Joint Managing Partner
Funds & Investment Management | Executive
Designated Person – Operational Risk Management
Job ref: 51491
LocationDublin City Centre
SectorFunds & Investment Management
Job typePermanent
Salary€60,000 - €120,000
DESIGNATED PERSON – OPERATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT
Dublin
Its platform services include product development, platform management, operations, ETP capital markets, marketing and distribution, providing an efficient way to bring ETPs to market, lowering the barriers to entry, reducing costs and increasing speed-to-market.
Founded by experienced ETP entrepreneurs, the business brings together a highly knowledgeable team with extensive experience of launching, managing and distributing ETPs.
Our client’s Central Bank of Ireland-authorised UCITS management company manages a large and growing range of UCITS ETFs across several Irish ICAVs, with multi-billion platform assets and a busy launch pipeline.
The management company relies on group and external providers for portfolio management, administration, depositary and distribution services, and is investing in its people and systems. The role has real scope to shape how operational risk is managed, and would suit an experienced operational risk professional who wants that influence.
This is a full-time, permanent role based in Dublin (hybrid, three days a week in the office), reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, with direct access to the Board and the Chair of the Risk Committee.
Responsibilities for this position include:
Operational risk framework
For a confidential chat on this role, contact Anne Keys on anne@thepanel.com
Dublin
Company Overview
Our client is an independent, full service, white label provider of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) in Europe. It offers a fully managed UCITS Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) solution for asset managers and other financial institutions seeking to enter the European ETP market.Its platform services include product development, platform management, operations, ETP capital markets, marketing and distribution, providing an efficient way to bring ETPs to market, lowering the barriers to entry, reducing costs and increasing speed-to-market.
Founded by experienced ETP entrepreneurs, the business brings together a highly knowledgeable team with extensive experience of launching, managing and distributing ETPs.
Our client’s Central Bank of Ireland-authorised UCITS management company manages a large and growing range of UCITS ETFs across several Irish ICAVs, with multi-billion platform assets and a busy launch pipeline.
Position Overview
An opportunity has arisen for a Designated Person for Operational Risk Management to join the Dublin team. This is a senior role and a pre-approval controlled function (PCF-39B) under the Central Bank of Ireland’s Fitness and Probity regime, subject to Central Bank approval. The role holder is responsible for the management company’s operational risk framework, its oversight of third-party arrangements and its management of ICT risk and digital operational resilience, and reports to the Board on each.The management company relies on group and external providers for portfolio management, administration, depositary and distribution services, and is investing in its people and systems. The role has real scope to shape how operational risk is managed, and would suit an experienced operational risk professional who wants that influence.
This is a full-time, permanent role based in Dublin (hybrid, three days a week in the office), reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, with direct access to the Board and the Chair of the Risk Committee.
Responsibilities for this position include:
Operational risk framework
- Own the operational risk elements of the Risk Management Framework and the risk appetite statement, and keep them under review.
- Maintain the risk register, key risk indicators and risk and control self-assessments, and make sure risks are assessed consistently across the business and its delegates.
- Own the incident and error log, and make sure incidents are investigated to root cause, remediated, escalated and, where required, reported to the Central Bank.
- Challenge the business and its delegates on operational risk, and escalate where risks sit outside appetite.
- Own the third-party risk management policy and the third-party arrangement register, and make sure the register meets the Central Bank’s requirements and can be provided on request.
- Lead critical or important assessments, initial and periodic due diligence and ongoing oversight of the fund administrators, depositaries, intragroup service providers and other material service providers, working with the Designated Persons who oversee investment managers and distributors.
- Oversee service levels and KPIs, exit plans and substitutability assessments, and the contractual standards required of providers.
- Make sure the Central Bank is notified of new or changed critical or important arrangements on time.
- Own the ICT risk management framework and the management company’s compliance with DORA, including the register of information, ICT third-party risk and the digital operational resilience testing programme.
- Work with the group Head of ICT, who runs ICT operations, information security and ICT providers day to day. Review and challenge ICT risk assessments, controls and test results, and report on ICT risk to the Board.
- Make sure major ICT-related incidents are classified and reported to the Central Bank within the required timelines.
- Make sure contracts for ICT services, including intragroup services, meet DORA requirements.
- Maintain the operational resilience framework, including important business services and impact tolerances.
- Own business continuity and disaster recovery planning and testing, including testing with key delegates.
- Lead the selection and implementation of a governance, risk and compliance (GRC) system, working with the Designated Person for Regulatory Compliance, and move the risk register, incident log, third-party register and oversight evidence onto it.
- Make sure the function’s records, data and evidence are complete and ready for Board, auditor and Central Bank review.
- Prepare quarterly Designated Person reports for the Board and contribute operational risk content to the Board risk report.
- Attend and contribute to the Risk Committee and other committees of the management company as required.
- Engage with the Central Bank on operational risk matters, including supervisory queries, inspections and regulatory returns, and track regulatory change affecting the function.
- Line manage the Designated Person Support – Fund and Operational Risk, who also has a dotted line to the Designated Person for Fund Risk Management.
- Direct external advisers and consultants engaged by the function.
Requirements
Essential
- Extensive experience in operational risk in Irish-regulated financial services, for example at a UCITS management company, AIFM, MiFID investment firm, fund administrator or depositary, either holding a pre-approval controlled function or working closely in support of one.
- Practical experience of designing, implementing and running an operational risk framework, covering risk appetite, risk registers, incident management, key risk indicators and control assessment.
- Hands-on experience of DORA implementation, including ICT risk frameworks, the register of information and incident reporting.
- Practical knowledge of outsourcing and third-party risk management, including due diligence, critical or important assessments and exit planning.
- Sound knowledge of the Central Bank’s requirements for fund management companies (CP86 / Fund Management Companies Guidance) and its outsourcing and operational resilience guidance.
- Experience of writing for boards and committees and of engaging with the Central Bank.
- Able to meet the Central Bank’s Fitness and Probity standards for a PCF role.
- Degree in finance, economics, business, law or a related discipline.
- Right to work in Ireland.
- Experience of selecting or implementing a GRC system.
- Experience of UCITS ETFs and of overseeing delegated investment managers, administrators and depositaries.
- Data skills (e.g. SQL, Python or Power BI).
- A relevant professional qualification (e.g. PRM, Institute of Banking risk or compliance qualifications, ACCA, CFA).
- High level of honesty, integrity, accountability and a team player.
- Exceptional attention to detail, able to work to tight deadlines and balance multiple tasks without compromising quality and accuracy.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, small team environment with a high degree of individual autonomy, and receiving direct, honest feedback.
- Proactive in identifying issues and improvements, and in following actions through to completion.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to challenge external providers constructively.
- A desire to keep up to date with industry and regulatory developments and to drive their own professional development.
- Our client is a dynamic growth business, and the role would suit candidates who are flexible and adaptable in their approach to help achieve its business objectives.
For a confidential chat on this role, contact Anne Keys on anne@thepanel.com
