Sr. Director, Operational Risk Management

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze℠, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

Overall Purpose

The Senior Director, Operational Risk Management, will lead the ORM governance and practices team within the Second Line of Defense (SLOD). This role is responsible for leading core elements of the operational risk framework, including but not limited to the ORM risk appetite and risk profile reporting processes, RCSA (and process risk management), scenario analysis and risk/loss event management. The role reports to the Head of Operational Risk and is a key member of the firm’s operational risk leadership team.

Essential Functions

Strategic Leadership

• Define and drive the ORM governance and practices team’s strategy, ensuring alignment with enterprise risk frameworks and regulatory standards.
• Provide risk insights and thought leadership to senior executives, business leaders, and governing committees.
• Champion a culture of accountability, transparency, and effective risk management across the enterprise.

ORM Governance and Practices

• Develop and maintain the operational and reputation risk framework, including policies, standards, procedures (collectively “PSPs”) training and quality assurance requirements to assess adherence.
• Lead the development and maintenance of the RCSA (including requirements for process risk management), risk/loss event management and scenario analysis programs and associated PSPs.
• Define and maintain the operational and reputation risk appetite statements and supporting quantitative metrics. 
• Develop and implement key risk metrics to measure and monitor operational and reputation risk exposures.
• Works with other operational risk domain owners to support first-line’s understanding of risk/control requirements and to provide integrated risk management oversight on cross-risk assessments.
• Develops and drives periodic executive level reporting regarding operational risk management, including quarterly risk profile reports, to support decision-making and escalation regarding risks that may not be consistent with the business risk tolerance.
• Support departmental business management activities such as audit and regulatory exam engagement, project management, ERM and Risk Strategy engagement.

Advisory & Partnership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to first-line business and functional leaders, balancing strong risk oversight with enabling business objectives.
• Provide timely and actionable feedback to strengthen first-line risk ownership and accountability.

Team Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of risk managers providing coverage across multiple lines of business and enterprise functions.

• Foster a high-performing, inclusive, and collaborative team culture.

• Ensure risk talent is developed to meet future enterprise needs.

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education and/or experience typically obtained through completion of a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

• Minimum of 15+ years of operational risk management experience, preferably in financial services or other highly regulated industries.

• Proven leader with at least 5 years in a leadership role with direct reports.

• Strong understanding of operational risk programs (e.g. RCSA, Risk Events, Issue Management, KRIs, etc.) and risk domains (including technology, cyber, third-party, fraud / scams, and data risk)

• Exceptional communication skills with ability to synthesize and present complex risk issues clearly and persuasively.

• Proven strategic thinker and creative problem solver who also demonstrates strong attention to detail and efficiency.

• Ability to drive change in a dynamic business environment.

• Strong relationship building skills.

• Excellent organizational, analytical and project management skills.

• Background and drug screen

Preferred Qualifications

• Risk management, internal control, or internal audit certification(s)

Physical Requirements

Working conditions consist of a normal office environment. Work is primarily sedentary and requires extensive use of a computer and involves sitting for periods of approximately four hours. Work may require occasional standing, walking, kneeling, and reaching. Must be able to lift 10 pounds occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently. Requires visual acuity and dexterity to view, prepare, and manipulate documents and office equipment including personal computers. Requires the ability to communicate with internal and/or external customers.

Employee must be able to perform essential functions and physical requirements of position with or without reasonable accommodation.

The base pay scale for this position in:
New York, NY in USD per year is: $226,000 - $282,000.
Additionally, candidates are eligible for a discretionary incentive plan and benefits.

This pay scale is subject to change and is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific candidate, which is always dependent on legitimate factors considered at the time of job offer. Early Warning Services takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining a competitive salary offer, including, but not limited to, the job scope, market rates and geographic location of a position, candidate’s education, experience, training, and specialized skills or certification(s) in relation to the job requirements and compared with internal equity (peers). The business actively supports and reviews wage equity to ensure that pay decisions are not based on gender, race, national origin, or any other protected classes.

Some of the Ways We Prioritize Your Health and Happiness 

•  Healthcare Coverage – Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.

• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.

• Paid Time Off – Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.

• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave

• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

And SO much more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure to check our Benefits page here for the latest. Our team can share more during the interview process!

Early Warning Services, LLC (“Early Warning”) considers for employment, hires, retains and promotes qualified candidates on the basis of ability, potential, and valid qualifications without regard to race, religious creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, protected veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law, and as such affirms in policy and practice to support and promote equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws. The company also prohibits discrimination on other bases such as medical condition, marital status or any other factor that is irrelevant to the performance of our employees. 

Early Warning Services LLC is a proud participant in E-Verify, a federal program to help ensure a legal and authorized workforce. As part of our hiring process, we electronically verify the employment eligibility of all new hires through E-Verify. For more information on your rights and responsibilities under E-Verify please visit Home | E-Verify.