Head of Operational Risk Oversight – Capital Markets

BMO; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Accident and life insurance

Retirement savings plans

Job summary

BMO is seeking a Director, T&O Operational Risk Officer for Capital Markets & Commercial Banking in Chicago. You will establish a new risk oversight capability, lead end-to-end reviews, and drive integrated risk insights across multiple risk domains.

You will lead a geographically distributed team, develop risk profiles, and partner with executives to improve risk management and resilience. Strong leadership and communication are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Risk Management, Information Technology, Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in Operational Risk, Technology Risk, Enterprise Risk, Internal Audit, Risk Consulting, or related disciplines within a large financial institution.
• Professional certifications such as CRISC, FRM, PRM, CISA, CIA or equivalent risk, audit, cybersecurity, technology, or governance certifications.
• Strong understanding of Capital Markets, Commercial Banking, and supporting banking operations.
• Significant experience conducting end-to-end risk assessments, operational risk reviews, thematic reviews, or enterprise-wide risk assessments.
• Experience assessing business processes, technology environments, control frameworks, and operational risks.
• Broad understanding of technology, cyber, data, AI, fraud, operational resilience, and related risk domains.
• Demonstrated ability to identify thematic concerns, systemic risks, interdependencies, and cumulative risk exposure.
• Proven people leadership and stakeholder management experience.
• Strong policy, standards, and methodology development experience.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and executive storytelling skills.

Responsibilities

• Establish and lead the business unit operational risk oversight model.
• Lead end-to-end Integrated Operational Risk Reviews across critical business units and business processes.
• Assess process design, technology dependencies, control effectiveness, operational outcomes, and residual risk.
• Develop business unit risk profiles and assess cumulative risk exposure.
• Integrate insights across operational, technology, cyber, data, AI, fraud, physical security, and resilience risk domains.
• Identify key risk drivers, emerging risks, thematic concerns, and systemic issues.
• Deliver actionable risk insights and recommendations to management.
• Analyze significant incidents, loss events, issues, audit findings, and control assessments.
• Assess the impact of negative outcomes on the business unit risk profile.
• Identify recurring themes, root causes, and systemic concerns.
• Develop proactive recommendations to reduce risk and improve operational resilience.
• Enhance executive reporting through clear risk narratives and business-focused insights.
• Translate complex operational and technology risks into meaningful business impacts.
• Present risk themes, emerging risks, and review outcomes to senior management and governance forums.
• Partner with Business OROs, RSA teams, technology leaders, and business stakeholders to drive risk-informed decision-making.
• Lead and develop a geographically distributed team, including direct oversight of team members supporting operational risk activities across North America, Europe, and Asia, while ensuring consistent methodologies, execution standards, and stakeholder engagement.
• Establish consistent review methodologies, reporting standards, and effective challenge practices.
• Build organizational capability in integrated risk reviews, thematic analysis, and systemic risk identification.

Skills

Executive communication

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Executive storytelling

Risk assessment

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business/Finance/Risk Management/IT/Engineering/CS

Tools

CRISC

FRM

PRM

CISA

CIA

Job description

BMO is seeking a Director, T&O Operational Risk Officer for Capital Markets & Commercial Banking in Chicago. You will establish a new risk oversight capability, lead end-to-end reviews, and drive integrated risk insights across multiple risk domains.

You will lead a geographically distributed team, develop risk profiles, and partner with executives to improve risk management and resilience. Strong leadership and communication are essential.