teams, and extend the team's reach through fractional specialists and external counsel.

Whilst a legal background will certainly help, you don't need to be a qualified lawyer for this position. We're open to regulatory and compliance professionals from diverse backgrounds. What matters is that you can get to grips with a regulatory framework, form a clear view and explain it to people who aren't specialists.

You'll start hands-on as an individual contributor, with room to grow as we expand our regulated-sector and international coverage.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the regulation behind our checks: Right to Work, FCA, CQC, Ofsted, BS7858, BPSS and public sector vetting. You’ll own the interpretation of these and work closely with our Product team as to how they could be applied to our product. You'll work alongside our DBS Compliance Lead and the wider Risk department on this piece.
• Advise on sector vetting: fitness and propriety, SM&CR, KCSIE, EYFS and other regulator requirements for the sectors our customers operate in.
• Lead on international frameworks: global criminal record and right to work checks, GDPR in a screening context, and support on US FCRA and state law.
• Be the go-to for complex questions from sales, account management and customer success. Join customer and prospect calls where depth is needed and provide the regulatory input to tenders and RFPs.
• Review the product with a regulatory lens: new features, checks and user flows. Help turn new legislation and guidance into clear product requirements.
• Horizon scan and enable: track developments across the UK, EU, US and APAC and turn them into practical guidance, so our commercial teams become more self-sufficient over time.
• Manage our specialists: scope, brief and quality-check fractional regulatory experts and external counsel with the Head of Regulatory Compliance.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• A regulatory or compliance background. You've interpreted regulation for a living, whether in legal practice, in-house, at a regulator or in a compliance function. Experience across more than one sector is a strong plus.
• Clear answers, not caveats. You give a defensible view in plain English, and you know when to escalate and when to decide.
• Quick to get up to speed. You can pick up a regulatory framework in a sector you haven't worked in and become useful fast. Comfortable reading legislation, statutory guidance and regulator publications.
• Commercially minded. You're comfortable on customer and prospect calls and understand that compliance has to work in practice.
• Pragmatic about risk. You know not all regulations carry the same weight, and focus on being properly compliant with what matters.
• Collaborative. You work well with Product, Legal and commercial teams, and simplify without over-simplifying.
• Bonus points for experience in background screening, HR tech or recruitment, knowledge of DBS, right to work, FCA regulation or UK GDPR in an employment context, or experience managing external advisers.

What we offer

• 24 days holiday + Bank Holidays + your birthday off
• £1200 annual benefits allowance (ThanksBen, from month 2)
• Early finish Fridays (16:00)
• Yearly company retreat abroad
• 30 days to Work from anywhere
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption Leave (13 weeks full pay, 17 weeks half pay, then SMP for maternity, 1 month full pay for paternity/adoption)
• Statutory pension with NEST (3% employer, 5% employee)
• Zinc shares, issued through the EMI Scheme
• Unlimited access to Spill Therapy
• Company socials, quarterly team socials Free Monday lunches
• Nursery workplace benefit scheme (Yellownest)
• Option to lease an electric car through Electric Car Scheme
• Celebrated Zinc anniversaries