Risk Officer

About the company

Role overview

Key responsibilities

• Design and enhance an enterprise-wide risk management framework and conduct comprehensive risk assessments.
• Advise the executive team and board on strategic risk; identify, mitigate, and manage operational risks.
• Collaborate with technology teams on cybersecurity risks and develop cybersecurity policies.
• Manage credit, market, and liquidity risks and oversee stress testing.
• Monitor reputational risks and develop crisis management strategies.
• Establish risk analytics and reporting frameworks and provide regular reports.
• Promote risk awareness and design risk management training.
• Act as incident manager in the absence of a dedicated appointee; ensure incidents are identified, logged, triaged, and promptly escalated.
• Coordinate incident response with relevant internal stakeholders and external parties where applicable.
• Assess regulatory notification obligations and ensure required notifications are made within prescribed timeframes.
• Maintain incident records covering root cause, impact, remediation, and lessons learned; escalate material incidents to senior management and the Board.
• Support post-incident reviews and track remediation actions to closure.

Risk appetite ownership and governance

• Own and maintain a current, board-approved Risk Appetite Statement reflecting the entity’s risk capacity and strategic objectives.
• Define and maintain escalation thresholds across material risk categories and identify breaches promptly.
• Maintain breach reporting protocols for senior management and the Board, including cause, impact, and remediation details.
• Exercise risk oversight independently from business and revenue-generating functions, without undue influence.
• Follow conflict-of-interest safeguards, declare actual or potential conflicts, and recuse from decisions where independence may be compromised.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of risk management experience within financial services.
• Experience developing risk governance frameworks and overseeing a risk function.
• Understanding of UAE, ADGM, FSRA, and VARA regulatory frameworks.
• Knowledge of risk governance, enterprise risk management, incident management, disaster recovery, and business risk assessments.
• Leadership experience managing teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Knowledge of digital asset regulation and associated risks; strong interest in blockchain technology.
• Eligible for UAE residency and able to work regularly from ADGM.
• Exceptional communication skills and a reputation for integrity, transparency, and trust.
• Digital asset firm, custody, or blockchain analytics tools experience is desirable.
• Proactive, detail-oriented, delivery-focused, and comfortable operating at pace.

Benefits

• Benefits include private healthcare, generous annual leave, monthly team socials, seasonal celebrations, and flexible working arrangements subject to agreement.

Workplace

• The role is in the ADGM and requires regular work from ADGM. Flexible working arrangements are subject to agreement.