Operational Risk Business Lead, Exams and Audits

Freddie Mac

About The Position

At Freddie Mac, our mission of Making Home Possible is what motivates us, and it’s at the core of everything we do. Since our charter in 1970, we have made home possible for more than 90 million families across the country. Join an organization where your work contributes to a greater purpose. Position Overview: We are seeking an experienced business lead to join our Divisional Risk Management team as the Operational Risk – Exams and Audit Business Lead. In this pivotal role, you will oversee operational risk activities related to the development, implementation, and management of business processes across the organization. Key responsibilities include ensuring strong governance, identifying and mitigating risks within Single-Family Acquisitions (SFA) operations, and supporting internal audits and regulatory (FHFA) examinations. You will coordinate and execute exam and audit activities, partner with business units, risk, and compliance teams to maintain effective controls, drive timely remediation of process issues, and promote a culture of operational excellence and compliance throughout the organization. We invite you to apply and contribute to Freddie Mac’s mission of making home possible! Our Impact: The Single-Family Acquisitions Operational Risk team safeguards Freddie Mac’s mission by proactively identifying and addressing operational risks. Through rigorous exams and audits, we strengthen risk controls, enhance compliance, and enable confident decision-making—ensuring the integrity and resilience of single-family acquisitions. Your Impact: The primary responsibilities generally fall into the following two categories: Regulatory Exams, Governance and Audits: Facilitate internal meetings to identify, document, escalate, and resolve roadblocks during audits and regulatory exams. Collaborate with key stakeholders (process owners, project managers, enterprise risk, Internal Audit, and regulatory agencies) to facilitate exam and audit processes end-to-end. Partner with the Business areas as an operational risk subject matter expert to provide feedback/input on business process policies, standards, risks /controls and procedures. Work with the Governance Team to deliver management and business divisions with summaries, operational and regulatory risk assessment reports, trending, and remedial or mitigation solutions. Maintain a centralized audit tracker to monitor engagement progress, evidence submission, and reporting deadlines. Reporting: Ensure timely progress and status reporting on exams and audits and any impending issues. Issue Management/Operational Risk: Provide oversight and review of action plans for all audit findings and regulatory issues; ensure completion of action plans in a timely manner. Partner with management to evaluate progress on risk assessments and remediation of key issues, facilitating the overall improvement of the internal control environment. Demonstrate working proficiency with Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)/Risk Management Tools such as Bwise, ServiceNow, or similar platforms. Review, develop and communicate divisional risk and control assessments. Assist management in gathering, analyzing, aggregating, and reporting issue remediation progress.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Risk Management, Business Administration, Finance, or related field, preferred
8-10 years of experience in operational risk, audit, compliance, or issue management within financial services or banking. Advanced degrees or certifications (e.g., PMP, CISA, CPA) are preferred.
Strong understanding of business process-related policies, standards, and procedures, regulatory requirements, risk frameworks, and internal control best practices.
Proficient in GRC platforms (e.g.,Bwise, ServiceNow) and reporting tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).
Detail oriented with hands-on experience in end-to-end exam/audit and issue management activities.
Exceptional communication & presentation skills to effectively engage with internal stakeholders and external regulators.
Superior critical thinking skills with a proactive approach to identify risks and develop mitigation strategies.
Excellent organizational skills with strong analytical & proven problem-solving abilities

Nice To Haves

Significant experience handling multi-faceted projects simultaneously that have cross-departmental impact.
Detail-oriented with strong quantitative/analytical skills.
Proven ability to plan, organize, and effectively complete risk mitigation and operational improvement initiatives.
Outstanding communication and negotiation skills.
Expert skill using innovative thinking to solve problems and facilitate the decision-making process.

Responsibilities

Facilitate internal meetings to identify, document, escalate, and resolve roadblocks during audits and regulatory exams.
Collaborate with key stakeholders (process owners, project managers, enterprise risk, Internal Audit, and regulatory agencies) to facilitate exam and audit processes end-to-end.
Partner with the Business areas as an operational risk subject matter expert to provide feedback/input on business process policies, standards, risks /controls and procedures.
Work with the Governance Team to deliver management and business divisions with summaries, operational and regulatory risk assessment reports, trending, and remedial or mitigation solutions.
Maintain a centralized audit tracker to monitor engagement progress, evidence submission, and reporting deadlines.
Ensure timely progress and status reporting on exams and audits and any impending issues.
Provide oversight and review of action plans for all audit findings and regulatory issues; ensure completion of action plans in a timely manner.
Partner with management to evaluate progress on risk assessments and remediation of key issues, facilitating the overall improvement of the internal control environment.
Demonstrate working proficiency with Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)/Risk Management Tools such as Bwise, ServiceNow, or similar platforms.
Review, develop and communicate divisional risk and control assessments.
Assist management in gathering, analyzing, aggregating, and reporting issue remediation progress.