Senior Risk Leader, ERISA & Retirement Services

The Vanguard Group; Malvern (Chester County); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Vanguard’s Workplace Solutions division seeks a Senior Divisional Risk Advisor to shape and elevate our ERISA-focused risk program for retirement services. You’ll guide risk strategy, partner with senior leaders, and drive controls across operations, technology, and client service.

You bring eight+ years in risk management within retirement services, strong ERISA and fiduciary knowledge, and a record of leading cross‑functional risk initiatives in a complex, hybrid environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum eight years related work experience with 5 years of experience in risk management within retirement services, trust/custody, or related fiduciary operations, with deep command of ERISA (fiduciary duties, plan operations, fee disclosures), IRS rules, and DOL oversight.
• Hands-on mastery of operational risk frameworks and control assurance (control design, testing, monitoring, reporting). You know what “good” looks like – and how to build it.
• Exceptional communicator and strategic thinker who shapes outcomes through strong judgement, clarity of message, and an ability to bring stakeholders along.
• A natural explorer who asks sharp questions, seeks context, learns fast, and brings external insight into conversation.

Responsibilities

• Lead the divisional risk strategy.
• Set the vision and roadmap for a risk program.
• Design, implement, and continuously evolve risk capabilities, ensuring stakeholders understand priorities, trade-offs, and emerging risk themes.
• Embed ERISA-centric fiduciary risk management.
• Provide authoritative guidance on ERISA fiduciary standards and obligations, IRS requirements, and trust/custody controls to strengthen decision-making across complex business operations and strategies.
• Strengthen controls & assurance. Establish robust risk and control oversight, including adherence to standards, meaningful performance metrics, and executive-ready reporting.
• Advise on control design, monitoring, and assurance; direct targeted testing; identify root causes; and drive effective, timely remediation.
• Advise on change & innovation. Engage early with teams advancing new services, solutions, and operating model changes, and platform enhancements.
• Ensure innovation is supported by thoughtful control design and proactive risk mitigation.
• Provide credible challenge & oversight. Bring an independent perspective to risk acceptance decisions; prioritize existing and emerging risks; enable risk-informed decision making across the division.
• Cultivate a risk-smart culture. Build trusting relationships and serve as a thought partner to business leaders while stewarding adoption of enterprise frameworks and standards.
• Represent the division. Partner with enterprise risk, legal, compliance, audit, and external stakeholders; participate in special projects and industry forums to keep the program current.

Skills

ERISA expertise

Risk management

Stakeholder leadership

Regulatory knowledge

Fiduciary duties

Education

Undergraduate degree

MBA / JD / MS preferred

Job description

Vanguard’s Workplace Solutions division seeks a Senior Divisional Risk Advisor to shape and elevate our ERISA-focused risk program for retirement services. You’ll guide risk strategy, partner with senior leaders, and drive controls across operations, technology, and client service.

You bring eight+ years in risk management within retirement services, strong ERISA and fiduciary knowledge, and a record of leading cross‑functional risk initiatives in a complex, hybrid environment.