Managing Director, First Line Risk Management

Your Opportunity

MD, First Line Risk Management Office (1RMO)

Schwab remains committed to providing increased visibility to career growth opportunities and job requirements. This posting announcement is part of increased transparency and while all qualified applicants will be reviewed and considered, a preferred candidate has been identified for this role. 

The Managing Director will provide enterprise-level leadership for the First Line Risk Management Office (1RMO) within Operational Services, advancing our horizontal, integrated approach to risk management across all First Lines of Defense (1LOD). This leader will be accountable for strengthening risk governance; driving consistent, scalable, and automated control solutions for shared and emerging risks; structuring product teams to identify and remediate enterprise risk themes; overseeing control testing across the 1LOD; and advancing firmwide business resiliency through disciplined Business Continuity Planning, Crisis Tactical Response Group (CTRG) leadership, and emergency response coordination.

Key Outcomes:

• Set the strategic direction for 1RMO, evolving the function to deliver effective, efficient, and scalable risk management practices. Lead critical risk/reward evaluations that strengthen how 1LOD Business Units perform, evidence, and mature risk management across the enterprise.
• Ensure sustained delivery against Federal Reserve Board (FRB) expectations and commitments by establishing clear direction, consistent requirements, and an operating structure that enables all 1LOD functions to execute in alignment with firm strategy, Board-established risk tolerance, and regulatory expectations.
• Provide strategic direction and ownership of risk management products designed to mitigate enterprise risk, including setting direction, securing resources, and driving outcomes that protect the firm and its clients.
• Partner with Program, Portfolio, and Platform leaders to advance risk management products, systems, and third-party capabilities, enhancing the firm’s ability to identify emerging risks, execute mitigation strategies, and measure control effectiveness.
• Define and govern a risk technology roadmap, evaluating best-in-class vendor solutions and emerging AI capabilities while maintaining executive oversight of critical third-party relationships, contracts, and associated spend.Represent 1LOD Risk Management in engagements with the FRB, including routine continuous monitoring, examinations, remediation planning, response development, and ownership of select deliverables required to address findings and close issues.
• Serve as the senior coordination point for Second Line of Defense (2LOD) functions, establishing prioritization, clarifying requirements, and developing execution plans that enable 1LOD adherence to corporate policies, standards, rules, and regulations. Champion the use of AI and automation to develop scalable controls and supporting processes that can be adopted across 1LOD Business Units.
• Oversee control testing and risk assessments across 1LOD, ensuring findings are clearly articulated, escalated, and positioned for aggregation and reporting to the Board, senior management, and executive committees.
• Lead firmwide incident and crisis management through the Crisis Tactical Response Group (CTRG) and supporting response structures. Drive root cause analysis for incidents and outages and ensure durable corrective actions reduce the likelihood and impact of recurrence.
• Own and advance the firmwide Record Retention and Surveillance Program, driving consistent demonstration of compliance with SEC Rule 17a-4, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and FINRA Rule 3110 governing supervision and surveillance of electronic communications.

What you have

Key Skills and Experience:

• 10+ years of progressively senior risk, operational, or control leadership experience within a financial services organization of comparable scale, complexity, and regulatory expectations.
• Executive-level communication and influencing skills, with the presence, credibility, and judgment to engage senior leaders, executive committees, Board-level audiences, and regulators.
• Proven enterprise change leader with demonstrated ability to drive process improvement, operational discipline, and sustained adoption of scalable risk management practices.
• Strong strategic and analytical capabilities, with sound decision-making across risk, expense, operational resiliency, client experience, and regulatory considerations.
• Demonstrated judgment in evaluating and implementing innovative technologies, vendor solutions, and automation capabilities that strengthen control effectiveness and business outcomes.
• Experience providing executive oversight of third-party relationships, including vendor performance, contract ownership, accountability structures, and associated spend.
• Proven ability to lead multiple priorities and diverse teams, set clear direction, build organizational capability, and deliver direct, balanced, and actionable feedback.
• Exceptional relationship management skills, with the executive presence and courage to navigate complex stakeholder dynamics, champion sound ideas, and raise constructive dissent when warranted.
• Strategic, mission-driven leader with deep engagement in Schwab’s business, clients, culture, and competitive landscape.
• Disciplined business leader with sound judgment in planning, budgeting, expense management, and day-to-day operating decisions.
• Undergraduate degree required.