Senior Associate, Operational Risk

Vaco by Highspring; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

Vaco by Highspring is seeking a Senior Associate to join its enterprise risk management team in New York. The role focuses on strengthening internal controls, governance, and risk frameworks across multi-asset platforms.

You will engage with senior leadership, fund boards, and regulatory bodies to drive risk programs. The ideal candidate has 3+ years in operational risk within asset management or financial services, with hands-on experience in GRC tools and risk reporting.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in operational risk roles within asset management or financial services.
• Deep understanding of risk architecture and regulatory standards.

Responsibilities

• Maintain enterprise risk frameworks across investment strategies and governance models.
• Investigate risk events and conduct root cause analyses to improve controls.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and senior leadership on risk programs.

Skills

Risk management

Operational risk

Job description

- $100,000 - 130,000 Base Salary + Bonus. All-in Comp up to $175,000 TC.

- Hybrid (3 days in office)

- Prestigious International Alternative Asset Manager

- This is one of our favorite clients. They aren't too big, but aren't small. Their investments span PE, HF, Fixed Income strategies, servicing UHNW Individuals, Pension Plans, Charitable Organizations, Sovereign Wealth Funds, mutual fund investors, and other Institution across the globe.

- They are employee focused, and have one of the greatest cultures you can find across the FS space.

Ideal candidates will have 2-3+ years of working in Risk within a Bank. This is the Perfect opportunity to move out of a Bank and into an S+ Tier Global Alternative Asset Manager. The hiring manager is out of a bank. Another amazing aspect here is: You will work on multi-assets (see below for more on this).

About the Firm and Job:

A premier global asset management firm is seeking a Senior Associate to join its enterprise risk management team. In this position, you will support the firm\'s global operational risk strategy by tracking risk events, maintaining governance frameworks, and partnering with cross-functional business units to strengthen internal controls. This hands-on role involves constructively evaluating front-to-back operations, collaborating with international risk partners, and regularly engaging with senior leadership, fund boards, oversight committees, and regulatory bodies.

Serving as a critical bridge between local operations and international business units, this individual will drive the rollout of robust risk and resilience frameworks aligned with regulatory standards and industry benchmarks. The role offers multi-asset exposure across institutional equities, fixed income, private markets, and wealth management, providing a comprehensive, top-down view of enterprise risk across a premier investment platform.

Key Responsibilities:

• Framework Management: Maintain, refine, and embed enterprise operational risk frameworks across new and existing investment strategies, products, and governance models.
• Incident Management & Root Cause Analysis: Investigate internal risk events, perform root cause evaluations, assess control effectiveness, and monitor external industry loss events to perform preventive gap analyses.
• Deep-Dive Reviews: Lead targeted assessments of complex operational incidents, recommend control enhancements, and maintain transparent reporting for executive leadership.
• Issue & Action Management: Identify control gaps, assign remediation actions to business owners, and provide ongoing oversight through resolution.
• Risk & Control Assessments: Facilitate and manage regular Risk and Control Self-Assessments (RCSAs) across core business and operational divisions.
• Risk Systems Administration: Oversee corporate GRC software platforms, partner with senior risk leadership on system upgrades, and conduct user training across global business lines.
• Vendor & Third-Party Oversight: Perform risk evaluations for prospective vendor partnerships and support business teams through ongoing third-party due diligence.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Engage continuously with Portfolio Management, Legal & Compliance, Operations, IT, and Client Services to drive high visibility and strong risk alignment.
• Governance Reporting & Escalations: Compile executive reporting for internal risk committees, draft client breach notifications, and author escalation briefs for major operational events.
• Business Continuity Support: Collaborate with the resilience team to ensure alignment with wider business continuity initiatives.

Candidate Qualifications:

• Experience: 3+ years in operational risk roles, ideally within asset management, capital markets, or broader financial services.
• Technical Mastery: Deep understanding of operational risk architecture, risk appetite frameworks, and regulatory standards governing global investment managers.
• Systems Exposure: Hands-on experience navigating, configuring, or administering enterprise GRC and risk management software tools.

Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco/Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to the individual\'s skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, office location and other geographic considerations, as well as other business and organizational needs. With that said, as required by local law in geographies that require salary range disclosure, Vaco/Highspring notes the salary range for the role is noted in this job posting. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses, and can participate in medical, dental, and vision benefits as well as the company\'s 401(k) retirement plan.

Equal Opportunity Notice

Highspring LLC (d/b/a Vaco by Highspring) and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries ("we," "our," or "Vaco by Highspring") are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by applicable law. The company is also committed to ensuring that persons who need them are provided with reasonable accommodations; if an accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact [e-mail].

Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal.

Representation Notice

By submitting to this position, you agree that you will be giving Vaco by Highspring the exclusive right to present your as a candidate for the foregoing employment opportunity. Additionally, you agree to be included in our talent pool for future hiring for similarly qualified positions. You further agree that you have represented information about yourself accurately and have not affirmatively misrepresented your qualifications. Lastly, you agree to maintain as confidential, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any information you learn from Vaco by Highspring about the position and you will limit disclosure of information about the position only to the extent necessary to perform any obligations in furtherance of your application. In exchange, Vaco by Highspring agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to represent you through all solicitation, job screening and resume dispersal.

For residents of Ontario, Canada only: to the extent the position for employment is not with Highspring or not otherwise noted as vacant above, candidate should be informed that this role is to replace a presently employed person at Vaco by Highspring\'s client.

Privacy Notice

Vaco by Highspring respects your privacy and are committed to providing transparent notice of our policies.

• California residents may access Vaco by Highspring HR Notice at Collection for California Applicants and Employees here.
• Virginia residents may access our state specific policies here.
• Residents of all other states may access our policies here.
• Canadian residents may access our policies in English here and in French here.
• Residents of countries governed by GDPR and UK GDPR may access our policies here.

Pay Transparency Notice

Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to:

· the individual\'s skill sets, experience and training;

· licensure and certification requirements;

· office location and other geographic considerations; and

· other business and organizational needs.

With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses and/or participation in medical, dental, and vision benefits as well as the company\'s retirement plan (or similar retirement benefits).