Counterparty Risk & Due Diligence Manager

Climb Credit, Inc.•New York, NY

25d•$80,000 - $100,000

About The Position

The Counterparty Risk & Due Diligence Manager is a critical member of the Legal & Compliance team, responsible for building and operationalizing a comprehensive due diligence function across the organization's key risk categories. This individual will own the end-to-end lifecycle of counterparty risk assessment — from initial onboarding through ongoing monitoring — for our school-client network, our vendor ecosystem, and our investor-facing obligations. This is a high-impact, cross-functional role that requires strong legal and business judgment, exceptional organizational skills, and the ability to move between detail-oriented analysis and executive-level communication.

Requirements

3–6 years of experience in due diligence, risk management, compliance, legal operations, or a related field
Demonstrated experience conducting counterparty, vendor, or third-party risk assessments
Strong written communication skills; experience drafting risk memos, DDQ responses, compliance reports, and/or policies and procedures
Familiarity with sanctions screening, KYC/KYB processes, and regulatory compliance frameworks
Highly organized with strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously
Proficiency with due diligence tools, data room platforms, and productivity software, including but not limited to: Google Suite, Slack, SalesForce, Atlassian, Microsoft PowerBI
Willingness to take ownership of processes and implement changes

Nice To Haves

Experience in a legal, compliance, or risk function at a technology company, financial services firm, consumer lender, or similarly regulated industry
Familiarity with investor due diligence processes, including DDQ completion and data room management
Familiarity with Vendor RFPs and due diligence
Experience building or scaling a due diligence or third-party risk management program from an early-stage foundation
Knowledge of EdTech, education-sector regulatory requirements, or school/Title IV contracting frameworks (highly preferred given our school counterparty focus)
Knowledge of credit, application and/or lending data analysis and ability to apply that analysis to processes

Responsibilities

Conduct and document initial due diligence on all new school, client, and partner counterparties, including legal entity verification, regulatory standing, financial screening, sanctions and watchlist checks, and reputational review
Maintain and improve the Initial onboarding due diligence framework
Maintain and improve the existing client recurring due diligence framework; conduct ad hoc and schedule due diligence reviews on existing partners
Conduct or coordinate background research, reference checks, and third-party database screenings (TransUnion/TLO, OFAC, sanctions, litigation history, etc.)
Produce standardized risk assessment reports and escalate material findings to senior leadership
Create a counterparty risk system or rubric for new and existing clients
Work closely with the Revenue Team to increase efficiency in onboarding, and meet current SLAs
Iterate and Improve upon the current process by adding new inputs, scoping new vendors, and recommending process improvement
Develop and maintain the organization's counterparty risk management policy and related procedures
Build and maintain a risk intelligence infrastructure, including screening tools, database subscriptions, and tracking systems
Produce periodic reporting for leadership on diligence activity, pipeline, open risk items, and enhancement recommendations
Identify and recommend process improvements to increase diligence quality, speed, and scalability
Serve as a thought leader and document owner in improving upon existing policies and procedures
Build and own a vendor risk tiering framework (critical, significant, standard) with corresponding diligence requirements
Lead pre-contract due diligence for new vendors, including financial reviews, security assessments, and compliance checks.
Improve the current Vendor Onboarding procedure
Coordinate with Finance, IT, and Legal to ensure contract terms reflect identified risks
Own the vendor inventory and risk register; conduct periodic performance and risk reviews
Support vendor monitoring and offboarding processes to ensure appropriate data, access, and contractual wind-down
Serve as the primary point of coordination for all incoming due diligence requests
Delegate, review work product, and deliver DD questionnaire responses in coordination with Compliance, Finance, and Operations
Track and manage timelines and document versions across concurrent investor processes
Implement lessons learned from each DD cycle to continuously improve the readiness of our response package