Risk Officer

About the role

As a Risk Officer at Zodia Custody, you will be responsible for designing and enhancing the enterprise-wide risk management framework, conducting risk assessments, and advising the executive team on strategic risks. Your role will involve managing operational, financial, and reputational risks while collaborating with technology teams to address cybersecurity challenges.

You will also foster a risk-aware culture within the organization, ensuring effective communication and training on risk management practices. The position requires a proactive approach and strong leadership skills, as you will be influencing senior stakeholders and managing incident responses in a fast-paced environment.

Skills that matter here

• Risk Management: This role heavily relies on risk management expertise to develop frameworks and oversee the risk function.
• Regulatory Understanding: Knowledge of UAE regulations and frameworks is crucial for compliance and risk assessment.
• Leadership: Leadership experience is important for managing teams and influencing stakeholders effectively.
• Communication: Exceptional communication skills are necessary for conveying risk-related information clearly to various stakeholders.

Who this role suits

• A professional with over 7 years of experience in risk management within financial services.
• Someone who is proactive, detail-oriented, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.
• A leader with a strong ability to manage teams and influence senior stakeholders.
• An individual with a keen interest in digital assets and blockchain technology.

From the employer

Key Responsibilities

• Enterprise Risk Management: Design and enhance an enterprise-wide risk management framework and conduct comprehensive risk assessments.
• Strategic Risk Advising: Act as a risk advisor to the executive team and board.
• Operational Risk Management: Identify, mitigate, and manage operational risks.
• Technology and Cybersecurity: Collaborate with tech teams to address cybersecurity risks and develop cybersecurity policies.
• Financial Risk Management: Handle financial risks including credit, market, and liquidity, and oversee stress-testing.
• Reputational Risk Management: Monitor and manage potential risks to Tungsten's reputation and develop crisis management strategies.
• Risk Analytics and Reporting: Set up risk analytics/reporting frameworks and provide regular reports.
• Risk Culture and Training: Foster risk awareness across the organization and design risk management training.
• Act as Incident Manager for risk, compliance, and operational incidents in the absence of a dedicated Incident Manager appointment, ensuring incidents are identified, logged, triaged, and escalated without delay.
• Coordinate the immediate response to incidents, including engagement of relevant stakeholders (Technology, Operations, Legal, Senior Management) and, where applicable, external parties.
• Ensure incidents are assessed for regulatory notification obligations and that any required notifications to the regulator are made within prescribed timeframes.
• Maintain an incident log/register capturing root cause, impact assessment, remediation actions, and lessons learned.
• Escalate material incidents to senior management and the Board in accordance with the entity's escalation thresholds and reporting protocols.
• Support post-incident review and ensure remediation actions are tracked to closure.
• Risk Appetite Statement — Ownership and Governance: Own and maintain the Risk Appetite Statement (RAS), ensuring it remains current, board-approved, and reflective of the entity's risk-taking capacity and strategic objectives.
• Define and maintain documented escalation thresholds across all material risk categories, ensuring breaches of risk appetite are identified on a timely basis.
• Establish and maintain breach reporting protocols, ensuring any breach of risk appetite thresholds is reported to senior management and, where material, to the Board, with appropriate detail on cause, impact, and remediation.
• Operate with independence from business and revenue-generating functions in the exercise of risk oversight responsibilities, free from undue influence in risk assessment, reporting, or escalation.
• Be subject to conflict-of-interest safeguards, including a requirement to declare any actual or potential conflicts and to recuse from decisions where independence may be compromised.

Requirements

• 7+ years’ experience in a Risk Management function within financial services.
• Previous Risk experience developing risk governance frameworks and overseeing a risk function.
• Regulatory Understanding in UAE, ADGM, FSRA and VARA regulatory frameworks.
• Existing knowledge of developing and managing Risk Governance Frameworks, Enterprise Risk Management, Incident Management, Disaster Recovery and undertaking Business Risk Assessments.
• Strong delivery mindset — proactive, detail-oriented and comfortable operating at pace.
• Leadership experience managing teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Knowledge of digital asset regulation and associated risks; strong interest in blockchain technology.
• UAE residency eligible and ability to work regularly from ADGM.
• Exceptional communication skills and a reputation for integrity, transparency and trust.
• Desirable: Experience in digital asset firms, custody, or blockchain analytics tools.

Benefits

• We are a friendly team, with monthly socials and seasonal celebrations as well as offering a range of fantastic benefits including:
• Competitive salary
• Private health care
• Generous Annual Leave
• Flexible working arrangements (subject to agreement).