02 · Risk Talent · Executive search
Risk Talent is RiskTAE’s risk recruitment and executive search practice for banking and financial services, based in London and hiring worldwide. We run executive searches, usually retained and exclusive, for chief risk officers, heads of risk and the leaders who report to them (operational, non-financial, enterprise, credit, market, liquidity and prudential risk), for interim and fractional chief risk officers, and for the non-executives who chair risk committees. We specialise in the senior and hard-to-fill roles.
A partner owns every search from brief to first day, and every candidate is tested on the technical substance of the role before you see a CV. You meet people who can do the job, and you hear from us what the market really thinks of your role.
Roles
Senior roles across the first and second lines, on the financial and non-financial side, for banks, building societies, investment firms, asset managers and insurers.
Below the most senior level we build the teams these leaders run, from capital and regulatory reporting specialists to model risk and credit risk managers, often as part of a wider change such as the move to Basel 3.1. See risk advisory and consulting.
Process
A 30-minute call, then a written brief that sets out the role, what success looks like in the first year, the terms and the timetable.
We identify the people who fit, most of whom are not looking, and approach them in confidence without naming you until they are interested.
We interview each candidate on the substance of the role before you see a CV.
You receive a short list with our written view of each person, and we run interviews and feedback on both sides.
We handle the offer, plan around the regulator’s approval where the role is a senior management function, and stay close to you and your new hire through notice and the first months.
Interim cover
Quickly, because the people who can do it are people we already know: former chief risk officers and heads of risk who take interim assignments between permanent roles.
We run the interim and the permanent search side by side, so the role stays covered while the permanent appointment is approved. Our interim chief risk officer page sets out how it works.
Board search
Boards need non-executives who can challenge the chief risk officer on the substance: capital and liquidity, risk appetite, and the stress tests behind the ICAAP and the recovery plan. We search for risk committee chairs and for non-executive directors with that depth, for banks, building societies, insurers and other regulated firms.
In banks, insurers and firms under the enhanced senior managers regime, the chair of the risk committee holds a senior management function, SMF10, so the appointment needs the regulator’s approval before the person takes up the role. We plan the search around that approval from the first brief.
We work with the chair of the board and the nomination committee from the brief to the first board meeting: the gap in the board’s skills, the time the role really takes, the committee’s terms of reference and the regulator’s timetable.
Source: FCA Handbook, SUP 10C.5A.8R, the chair of the risk committee function (SMF10).
Working with your team
Yes, often. HR, in-house talent acquisition and RPO teams own the process and the employer brand; we bring a map of the senior risk market and the technical screening a generalist team cannot easily run.
We can take one hard-to-fill role off your list or support a whole risk hiring programme.
For risk professionals
If your next role is a step up, such as leading a function, joining an executive committee or reporting to the board, talk to us in confidence. We will tell you how the market sees someone with your experience and which firms are building their risk leadership.
We never put your name forward without your agreement.
FAQ
Usually. Most senior searches run on a retained, exclusive basis, which lets us approach people who are not on the market and give your search our full attention; some roles suit a contingent approach. We agree the terms in writing before any work starts.
Senior leaders up to chief risk officer and global head of risk, and non-executive directors with risk expertise. We also build the teams those leaders run.
Yes. Most searches are for roles in London and elsewhere in the UK, and we also run searches for international clients and for roles that span jurisdictions.
We approach candidates without naming the client until they have shown interest, and where a client asks, candidates sign a non-disclosure agreement before we name the firm. We never share a candidate’s details without their agreement.
Fees depend on the role and the terms of the search, and we agree them in writing before any work starts.
In depth
Retained search for chief risk officers and heads of risk: specialist risk headhunters for banks, insurers and financial firms in the UK and worldwide.
02Interim chief risk officers and heads of risk at short notice for banks and insurers worldwide: people who have held the role, vetted by former CROs.
03Executive search for heads of operational and non-financial risk in banking and financial services, with every candidate tested on technical substance.
04Executive search for heads of credit risk in banks, challenger banks and specialist lenders, led by a partner who has recruited risk leaders since 2003.
05Executive search for heads of model risk and model validation, with every candidate tested against the PRA's SS1/23 model risk management principles.
06Enterprise risk management (ERM) recruitment: executive search for heads of enterprise risk who run the framework and report to the board with authority.
07Executive search for heads of market, liquidity and treasury risk in banks and trading firms, with candidates tested on the FRTB and the ILAAP.
08Executive search for combined heads of risk and compliance in smaller UK firms, where one leader must satisfy the PRA, the FCA and the board.
09Search for risk committee chairs and non-executive directors with real risk expertise, for banks, building societies, insurers and investment firms.
10How RiskTAE works alongside in-house talent acquisition teams and RPOs on senior risk hires: one partner, a technical screen and no duplicated effort.
11Talk in confidence to a partner who has recruited risk leaders since 2003. Register with RiskTAE and get straight advice on your next senior move in risk.
12Executive search for heads of prudential risk and capital management who can own the ICAAP, ILAAP and Basel 3.1 numbers and defend them to the PRA.
13Executive search for heads of operational resilience who can set impact tolerances, map important business services and meet PRA SS1/21 in practice.
14Executive search for heads of third-party risk who can run outsourcing, supplier and critical third-party oversight to the standard of PRA SS2/21.
15Executive search for second-line heads of cyber and ICT risk in financial services: leaders who can challenge the CISO and report to the board.
16Executive search for heads of climate risk in banks and insurers: leaders who can build climate risk into capital, stress testing and risk appetite.
17Executive search for heads of investment risk at asset managers and wealth firms: leaders who can challenge fund managers on liquidity and market risk.
One expert firm
Insights
A chief risk officer runs a bank’s independent risk management function. In the UK the role is a regulated senior management function, SMF4, defined as “responsibility for overall management of the risk controls of a firm,...
By Benn Pople · 7 min readA board's guide to hiring a chief risk officer in the UK: the brief, the search, the assessment, SMF4 approval and the first 100 days in post.
RiskTAEIn a UK bank the chair of the risk committee holds a senior management function of their own, SMF10, and needs regulatory approval before taking up the role. The PRA requires a risk committee, and so...
By Benn Pople · 7 min readNext step
A 30-minute call is enough to agree the brief and whether we are the right firm to run the search.
Tell us about the role and a partner will come back to you. Treated in confidence.
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