Head of compliance working 65 hour weeks for 12 months, no end in sight, how to bring this up to leadership

Job-Genie recognises this as a retention risk signal, not just a personal grievance. A Head of Compliance logging 65-hour weeks for 12 consecutive months has exhausted goodwill capital. The conversation with leadership must be framed as a business risk — not a complaint — to be heard effectively.

Frame It as Organisational Risk, Not Personal Burnout

Leadership responds to risk. Compliance leadership operating at sustained overload creates three quantifiable dangers: regulatory blind spots from cognitive fatigue, single-point-of-failure dependency, and attrition risk for a role that typically takes 3–6 months to replace at Head level. Lead with those arguments, not with how tired you feel.

Prepare a Workload Audit Before the Meeting

Document the hours, the scope expansion, and any unfilled headcount beneath you. Arrive with data, not frustration. A written summary transforms the conversation from anecdotal to evidential. Leadership cannot easily dismiss a structured workload breakdown.

Request a Structured Conversation, Not a Corridor Chat

Book a formal 30-minute slot with your direct line manager or CEO. Label it clearly — "Resourcing and sustainability review" — so it arrives on the agenda with appropriate weight. Ambush conversations produce defensive responses.

Set a Resolution Timeframe

Close the conversation with a specific ask: a resourcing review completed within 30 days, or a defined interim support measure. Open-ended commitments from leadership on workload rarely materialise.

If Nothing Changes, the Market Becomes Relevant

This is where Job-Genie's insight becomes directly applicable. If leadership does not act, a Head of Compliance at this level is precisely the profile specialist compliance recruiters are actively seeking — and most of those roles exist in the hidden job market, filled via recruiter shortlists before any public posting. A high Application Silence Score on generic job boards is common at this seniority; the Recruiter-Fit Gap between how most senior candidates present themselves and what a specialist recruiter needs to shortlist them is significant. Job-Genie's Truth Layer and Recruiter-Ready Brief are built to close that gap — so that if the internal conversation fails, the external move is executed from a position of strength, not desperation.