Principal, Private Credit Risk Management

Principal Private Credit Risk Management

At USAA, our mission is to empower our members to achieve financial security through highly competitive products, exceptional service and trusted advice. We seek to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families.

Embrace a fulfilling career at USAA, where our core values honesty, integrity, loyalty and service define how we treat each other and our members. Be part of what truly makes us special and impactful.

We are proud to support active-duty military spouses. USAA roles may offer remote or hybrid flexibility for active-duty military spouses consistent with applicable policy and business needs.

The Opportunity

This role requires a seasoned professional to manage and oversee risk within the Private Credit book of business, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives. The Principal will be instrumental in enhancing the existing risk framework and applying it across the entire Second Line of Defense (SLOD) Private Credit lifecycle. A key aspect of this position involves identifying and prioritizing capabilities needed to effectively manage risk and support strategic execution. This includes deep expertise in covenant oversight, comprehensive asset manager due diligence and monitoring, and leveraging industry best practices derived from leading insurance LPs and institutional allocators. The Principal will play a crucial role in the oversight of private credit risk management and communicating this vision to leadership.

We offer a flexible work environment that requires an individual to be in the office 4 days per week. This position can be based in one of the following locations: San Antonio, TX, Plano, TX, Phoenix, AZ, Colorado Springs, CO, Charlotte, NC, or Tampa, FL.

Relocation assistance is available for this position.

Key Responsibilities:

• Risk Framework Development and Implementation: Enhance and operationalize the private credit risk framework, ensuring its consistent application across all stages of the credit lifecycle. This involves bringing a proprietary risk perspective and calibrating it with leadership to establish a comprehensive blueprint.
• Independent Covenant Monitoring and Challenge: Provide independent oversight and challenge of the first line of defense's loan covenant monitoring and enforcement activities. This involves analyzing covenant structures, assessing the effectiveness of monitoring processes, identifying potential covenant breaches, and evaluating proposed remediation plans to ensure adherence to agreed-upon terms and protect the institution's assets and investor capital.
• Asset Manager Due Diligence and Monitoring: Conduct thorough due diligence on potential and existing asset managers, assessing their underwriting capabilities, operational processes, risk management frameworks, and compliance with best practices. This includes ongoing monitoring of their performance, risk characteristics, and adherence to investment guidelines, drawing on relevant client experience and practitioner insights.
• Portfolio Risk Management: Oversee the day-to-day operations of the private credit investment portfolio, ensuring alignment with approved investment guidelines and risk parameters. Manage and monitor the risk and return drivers within the portfolio, including assessing concentration risk and liquidity.
• Strategic Challenge and Influence: Provide a strong, independent challenge to First Line of Defense (FLOD) activities, risk metrics, and established risk limits. Influence private credit tactical and strategic asset allocation recommendations and provide expert counsel with financial implications to senior leaders. This includes delivering an executive risk narrative that links initiatives to underlying risks and strategic objectives.
• Capability Identification and Enhancement: Identify critical capability needs within the risk management function and champion initiatives to build the necessary expertise and infrastructure to support strategic objectives. This involves facilitating capability workshops, discussing leading practices, and defining enhancement initiatives.
• Reporting and Communication: Communicate complex risk analyses and findings concisely to senior stakeholders, committees, and investment professionals. Ensure transparent and accurate reporting to senior leaders, translating complex findings into a prioritized capability narrative.
• Market Expertise: Maintain expert knowledge of financial markets, emerging risks, and complex asset classes relevant to private credit, including asset-backed securities, direct lending, and private infrastructure debt. This includes understanding observed failure modes and how structural features of private credit elevate management complexity.
• Collaboration: Work closely with internal teams, including investment, underwriting, legal, and finance, to align private credit strategy and ensure operational excellence. Engage with stakeholders across the 2nd-line lifecycle to discuss capabilities and the effectiveness of risk metrics, analytics, and reporting.

Minimum Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Economics, Finance, Accounting, or a related quantitative discipline.
• Alternatively, four additional years of experience in a quantitative discipline may substitute for a degree.
• 10 years of experience as a financial analyst, portfolio manager, or researcher
• 5-6 years of experience with managing, monitoring, and/or oversight of a private credit book of business
• Experience with covenant analysis, loan documentation, and asset manager due diligence and monitoring processes.
• Demonstrated strategy development and thought leadership within the asset management industry.
• Leading-edge knowledge and expertise in theories, techniques, and technologies within the financial risk industry, with a focus on private credit.
• Ability to interpret financial data, assess market trends, and perform due diligence.
• Proficiency in financial modeling, Excel, and financial software for the analysis of large datasets
• Expert knowledge of financial markets and emerging risks impacting investment portfolio performance, specifically within private credit.
• Expert knowledge of complex asset classes such as asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities, and/or alternative investments.
• Mastery of consulting skills with proven experience communicating analytical and modeling results to non-technical business partners, with an emphasis on business recommendations and actionable applications of results.
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or Financial Risk Manager (FRM) professional designation is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with Value-at-Risk (VaR), stress testing, and scenario analysis
• Familiarity with insurance industry regulations and risk management expectations for Limited Partnerships (LPs).

What sets you apart:

• Leads Second Line of Defense (SLOD) risk oversight for the Private Credit portfolio, ensuring alignment with enterprise risk appetite and strategic objectives.
• Drives the design and enhancement of the Private Credit risk framework, embedding robust governance, controls, and lifecycle risk monitoring.
• Oversees covenant compliance and credit risk exposures, proactively identifying issues and ensuring adherence to investment guidelines.
• Directs comprehensive asset manager due diligence and ongoing monitoring, leveraging best practices from institutional allocators and insurance LPs.
• Partners with senior leadership to define and communicate the vision for Private Credit risk management, enabling informed, data-driven decisions.
• Translates complex credit and quantitative risk concepts into clear, actionable insights for executive and non-technical stakeholders.
• Leads cross-functional initiatives with strong project management and organizational discipline, delivering high-quality outcomes in fast-paced environments.

Compensation range: The salary range for this position is: $189,370 - $361,950.

USAA does not provide visa sponsorship for this role. Please do not apply for this role if at any time (now or in the future) you will need immigration support (i.e., H-1B, TN, STEM OPT Training Plans, etc.).

Compensation: USAA has an effective process for assessing market data and establishing ranges to ensure we remain competitive. You are paid within the salary range based on your experience and market data of the position. The actual salary for this role may vary by location.

Employees may be eligible for pay incentives based on overall corporate and individual performance and at the discretion of the USAA Board of Directors.

The above description reflects the details considered necessary to describe the principal functions of the job and should not be construed as a detailed description of all the work requirements that may be performed in the job.

Benefits: At USAA our employees enjoy best-in-class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellness. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans, 401(k), pension, life insurance, parental benefits, adoption assistance, paid time off program with paid holidays plus 16 paid volunteer hours, and various wellness programs. Additionally, our career path planning and continuing education assists employees with their professional goals.

For more details on our outstanding benefits, visit our benefits page on USAAjobs.com.

Applications for this position are accepted on an ongoing basis, this posting will remain open until the position is filled. Thus, interested candidates are encouraged to apply the same day they view this posting.

USAA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.