Senior Manager – Operational Risk

Finance House; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 350,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Finance House in Abu Dhabi seeks a Senior Manager – Operational Risk to lead development and implementation of the Bank's risk management frameworks, with a strong focus on digital banking, AI-enabled processes, and fraud prevention. You will collaborate with Digital Banking, Technology, Operations, Compliance, and Audit to strengthen controls and support safe growth of digital operations.

You will oversee risk assessments, monitor events and vulnerabilities, and develop risk indicators,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Business Administration, Risk Management, Accounting, Economics, Technology, or related discipline.
• Master's Degree preferred.
• 10+ years of Operational Risk, Fraud Risk, Enterprise Risk, or related experience in banking, financial services, fintech, or digital banking environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development, implementation, and enhancement of the Bank's Operational Risk Management Framework.
• Identify, assess, monitor, and report operational risks across business, operational, digital, and technology functions.
• Develop risk governance standards, methodologies, policies, and procedures aligned with regulatory expectations and industry best practices.
• Provide oversight and challenge of operational risk assessments conducted across business units.
• Monitor operational risk events, losses, near misses, control failures, and emerging risks.
• Ensure timely identification and remediation of control weaknesses and operational vulnerabilities.
• Review business processes, operating models, products, policies, outsourcing arrangements, and third-party relationships to identify operational risk exposures.
• Track and monitor remediation actions arising from audits, regulatory reviews, risk assessments, and control reviews.

Skills

Operational Risk

Fraud Risk

Risk Analytics

Regulatory Compliance

Digital Banking

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Finance/ Risk Management

Master's Degree preferred

Job description

The Senior Manager – Operational Risk is responsible for developing, implementing, and enhancing the Bank's Operational Risk and Fraud Risk Management frameworks, with a strong focus on digital banking, emerging technologies, AI-enabled processes, and fraud prevention. The role will provide independent oversight and challenge to the business while supporting the safe growth of digital banking operations through proactive risk management, data-driven insights, and effective fraud controls.

The incumbent will work closely with Digital Banking, Technology, Operations, Product, Compliance, Internal Audit, and Business teams to strengthen the control environment, reduce operational losses, prevent fraud, and ensure compliance with regulatory expectations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development, implementation, and enhancement of the Bank's Operational Risk Management Framework.
• Identify, assess, monitor, and report operational risks across business, operational, digital, and technology functions.
• Develop risk governance standards, methodologies, policies, and procedures aligned with regulatory expectations and industry best practices.
• Provide oversight and challenge of operational risk assessments conducted across business units.
• Monitor operational risk events, losses, near misses, control failures, and emerging risks.
• Ensure timely identification and remediation of control weaknesses and operational vulnerabilities.
• Review business processes, operating models, products, policies, outsourcing arrangements, and third-party relationships to identify operational risk exposures.
• Track and monitor remediation actions arising from audits, regulatory reviews, risk assessments, and control reviews.

Digital Operational Risk

• Establish risk oversight for digital banking platforms, customer onboarding processes, payment systems, lending platforms, and digital customer journeys.
• Review technology-enabled processes and automation initiatives from an operational risk perspective.
• Support the development of risk governance for AI-enabled, automated, and data-driven processes.
• Assess risks arising from digital transformation initiatives, fintech partnerships, cloud-based environments, and emerging technologies.
• Develop risk indicators and monitoring mechanisms for digital operations.
• Develop and maintain the Bank's Fraud Risk Management Framework.
• Lead fraud risk assessments across Customer onboarding, Digital banking channels, Payments and transfers, Lending activities, Cards and transaction banking and Internal fraud risks.
• Develop fraud risk appetite metrics, policies, standards, and reporting frameworks.
• Identify emerging fraud threats, fraud typologies, and vulnerabilities impacting the Bank.
• Drive the implementation and enhancement of fraud monitoring, fraud detection, and fraud prevention capabilities.
• Review fraud controls across digital and operational processes.
• Analyze fraud incidents and loss events to identify root causes and strengthen preventive controls.
• Work closely with business, compliance, and technology teams to improve fraud detection effectiveness.
• Develop management dashboards and reporting covering operational risk and fraud risk exposures.
• Establish Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), loss metrics, fraud trends, and early warning indicators.
• Utilize data analytics to identify risk patterns, trends, and emerging issues.
• Prepare high-quality reports and presentations for Senior Management, Executive Committees, and Board Risk Committees.
• Support data-driven decision-making through meaningful risk intelligence and insights.

Operational Resilience & Control Environment

• Support the development of operational resilience capabilities across critical business services.
• Assess operational dependencies, third-party risks, technology risks, and process vulnerabilities.
• Strengthen control effectiveness across business and operational functions.
• Promote continuous improvement in risk culture and control awareness across the organization.

Regulatory & Governance Responsibilities

• Monitor regulatory developments relating to operational risk, fraud risk, operational resilience, digital banking, and emerging technologies.
• Ensure compliance with applicable Central Bank and regulatory requirements.
• Act as a trusted risk advisor to business and operational stakeholders.
• Support regulatory reviews, inspections, and risk-related management responses.
• Deliver risk awareness programs and training initiatives across the Bank.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Business Administration, Risk Management, Accounting, Economics, Technology, or a related discipline.
• Master's Degree preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years of Operational Risk, Fraud Risk, Enterprise Risk, or related experience within banking, financial services, fintech, or digital banking environments.
• Minimum 5 years in a managerial or leadership position.
• Proven experience in developing and implementing Operational Risk and Fraud Risk frameworks.
• Experience supporting digital banking operations, payment systems, customer onboarding, and technology-enabled business models.
• Strong understanding of operational risk governance, fraud prevention, risk analytics, and regulatory expectations.
• Experience engaging with senior management, regulators, auditors, and key stakeholders.