Senior Compliance & Risk Officer
- Application Deadline: Aug. 31, 2026
- Multiple locations
- Hybrid
About the Role
As Senior Compliance & Risk Manager you will have a unique opportunity to influence decision-making, strengthen governance practices, and work closely with senior stakeholders across multiple markets. You will play a central role in overseeing and strengthening internal control, risk management, and compliance framework across the Nordic markets.
This is a cross-functional role covering finance, operational, and support functions, as well as selected sub-franchisee environments. You will be responsible for establishing a structured and transparent approach to risk identification, control monitoring, and governance reporting.
The role carries a high degree of independence and requires strong judgment, integrity, and personal accountability. You will own risk and control insights and ensure they are clearly communicated to senior management and relevant governance forums.
The role is responsible for supporting audit and assurance requirements related to financial covenants, group reporting, and McDonald’s compliance obligations, operating with a high level of rigor in risk assessment, control evaluation, and structured reporting.
The position requires a highly experienced professional with seniority, judgment, and credibility to operate independently and engage effectively with both local and shareholder-level stakeholders.
The role reports functionally to Group Internal Audit & Risk Management team in the UK, ensuring alignment with shareholder governance, audit methodologies, and reporting standards. A local dotted reporting line to Legal / Compliance supports independence from operational management while enabling effective coordination within the Nordic organization.
The position can be located in Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, or Copenhagen, and offers the opportunity to work across the Nordic markets.
Why join us?
- Be part of shaping risk and governance practices across four Nordic markets
- Work directly with senior leaders and international stakeholders
- Influence how a globally recognized brand manages risk and compliance
- Operate with high independence and visibility across the organization
What We Offer
- A highly visible role with broad exposure across functions and markets
- Opportunity to influence and strengthen risk, compliance, and governance practices
- Direct interaction with senior stakeholders and governance processes
- A collaborative, professional, and values-driven culture within a globally recognized brand
Skills & Requirements
Risk Management & Governance
- Own and maintain the Nordic enterprise risk framework, including risk register and risk profiling
- Lead structured risk assessments across finance and non-finance functions
- Identify, assess, and monitor financial, operational, and compliance risks
- Monitor key risk indicators and ensure timely escalation of significant risks
- Prepare and deliver structured risk reporting to senior management and governance forums
- Identify and assess emerging risks, including those relating to operations and franchisee activities
Internal Controls & Compliance
- Own and continuously improve the internal control framework across Nordic markets
- Ensure robust design, documentation, and implementation of control activities across functions
- Monitor control effectiveness and establish meaningful control performance metrics
- Perform targeted control testing and reviews
- Ensure alignment with internal policies, group standards, and regulatory requirements
Audit Coordination & Assurance
- Act as the primary point of contact for internal audit activities and governance-related reviews
- Coordinate audit readiness, documentation, and responses across functions
- Lead internal audit and assurance requirements linked to bank covenants, reporting and other external obligations
- Perform and coordinate independent control reviews across finance, operations, and selected sub-franchisees
- Maintain oversight of internal audit-related activities, including tracking of status and outcomes
- Track internal audit findings and ensure timely and effective remediation of agreed actions
- Escalate material risks and control deficiencies to management
Reporting & Insights
- Prepare structured, high-quality reporting covering:
- Audit activity and follow-up
- Risk exposure and trends
- Control effectiveness and deficiencies
- Remediation tracking and governance insights
- Deliver clear, concise, and decision-relevant reporting suitable for leadership and governance forums
- Ensure consistency, transparency, and accuracy across all reporting outputs
Business Partnering & Advisory
- Act as a trusted advisor across all business functions on risk, controls, and governance
- Provide guidance and constructive challenges on control design and process improvements
- Support embedding a strong compliance and risk-aware culture across the organization
- Drive standardization and best practices across the Nordic markets
Continuous Improvement & Culture
- Promote accountability, transparency, and ethical behavior across the organization
- Coordinate training and awareness initiatives related to risk management and internal controls
- Contribute to strengthening governance processes, documentation, and reporting standards
Who You Are
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or similar
- Significant experience (typically 10+ years) in risk management, internal audit, compliance, or governance roles
- Experience operating at senior management or equivalent level, with exposure to complex, multi-entity or international environments
- Experience working across multiple functions, not limited to Finance
- Understanding of internal control and risk frameworks (e.g., COSO, ICFR, SOX)
- Experience supporting audit processes and structured governance reporting
- Strong analytical and reporting capabilities, with the ability to structure and communicate insights clearly
- Fluent in English, both written and spoken. Proficiency in one or more Nordic languages is considered an advantage.
- Willingness and ability to travel across the Nordic region as required
Personal Attributes
- High level of integrity, professionalism, and ethical standards
- Strong sense of ownership with the ability to work independently
- Demonstrates a clear moral compass and sound professional judgment
- Structured, detail-oriented, and analytical mindset
- Confident communicator with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels
About the company
McDonald’s is the largest restaurant chain in the Nordics and the market leader in both sales and market share, serving iconic products such as the Big Mac and world-famous fries to over 600,000 guests every day.
In 2021, McDonald’s became the leading Quick Service Restaurant in each of the Nordic countries for the first time. System-wide sales exceed €2.0 billion, with more than 136 million customers served annually. Food Folk is the largest youth employer in the region, with around 30,000 restaurant employees and approximately 70 franchisees operating across four countries. There are ambitious plans to grow to 600 restaurants by 2030.
We believe in using our scale and reach responsibly, engaging customers, employees, franchisees, suppliers, and partners to make a positive impact in the communities we serve. We are proud of the progress made and remain committed to driving meaningful change across our markets.
Food Folk is an independent company holding a 20-year McDonald’s International Development Licence (“IDL”) to operate McDonald’s restaurants in the Nordics. Owned by the Hands Family since 2017, Food Folk oversees both restaurant operations and the associated real estate portfolio. The corporate organisation comprises around 300 colleagues, with offices in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm.
Paolo Mantica | Contact Person
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