Director The Regional Head of First Line Risk & Control Contract

@Marc Ellis is #HIRING

Role: Director, First Line Risk and Control
Location: Onsite, Abu Dhabi
Duration: 6 months (Extendable)

Job Purpose:

• Represent the ownership and management of Risk in the First Line and act as the equivalent of the Country Chief Risk Officer, helping in effective ownership of risk in the first line under the 3 Lines of Defence.
• Drive the development of a strong Risk culture and Control environment in the country, covering all financial and non-financial risks across all businesses and functions.
• Ensure an appropriate and effective control environment within all Front Office and Support activities, specifically:
  • Identification of all financial and non-financial risks.
  • Introduction and embedding of appropriate and effective risk mitigants to ensure that the inherent risk profile remains within the agreed risk appetite.
• Oversee the production of timely, relevant, and complete management information to enable Country Management to assess the effectiveness of their respective control functions in relation to their individual regulatory responsibilities.
• Work closely with the 2nd Line of Defense to support further embedding and maturity of the 3 Lines of Defense model and evolve a robust ‘Risk and Compliance’ culture across the 1 Line of Defense.
• Drive business head risk owners in embedding a comprehensive Conduct Risk framework to enable the identification, mitigation, management, and reporting of Conduct Risk.
• Drive clarity and collaboration across both the first and second lines of defense by introducing unified MI and systems that encourage and drive best practices.
• Execute all actions required based on relevant internal and external audits and work with the business for the timely closure of Audit issues.

Key Accountabilities:

• Develop, maintain, and own the Branch Risk profile covering all financial and non-financial risks.
• Own the branch’s control framework to deliver reduced risk of non-financial control breaches, incorporating cross-functional supervision of non-financial risks within the First Line of Defense.
• Deliver enhanced governance, control framework optimization, and improved responsiveness in the control framework to meet review and reporting requirements.
• Produce and provide independent MIS and reports to support and enable senior management to assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of their respective operational control environment.
• Oversee and coordinate the timely and effective production by Business Heads and Support Units of the annual ‘Risk Control Self-Assessments’ (RCSAs) and ‘Business Risk Assessments’ (BRAs).
• Conduct training and awareness sessions to strengthen a risk mitigation culture.
• Oversee the production by Business Heads of any ‘New Product’ approval requests to ensure alignment with the ‘New Product Policy’.
• Work with Business Heads for the development and implementation of department policies, procedures, and controls covering all areas of the business.
• Contribute to the formulation, implementation, and delivery of strategy in line with the organization's vision, mission, values, and priorities (from a risk perspective).
• Assist in translating strategy into operational business plans and ensure performance is monitored, reported, and necessary actions are taken to achieve strategy and plans with a focus on risk management.
• Act as a role model in First Line in relation to compliance, conduct, and standards by driving adherence to organizational values and ethics.
• Champion the development of a risk culture to drive heightened awareness and understanding of prudent risk, regulatory, and conduct practices.
• Ensure local and applicable regulatory guidelines are adhered to when rolling out policies, procedures, and reviews.
• Act as the SPOC for business management-related tasks (e.g., DLP, BCP, Compliance reviews, RCSA coordination, SOPs, Product Approvals, PPG addendums, ARCHER reporting, client onboarding documentation, and credit approvals).
• Undertake ad-hoc projects and duties assigned by the manager.

Qualifications & Experience:

• A degree in Finance, Business Management/Administration, Accounting, or a related discipline (preferred).
• More than 10 years of working experience in a financial institution.
• Previous experience in managing current and emerging financial and non-financial risk, developing risk policies and frameworks, and knowledge of risk management approaches for risks such as Information & Cyber Security, Data Privacy, Compliance, Operational Risk, Fraud, Reputational, ESG, and Business Continuity.
• Experience in developing and maintaining a relevant and current risk profile covering financial and non-financial risks for a business unit or branch.
• Demonstrated leadership capability to influence and drive senior stakeholders to establish appropriate risk norms and a strong control environment.
• Understanding of what an effective operational control environment looks like and experience in developing/managing an appropriate reporting framework.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to navigate through a ‘functions-led’ organization at all levels.
• Attention to detail and a well-organized approach to work.
• The ability to prioritize work and perform well under pressure.
• An analytical approach to problem-solving.
• Proven stakeholder management capabilities.
• Capability to manage through influence and the confidence to provide support and challenge to Senior Management and EXCO members.