Operational Risk Program Lead

Guardian Life Insurance•New York, NY

4d•$86,210 - $141,635•Hybrid

About The Position

The Operational Risk Program Lead is a key contributor to how the organization understands, manages, and communicates operational risk. This role supports multiple risk disciplines and evolving risk domains including operational, third-party, technology, cyber, model, data, and AI risk by helping translate complex risk information into reliable insights that leaders can use to make informed decisions. Rather than owning individual risk outcomes, the analyst enables strong risk practice across the enterprise by strengthening the quality of risk information and helping ensure insights are timely, consistent, and decision ready. The role balances disciplined execution with professional judgement and offers exposure across the organization.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Risk Management, Business Administration, Finance, Information Systems, or a related field.
3–5 years of experience in operational risk, compliance, or GRC roles within financial services or insurance.
Experience working with ServiceNow IRM (or an equivalent GRC platform) to support risk registers, control libraries, issue management, and reporting; strong candidates may also demonstrate the ability to learn new platforms quickly.
Strong understanding of risk assessment frameworks (e.g., RCSA, KRI monitoring, risk scoring methodologies).
Familiarity with regulatory requirements applicable to insurance or financial services (e.g., NYDFS, NAIC, MAR, HIPAA).
Excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills with the ability to translate technical data into business-relevant insights.
Familiarity with risk management concepts across operational and non-financial risk domains; exposure to model, data, or AI governance is a plus.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word); experience with data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau) is a plus.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Detail‑oriented professional who ensures accuracy, consistency, and completeness across ServiceNow records and reporting.
Adaptable and resilient, thriving in dynamic environments with evolving regulatory expectations and platform capabilities.
Clear and effective communicator who conveys risk concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
Continuous learner who proactively stays current on ServiceNow platform capabilities and emerging industry risk practices, and who is interested in growing into broader risk advisory, ERM, or platform enablement responsibilities over time.
Experience with data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau) is a plus.
Exposure to model, data, or AI governance is a plus.

Responsibilities

Coordinate key processes facilitated in ServiceNow Integrated Risk Management (IRM) (e.g., risk and control self-assessments (RCSAs) and issue and event management), including scheduling, facilitation support, workflow lifecycle coordination (intake/triage, analysis/assessment, escalation/assignment, and noncompliance management), and quality review to ensure timely, decision-useful outcomes.
Coordinate platform-driven aggregation cycles (risk assessments, control attestations, and issue updates) across risk domains by setting cadence, tracking completion, and driving follow-up so roll-up inputs are refreshed on time.
Support cross-team calibration of risk and control ratings and thresholds to promote consistent interpretation and comparable results across domains prior to aggregation.
Support coordination of risk activities across multiple domains, including model, data, and AI-related oversight, help ensure assessments, issues, reporting, and governance activities remain aligned.
Analyze risk assessment results and dependency roll-ups to identify trends, concentrations, and emerging risk themes across business processes, applications, and third parties.
Produce and distribute risk dashboards, KRI reporting, and compliance status summaries from ServiceNow for leadership, risk committees, and business unit stakeholders, delivering executive-ready narratives that support decisions and prioritization.
Identify opportunities to improve reporting automation and data visualization.
Help promote the completeness, consistency, and traceability of risk information, including model, data, and AI-related records and supporting evidence.
Ensure issues, risks, controls, and supporting evidence are connected across key items (business process, applications, third party, and engagement) so stakeholders can understand enterprise-wide impact, ownership, and downstream dependencies.
Support regulatory compliance program activities within ServiceNow, including mapping of regulatory requirements (e.g., NYDFS Part 500, NIST CSF 2.0, etc.) to control objectives and compliance profiles.
Support implementation and enhancement initiatives by helping identify process gaps and improvement opportunities, participating in UAT testing, validating data migration, and contributing to process documentation to enable effective adoption.
Support ERM working groups and recurring governance forums by tracking decisions, configuration impacts, and action-item follow-ups, ensuring changes in one domain are communicated and reflected appropriately across others.
Serve as a point of contact for business unit risk coordinators, providing guidance on platform usage, assessment completion, and issue management workflows.
Contribute to the development and maintenance of training materials and user guides for TPRM, IRM, and BCM stakeholders.