Senior Risk Management Officer

The Pension Department (PEN) is responsible for the management of the post-retirement benefit plans (referred herewith as the “Plan”) of the World Bank Group (WBG). PEN fulfills its fiduciary mandate under a strong governance framework established by the WBG, under the oversight of the Pension Finance Committee. PEN is part of the Treasury Vice Presidency. Its activities regroup the key functions that pertain to the management of the Pension Plans and are organized into three teams: Pension Investments (PENIN); Pension Middle-Office (PENMO); and Pension Administration (PENAD). PEN is a department with approximately 70 professional staff who are experts in key aspects of managing a pension Plan. PEN manages over $30 billion in assets as of end 2020 and serves approximately 17,000 Plan participants and beneficiaries.

Risk Management is at the core of PEN’s mandate and of its decision-making process. Risk Tolerance parameters are approved by the Pension Finance Committee and are closely monitored by the PENIN and PENMO teams. PEN now wishes to institutionalize the definition, monitoring and regular reporting of risk metrics with respect to the Plan’s assets and to establish a team that would be fully dedicated to such risk management and would operate independently, although in close collaboration, with the teams managing the portfolio and the benefits of the Plan.

PEN is seeking to recruit a Senior Risk Management Officer for PEN. The ideal candidate is a dynamic individual who combines expertise in the management of pension assets and in the risk management activity of a large financial investment firm or asset manager. The selected candidate will partner with a PEN professional who currently runs, maintains, and develops risk measurement systems for PEN, will work in collaboration with the relevant teams across PENIN, PENMO and PENAD, and will be responsible for the development of the risk management framework for the Pension Plan. The Senior Risk Manager will report to the PEN Director.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The responsibilities of the Senior Risk Management Officer will include the following:

Establish the Risk Management function in PEN as a second line of defense in managing risks with primary focus on:

• Defining/designing risk indicators and limits in collaboration with PEN team, with primary focus on risks inherent in investing pension plan assets via external managers.
• Measuring and monitoring risk consistently using these indicators.
• Reporting periodically, based on these indicators, to the PEN CIO, PEN Management and Portfolio Team Leads, to the VP Treasurer and Pension Finance Administrator, and to the Pension Finance Committee.

Develop the risk measurement, monitoring and reporting framework for PEN:

• Covering the activities of the three PEN teams: PENIN (Pension Investment), PENMO (Pension Middle-Office), and PENAD (administration and Benefits).
• Covering: Market Risk, Credit Risk, ALM Risk, Liquidity Risk, Currency Risk, Operational Risk.
• Assessing Credit and Counterparty risk: exposure to external managers, to trading counterparties (future/forward transactions), eligible securities, exchanges, clearing/trading platforms.
• Work in collaboration with PENIN, PENMO and PENAD teams in establishing the function, developing, and implementing the risk measurement, monitoring, and reporting framework.
• Produce a risk dashboard that will be used to report on risks to the PFC on a periodic basis.
• Develop the processes to gather and verify the data used for the risk indicators. Engage with PENIN, PENMO and PENAD to define the data they will provide and the periodic data flow. Coordinate with the point person in PENAD in charge of cyber risk and data security.
• Design a risk application to be developed once the risk function is established.
• Develop the operational risk reporting, taking over the reporting tool currently managed by Treasury Risk, Compliance and Controls (TRERC).

Selection Criteria:

• Master’s degree in Finance or CFA and ideally a professional certification with a minimum of 12-year experience.
• Extensive and direct experience of financial markets and risk management in connection with the Pension investment function in the context of a multi-asset class portfolio.
• Deep understanding and experience of the Pension Investment, in the context of the Bank, of risks faced by investing in securities and derivatives markets.
• Close familiarity with the Pension industry, with at least one of the asset classes of the Plan.
• Outstanding people skills including the ability to build a network of contacts, which can help strengthen the function.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbally and written, with the ability to convey in succinct terms the relevant message regarding risks.
• Creative and adaptative thinker, who is proactive and independent, with initiative and drive to sponsor and follow through with ideas and projects that lead to the Plan’s long-term sustainability.

Source: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=26881&site=1