Director of Risk Management

ARCO Companies•Downers Grove, IL

About The Position

ARCO, a Family of Construction Companies, is seeking a Director of Risk Management to lead their enterprise risk function. This role will shape the insurance, risk-financing, claims, and risk-transfer strategies to support the company's continued growth. The ideal candidate is an experienced construction risk leader who understands the interplay of insurance, claims, contractual risk transfer, and business operations, and enjoys building programs, developing teams, and partnering with executive leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Risk Management, Insurance, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
10+ years of progressive construction risk management and commercial insurance experience, including direct ownership of insurance placement and renewals, claims governance, controlled insurance programs (CCIP/OCIP), and contractual risk transfer
CRIS designation required
Extensive knowledge of construction insurance coverage lines, including Commercial General Liability, Workers' Compensation, Builder's Risk, Excess/Umbrella, Professional Liability, Pollution/Environmental, Automobile, Cyber, and Management Liability (D&O)
Demonstrated people-leadership experience — building, managing, and developing a risk team
Executive-level communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to advise and influence senior leadership, brokers, and carriers, and to present complex risk topics to boards of directors and financial stakeholders
Experience with alternative risk financing and single-parent captive structures
Experience managing surety and bonding programs (performance and payment bonds) in a general-contractor or design-build environment
Strong analytical and financial-modeling skills, including total cost of risk (TCOR) analysis and loss forecasting; experience leveraging claims analytics, predictive modeling, benchmarking, and business intelligence tools to support risk-financing decisions

Nice To Haves

ARM, CPCU, or a similar advanced designation strongly preferred
Experience within a general contractor, design-build firm, or construction-focused insurance brokerage of comparable scale ($1B+ in revenue)
Deep understanding of construction operations, project delivery models, scheduling, project controls, and the financial drivers of construction profitability
MBA, JD, or other advanced degree
Familiarity with contract insurance review under AIA, ConsensusDocs, and custom owner agreements; experience with risk/COI platforms such as myCOI and wrap-up administration software

Responsibilities

Own and set ARCO's enterprise risk-management strategy across the family of construction companies, translating business objectives into insurance program design, risk-transfer standards, and long-term risk financing.
Lead the design, placement, renewal, and stewardship of ARCO's corporate and project insurance programs, directing broker RFPs, market negotiations, and carrier relationships to optimize coverage, pricing, and terms.
Assist the Chief Legal Officer in setting enterprise standards for contractual risk transfer (indemnification, additional insured, waivers of subrogation, limitation of liability) and partner with Legal on complex or non-standard positions.
Own risk analysis and governance for major project pursuits and strategic growth initiatives, establishing and leading project risk review protocols that evaluate contractual, operational, financial, insurance, and surety exposures before project commitment.
Lead, manage, mentor, and develop the Risk team (Risk Manager, Assistant Risk Manager, Risk Coordinator, and Risk Analyst), scaling risk services to support ARCO's growth and expansion into new markets.
As the risk function's first dedicated executive leader, personally build and run the program hands-on during the initial stand-up, then design, justify, and hire the team layers beneath — including a Senior Risk Manager — as the function scales.
Serve as the enterprise's senior risk advisor to the CEO, CAO, CFO, CLO, Safety on risk appetite, emerging exposures, and program performance.
Direct subcontractor prequalification and insurance-compliance frameworks, ensuring consistent risk thresholds across all subcontract awards.
Develop risk-management frameworks addressing critical supplier, subcontractor, and supply-chain exposures that could impact project profitability, schedule, and client obligations.
Oversee the annual renewal process end to end, including underwriting data, exposure summaries, and allocation of insurance costs across entities and projects.
Own optimization of ARCO's total cost of risk (TCOR) by strategically structuring program coverages, limits, deductibles, and retentions.
Evaluate, design, and oversee alternative risk-financing structures — including ARCO's single-parent captive, serving as or supporting the executive sponsor for captive governance, including board reporting, actuarial strategy, capital planning, and reinsurance purchasing — and controlled insurance programs (CCIP/OCIP) on both a project-specific and master/portfolio basis, advising project teams on owner-sponsored and contractor-sponsored structures and evaluating risk retention, coverage adequacy, wrap participation, and financial impact.
Partner with IT, Compliance, and Legal to oversee enterprise cyber-risk financing strategy, incident-response readiness, third-party technology risk, and cyber-insurance program performance.
Partner with CLO to direct enterprise claims governance across GL, WC, Builder's Risk, Professional, and other lines — including reserving philosophy, litigation strategy, subrogation, and quarterly claim reviews — to reduce severity and protect financial outcomes.
Partner with CLO to oversee ARCO's surety and bonding program, coordinating with sureties and brokers on capacity, performance and payment bonds, and overall bonding strategy.
Partner with CLO and Compliance Team to maintain an enterprise risk register and reporting framework, translating loss trends, premium data, and operational metrics into executive recommendations.
Lead insurance and risk-management due diligence for acquisitions, integrations, and divestitures, including historical liability assessment, program harmonization, and post-acquisition risk strategy.

Benefits

Industry-leading performance-based bonus program
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
Traditional and Roth 401k
Tuition reimbursement for associates
Scholarship for associates’ children up to $28,000 per child
1-month paid sabbatical after every five years of employment, plus $5,000 for travel
1-week paid volunteer leave each year
100% charitable match
Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage
100% paid 12-week maternity leave