Intern - Enterprise Risk Management

First Merchants Brand • Indianapolis, IN

4d

About The Position

First Merchants is seeking highly motivated, enthusiastic college students for our 12-week paid summer internship program. The Enterprise Risk Management Intern will support the team through day-to-day responsibilities, projects, and initiatives that contribute to departmental goals. Enterprise Risk Management serves as part of the Bank's second line of defense, responsible for the framework, tools, data, and reporting that help First Merchants identify, assess, monitor, and report risk across every line of business. The intern will work directly alongside risk professionals and will gain firsthand exposure to how a $20+ billion bank makes risk-informed decisions and demonstrates effective risk management to its executive leadership, Board, and regulators.

Requirements

• Be a full-time Bachelor (or higher) degree-seeking student at an accredited college or university.
• Be available to work 40 hours per week from May 17th - August 6th, 2027.
• Be authorized to work in the United States.
• Have demonstrated interest in the industry and/or specific area of interest.
• Possess a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Be able and willing to travel periodically throughout the First Merchants footprint, if applicable.

Nice To Haves

• Initiative
• Enthusiasm
• Strong Work Ethic
• Team Mentality
• Self-Motivation

Responsibilities

• Support the Enterprise Risk Management team through day-to-day responsibilities, projects, and initiatives.
• Gain firsthand exposure to how a $20+ billion bank makes risk-informed decisions and demonstrates effective risk management.
• Learn how enterprise risk management works in a regulated bank, including risk appetite, risk taxonomy, the three lines of defense model, governance committees, and how risk information reaches executive leadership and the Board.
• Learn how to turn raw risk data into decision-useful information by extracting, cleansing, and analyzing data from the Bank's governance, risk, and compliance system.
• Identify trends, concentrations, and root cause themes in risk data.
• Build dashboards and reporting that leaders use.
• Learn how risks and controls are classified and documented, distinguishing a risk from an event, cause, or impact.
• Evaluate the quality and consistency of risk descriptions.
• Understand why a well-structured risk taxonomy is essential to accurate aggregation and reporting.
• Learn how issues are identified, remediated, escalated, and validated, and why aging, accountability, timeliness, and documentation matter.
• Learn how to apply emerging technology responsibly in a risk function by designing and piloting an AI-enabled solution with human review, source verification, and governance controls.
• Learn how to communicate and influence as a risk professional by conducting stakeholder interviews, writing clearly and concisely for executive audiences, asking credible challenge questions, and presenting recommendations to senior leadership.
• Participate in a coordinated community service project.
• Network with Executive and Senior Leadership at the Intern Meet & Greet event.
• Present a summary of their experience at the conclusion of the internship program.

Benefits

• paid summer internship program
• Gain hands-on experience in the financial services industry
• Work on meaningful projects that impact the business
• Receive mentorship from experienced professionals
• Build relationships with leaders across the organization
• Participate in networking and development events
• Volunteer alongside fellow interns during a community service project
• Present accomplishments and key learnings to senior leadership

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Intern