Senior Lead Operational Risk Specialist

The Senior Lead Operational Risk Specialist acts as a functional expert and informal leader driving operational stability across EWS Operations. Utilizing sophisticated critical thinking to resolve complex, unstructured risk challenges, this individual establishes a zero-to-one management system aligned with enterprise risk frameworks. The position makes authoritative decisions in nonstandard situations affecting key business and project goals, while accurately forecasting and planning resource requirements for major risk and resilience initiatives. Collaborating as a trusted advisor across Operations, Technology, Product, DevOps, and Compliance, this leader evaluates high-impact risk scenarios and guides teams through complex problem-solving. By providing technical direction and informal mentorship, the role drives automated control implementation, optimizes resource planning, and ensures operational continuity and system availability without sacrificing execution speed. What you will do: Shape Operational Risk Strategy & Governance: Apply specialized risk expertise and informal leadership to design, deploy, and operationalize EWS Operations’ risk framework, risk appetite statements, and RCSA processes aligned to business objectives. Complex Problem-Solving & KRI Dashboards: Employ sophisticated critical thinking to analyze multifaceted risk data, constructing automated key risk indicator (KRI) reporting systems that provide executive visibility into critical operational exposures. Resource Planning & Crisis Readiness: Forecast and plan resource requirements for complex resilience initiatives; execute Business Impact Analyses to establish RTO/RPO standards and conduct crisis simulations testing system resilience in nonstandard disruption scenarios. Nonstandard Decision-Making in Security & Risk: Make critical risk and operational decisions during nonstandard security events, orchestrating cross-functional responses to mitigate operational impact and protect customer deliverable commitments. Root-Cause Analysis & Corrective Action: Lead post-event operational investigations following major incidents, deploying advanced critical thinking to diagnose root causes and establish sustainable control enhancements across teams. Forecast & Oversee Modernization Initiatives: Embed specialized operational risk evaluations into legacy system rationalization and migration projects, forecasting requirements and guiding matrixed engineering groups through technical transitions. Third-Party Risk Management: Analyze and mitigate complex operational exposures stemming from vendor integrations, API dependencies, and external platforms, establishing risk management protocols for nonstandard partner scenarios. Informal Leadership in Control Design: Partner with engineering, DevOps, and platform teams to design automated controls, providing informal leadership and guidance to ensure system stability without creating workflow bottlenecks. Specialized Subject Matter Expertise: Serve as an expert authority for resolving highly complex, nonstandard operational risk issues, mentoring junior staff and determining escalation pathways for critical enterprise risks. Regulatory & Audit Advisory: Act as a key technical liaison for internal audit and regulatory compliance, navigating complex regulatory expectations across operational workflows. What experience you need: 7+ years of progressive experience in Operational Risk Management, Technology Risk, IT Audit, or Operational Resilience within complex, cloud-enabled technology enterprise environments. Bachelor's degree Proven track record of providing informal leadership while building or scaling risk frameworks, control environments, or BCDR programs within complex technology or operational settings. Deep functional understanding of cloud environments, system dependency mapping and technology change management processes. Demonstrated critical thinking and decision-making capabilities in nonstandard situations, converting complex operational incidents into root-cause remediation plans and executive insights. Experience forecasting and planning resource requirements for large-scale risk initiatives while influencing cross-functional engineering and operations teams without direct line authority. What could set you apart: Action-Oriented Resilience: You don’t stop at logging risks; you relentlessly drive root-cause remediation and advocate for proactive safeguards. Proven Transformer : You have a demonstrated track record of evolving an organization away from reactive incident response toward automated, data-driven risk management. Cross-Functional Vision : You deeply understand the intersection of technology evolution, operational continuity, regulatory compliance, and business performance. Industry Certifications: You hold recognized credentials such as CRISC, CISA, CBCP, or ISO 31000/27001 Lead Implementer. Disruptive Thought Leadership: You actively challenge legacy controls when they slow down delivery and push for sharper, automated measures of risk and resilience. Global Team Exposure: Experience operating across distributed international teams.

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