Manager, Financial Risk

Description

The Manager of Financial Risk role will lead, develop, and manage the following functions and programs for the Bank: Model Risk Management Program, Stress Testing Oversight Program, Loan Review Program, Financial Risk Management Program, Concentration Monitoring Program, and Risk Analytics Program within the Second Line of Defense. This role drives strategic development, implementation, maturation, and continuous process improvements of these programs to align with the Bank’s risk appetite and support business growth. The position requires strong cross-functional collaboration across all Three Lines of Defense to identify, assess, and mitigate financial risks, while enhancing the maturity of the Bank’s enterprise risk management framework, processes, and programs. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead development and maturity of a comprehensive strategy for managing financial risk categories from a Second Line of Defense oversight perspective.
• Establish and maintain governance frameworks for the Model Risk Management, Stress Testing Oversight, Loan Review, Financial Risk Management, Concentration Monitoring, and Risk Analytics programs to align to the Bank’s risk appetite.
• Establish and manage ongoing Second Line of Defense monitoring processes for financial risk categories, model risk management and programs, including performance metrics, breach thresholds, and escalation procedures.
• Oversee the performance of internal and external model validation activities.
• Manage a process to ensure the integrity and reliability of models used in decision-making processes.
• Manage and maintain an effective model identification process to ensure all new and existing models are captured on the Bank’s model inventory prior to implementation. This includes identifying end user calculators or tools and ensuring they are governed using in a risk-based approach.
• Manage independent loan review processes on commercial loan portfolio in line with regulatory requirements and expectations.
• Establish and manage a process to provide Second Line of Defense oversight for the overall credit portfolio, potential vulnerabilities, assessing the quality of loans, credit exposure, and compliance with internal lending standards
• Enhance and expand the independent loan review process that is managed by the Second Line of Defense to include targeted reviews on loan portfolios and the securities portfolio.
• Collaborate with investment portfolio management to ensure risks are appropriately managed within the portfolio.
• Establish and lead a credible challenge processes for stress testing results and implement enterprise-wide aggregation of stress testing activities.
• Identify and monitor concentration risks across the Bank; perform portfolio-level analysis to inform management of customer demographics and attributes.
• Manages the risk scorecard process, including evaluation of established performance metrics on a periodic basis, monitoring of breach thresholds, and the its escalation process.
• Manages and develops risk reporting routines focused on metrics, issues, and risk data, including the development and integration of business unit level risk metrics.
• Develops metrics and mechanisms for monitoring, evaluating effectiveness, identifying deficiencies, and managing the Bank’s risk categories, risk controls, and KRIs.
• Develops reporting dashboards and data outputs to better inform the organization on risk trends.
• Establishes and maintains a process for monitoring to approved risk appetite levels.
• Partner with risk teams and stakeholders to align controls with identified risks; deliver training, awareness, and communication strategies for programs under management and on financial risk topics.
• Assists or manages other risk programs, as assigned.  
• Conduct regular one-on-ones to align cultural & business objectives, prioritize the most important work and coach to high performance.
• Facilitate execution through effective situational leadership tools. 
• Support engagement and action by listening to team member feedback – what’s working, what’s not – support them in initiating and executing positive changes and provide them with adequate resources.
• Support team members professionally and personally.
• Build relationships with fintech partners through effective situational leadership tools.
• Catch team members being approximately right through timely, individualized recognition.
• Promote collaboration and face-to-face interaction.

Requirements

• Minimum of 8 to 10 years of relevant experience with requisite competencies.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Risk Management or related field.
• Master’s degree or relevant certifications (FRM, CFA) preferred. 
• Proven ability to build, develop, implement, and mature risk programs, policies, processes, and controls associated with financial industry legal, regulatory, risk, and compliance obligations.
• Proven ability to develop and support the establishment of key risk indicator metrics and ensuring the monitoring and reporting of them through a robust validated, consistent, and repeatable process.
• Experience analyzing large data sets and presenting insights for decision-making.
• Skilled in using analytic platforms like Power BI, Alteryx, etc.
• Experience using Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) technologies.
• Strong understanding of risk management principles, financial risk management frameworks, model governance, credit risk, loan reviews, stress testing, concentration monitoring, and regulatory requirements.
• Experience conducting second line of defense loan review and model validation activities.
• Ability to lead program components and provide subject matter expertise.

Travel Requirement 

This position requires some travel to support business needs, including team collaboration, internal trainings, and cross-functional initiatives. The frequency and duration of travel will vary based on organizational priorities and team needs. 

Choice is #PeopleFirst, banking second.  

People don’t need just another bank. People need to be supported by a team of trusted partners who will get to know them and their business, understand their challenges, discover their dreams, and recognize the success in bringing people and banking together in our communities. 

In contributing to our culture, Choice team members are guided by our core values. 

• Embrace change and encourage innovation. 
• Know when to ask for help and know when to offer help. 
• Better the places we live. 
• Work hard. Do the right thing. Have a little fun. 

Our vision of Diversity at Choice is supported by our #PeopleFirst mission and our core values. 

Being #PeopleFirst means that Choice is committed to focusing attention and resources towards creating an environment where everyone feels respected and valued and can do their best work. Doing the right thing means encouraging employees to share their experiences and ideas, and to bring their whole authentic selves to work. Together, we can build an inclusive culture that seeks out, supports, and celebrates diverse voices. We can use our diversity to fuel creativity and innovation and bring us closer to our customers and the communities we serve. Be welcome at Choice. We can see you here. 

Disclosure 

This job description is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job.  It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements. All requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or other employees.  

All employment at Choice Financial Group is “at will” employment. This position description does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise.  

The base salary for this role is listed below. This pay range is posted to comply with wage transparency laws. The base salary may vary based on skill, ability, knowledge, experience, and geographic location. Full-time employees are also eligible for a competitive bonus and benefits package.