Director, First Line Risk – Trust & Fiduciary Services

Citizens•Johnston, RI

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Citizens currently has an opening for the Director of Trust & Fiduciary Services within Citizens Wealth Management. This key leadership role represents the First Line of Defense Risk Management function for institutional fiduciary and retirement-related activities and drives both business partnership and execution of programs designed to identify, monitor, and mitigate fiduciary, operational, compliance, and reputational risks. This role partners closely with Retirement Plan Services, Institutional Trust, Investment Management, Operations, Technology, Compliance, Legal, and Independent Risk Management to ensure a strong, sustainable risk management framework that supports Citizens’ fiduciary obligations to institutional clients and plan participants.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in Risk Management, Retirement/ERISA Services, Institutional Trust, Wealth Management, Compliance, Audit, or a related discipline.
Deep understanding of ERISA and institutional fiduciary requirements, including Regulation 9, fiduciary duty, prohibited transactions, conflicts of interest, plan governance, and investment oversight.
Prior experience implementing or managing First Line of Defense risk programs within retirement, trust, or institutional investment environments.
Strong working knowledge of regulatory and legislative guidance applicable to institutional fiduciary and retirement businesses.
Experience developing and using risk metrics, dashboards, and reporting to drive data‑informed risk management decisions.
Demonstrated ability to influence through data, logic, and constructive challenge, including partnering effectively with senior business leaders.
Extensive experience managing complex initiatives, including planning, execution, issue remediation, and reporting.
Proven relationship management skills with a strong track record of building trust and credibility across business and risk functions.
Strong leadership capabilities, including the ability to lead through influence and operate effectively in a fast‑paced, highly regulated environment.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including executive‑level presentations and regulatory interactions.

Responsibilities

Lead the First Line Risk framework Institutional Fiduciary Services and Trust, including alignment to enterprise risk appetite, fiduciary risk identification, and key risk monitoring programs.
Maintain effective oversight and drive continuous improvement of risk monitoring, analytics, and reporting across retirement and institutional fiduciary functions.
Act as a cross‑functional fiduciary risk subject matter expert, ensuring products, services, data solutions, and business processes are designed and executed in alignment with fiduciary standards and regulatory requirements.
Partner with business leadership to drive meaningful, end‑to‑end risk and compliance conversations, including fiduciary duty, conflicts of interest, prohibited transactions, plan oversight, investment monitoring, and operational resilience.
Collaborate with data, technology, operations, and investment teams to ensure risk intelligence and monitoring capabilities support proactive identification and remediation of fiduciary risk.
Serve as liaison with Independent Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Audit to ensure consistent, collaborative interaction, clear communication of risk issues, and sustainable execution of remediation activities.
Oversee risk assessments, control evaluations, issues management, and action plans related to Retirement/ERISA and Institutional Fiduciary Services.
Promote a strong culture of risk and fiduciary accountability by supporting key monitoring metrics, governance routines, training, and education on fiduciary risk policies and practices.
Provide leadership, expertise, and guidance to business and risk partners in the design, implementation, and governance of controls, policies, and procedures.
Support regulatory exams and inquiries (e.g., DOL, OCC) and work closely with Compliance to minimize regulatory and fiduciary risk exposure.
Oversee or support key initiatives, pilot programs, new products, and strategic changes impacting retirement plans, institutional fiduciary services, and related client offerings.