Government Risk Profession

The Government Risk Profession was formally established in 2022 and is working to bring improvement through the Risk Management Strategy and Delivery Plan and beyond. We all manage risk at different levels so need to ensure that effective risk management is part of the way we operate, so that we are taking good risks in pursuit of opportunity. Risk management enables organisations to identify, assess and understand their overall risk profile, so that those risks can then be appropriately controlled. Effective risk management is an important aspect of success within public bodies.

There are a diverse number of challenging and exciting roles available in risk management across government. Risk management roles vary, but typical responsibilities include creating risk assessments, designing, and implementing risk management processes, carrying out assurance work, and quantifying risk appetite, i.e., the level of risk a public body is prepared to accept in pursuing its objectives. There are currently more than 900 risk professionals working across government. Senior risk management roles in government include, Head of Risk and Chief Risk Officer, who play an important part in advising senior boards on their overall risk management approach.

Join our risk community on One Finance. to further explore our resources, including guidance and publications, networks and on demand videos and teach-ins. By joining the risk community, you will also receive the Government Risk Community Communication to help stay up to date with news and updates, and invitations to join the Risk Improvement Group Online webinars to hear experiences of best practice across government. If you have any questions, do reach out to us at riskcoe@hmtreasury.gov.uk.

The contracts delivering the current Learning Frameworks service end on the 30 April 2026. Because of this, some profession and function-recommended products may not be available for booking. The prospectus pages for the products this effects have been updated, and will state a last booking date as part of the product description.

These changes are happing across a series of waves and more information can be found here. The products in Wave 1 will not be available to book from 30 June 2025.

We anticipate you will be able to start booking these products again from May 2026, when the next contract is live