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 current Learning Frameworks contract is ending on 30 April 2026. This change will impact when you can book learning linked to our Professions pages. To support you with this transition, any courses impacted by the change will display a notice.

The final date for bookings is 30 April 2026, with learning required to start by 31 July 2026 and finish by 31 January 2027. After this deadline, new bookings will resume after the new contract starts.

These changes are happening 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, and products in Wave 2 will not be available to book from 1 November 2025. The products in Wave 3 will need to start by 30 April 2026 and therefore we recommend bookings are made six weeks before this, by 19 March 2026.