VP, Digital Assets Operational Risk

Morgan Stanley•Addison, TX

About The Position

Morgan Stanley is seeking a VP, Digital Assets Operational Risk to join the Wealth Management (WM) Operational Risk team as the Operations, Finance, and Strategic Initiatives coverage officer. This role resides within the 2nd line Non-Financial Risk's (NFR) Operational Risk Department (ORD). Operational risk is defined as the risk of loss or impacts resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems or from external events. The Firm may incur operational risk across the full scope of its business activities, including revenue-generating activities (e.g., fund investment) and control groups (e.g., information technology and fund administration). The role as the Digital Assets Operational Risk coverage lead is to partner with Wealth Management business and control groups to provide independent advice and guidance on execution of business activities, strategic programs and initiatives, ensure operational risk policies and procedures are executed as intended and to conduct independent oversight activities such as proactive risk reviews. This individual will play a critical strategic role in driving risk management activities and adoption of risk management framework across digital asset programs. This role sits in the 2nd Line as part of ORD's WM coverage organization; as such, a key enabler for success will be the ability to establish strong relationships with partners in the 1st Line WM Risk and Business functions, while maintaining a healthy voice of independent challenge.

Requirements

5+ years of work experience in blockchain and digital asset activities, preferably including experience in a bank, broker-dealer, Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), or Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP)
Strong understanding of blockchain and other Web3 activities including crypto trading, wallet infrastructure, asset tokenization, custody, and digital identity, as well as associated rules and regulations
Understanding of key / shard cryptographic controls including HSMs, MPC, DKG, m-of-n signing, time-locked transactions, and encryption standards
Knowledge of operational risk management concepts (e.g., RCSA/NFRA, Issues identification and remediation, operational loss events)
Self-starter with the ability to independently formulate and execute new ideas, and to critically evaluate risks
Strong communication and organization skills with the ability to multitask and prioritize; ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines
Demonstrated ability to collaborate across multiple functional areas while maintaining suitable independence and effective challenge
Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Responsibilities

Partner with the Wealth Management business and related control groups (e.g., Technology, Operations) and serve as the 2nd Line subject matter expert for digital asset related operational risk matters
Liaise with 2nd Line centralized risk teams (e.g., Fraud, Cybersecurity, Technology, Information Security, Third Party), Compliance, Global Financial Crimes and testing teams to ensure an integrated 2nd Line risk approach to digital asset risks
Play an active role in the review and approval of new digital asset products, services, and activities, and participate in relevant committees and working groups
Advise on digital asset related process and control design as well as remediation efforts; oversee and monitor losses and impacts related to WM's digital asset business
Assess operational risk impacts of the digital asset business via non-financial risk assessments, incident reporting, capital requirements, etc.
Perform Deep Dives, Targeted Risk Assessments, and Lessons Learned exercises on material operational risk events (internal and external) and analyses of thematic operational risks
Work collaboratively in a high performing global team responsible for identifying, assessing, reporting, and capturing operational risk information
Drive a no surprises approach in ensuring that operational risks are well known and understood