Head of Risk Operations & Governance

Our client is international financial institution, they are seeking a senior risk professional to strengthen the group’s global risk operations and regulatory governance. As the company operates licensed entities across multiple jurisdictions and continues to expand internationally, this role will act as a senior bridge between the company and financial regulators worldwide — leading cross-border regulatory inquiry responses and driving the harmonisation and optimisation of internal risk and compliance operations.

Key Responsibilities

Global Regulatory Engagement & Inquiry Management

1. Serve as a senior interface between the company and financial regulators across its operating markets (e.g. Hong Kong SFC, US SEC/FINRA, Singapore MAS, Australia ASIC, Japan JFSA, Malaysia SC, Canada CSAs/CIRO).
2. Lead and orchestrate the company’s response to regulatory inquiries, examinations and information requests end-to-end — mobilising legal, compliance, operations, technology and business teams across countries; managing timelines, deliverables and the quality of responses.
3. Build and maintain trusted, professional relationships with regulators; represent the risk function in supervisory meetings and on-site examinations.
4. Anticipate regulatory expectations and emerging supervisory themes in each market; brief senior management with practical implications and action plans.

Cross-Border Coordination & Crisis Response

1. When the company is subject to regulatory questioning, act as the central coordinator — aligning colleagues in different countries, consolidating facts and documents, and ensuring consistent, accurate and timely submissions.
2. Manage high-stakes situations calmly: sequence stakeholder input, control the narrative and escalation path, and protect the company’s regulatory standing.
3. Establish a repeatable global inquiry-response playbook: intake, triage, owner mapping, response QA and post-mortem.

Risk Governance & Framework Enhancement

1. Design and enhance group-level risk governance — policies, risk appetite cascade, three-lines-of-defence positioning and committee structures — harmonised across licensed entities while respecting local regulatory nuances.
2. Translate regulatory feedback and commitments into concrete internal process improvements: control enhancements, workflow automation, monitoring and reporting upgrades.
3. Track remediation commitments through to closure, with evidence of effectiveness visible to both management and regulators.

Executive Communication & Stakeholder Management

1. Communicate risk and regulatory matters with maturity and credibility to the executive team and board committees; prepare concise, decision-ready reporting.
2. Partner with business, product, legal and compliance leaders to embed risk controls into operations without slowing the business down.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements

1. 15+ years of experience in financial services risk management, regulatory affairs or compliance, gained in large multinational financial institutions or major national/international brokers.
2. Direct, hands-on experience interfacing with financial regulators in multiple jurisdictions — including leading responses to formal regulatory inquiries or examinations.
3. Proven track record coordinating cross-border, cross-functional teams under regulatory pressure.
4. Fluent English and Chinese (written and spoken) — essential for engagement with both the Shenzhen headquarters and overseas regulators.
5. Based in Hong Kong.

Technical & Professional Skills

1. Deep knowledge of broker/dealer regulatory regimes — capital adequacy, client asset protection, margin financing, derivatives and market-conduct requirements.
2. Familiarity with risk operations disciplines: incident management, regulatory reporting, controls testing, model and operational risk.
3. Professional qualifications (FRM, CFA, CPA or legal) are a plus.

Core Competencies

1. Mature, executive-grade communication — able to hold the room with both C-suite executives and external regulators.
2. Outstanding orchestration and stakeholder management across geographies and functions.
3. Both experienced people managers and senior individual-contributor experts are welcome; a CRO-calibre candidate would also be considered. Title, team size and scope will be defined around the appointee’s seniority.