Vice President, Enterprise Risk & Compliance

The Vice President, Enterprise Risk & Compliance provides enterprise leadership for the organization's enterprise risk management (ERM) and second-line compliance functions. The role is responsible for establishing and maintaining an integrated, risk-based framework that enables the organization to identify, assess, monitor and respond to its most significant enterprise and compliance risks. Operating across a complex global environment and an evolving funding landscape, the Vice President will help ensure that the organization anticipates emerging risks, understands its material compliance obligations, and takes timely and appropriate action to address identified gaps. The Vice President will work closely with the Office of General Counsel (OGC), Finance, Business Development, Programs, Human Resources, Procurement, Safeguarding, country and regional leadership, and other functions while maintaining clear accountability across the three lines model. The role will be particularly important as the organization diversifies its funding portfolio, including increased use of fixed-price and Fixed Amount Award (FAA) instruments, new donor and funder requirements, and funding arrangements with differing indirect cost recovery and risk profiles.
Enterprise Risk Management
Lead and continuously strengthen the organization's enterprise risk management framework, ensuring that significant risks are identified, assessed, prioritized, monitored and communicated to senior leadership.
Maintain the enterprise risk universe while facilitating identification of a focused set of approximately 10–12 top enterprise risks requiring executive-level attention based on their potential financial, reputational, operational, compliance and mission impact.
Partner with executive and functional risk owners to establish appropriate risk responses, key risk indicators, mitigation plans, escalation thresholds and reporting.
Monitor changes in the organization's risk profile and proactively identify emerging risks resulting from changes in funding, operating environments, regulations, technology, partnerships and organizational strategy.
Develop clear, decision-useful enterprise risk reporting for executive leadership and, as appropriate, the Board and its committees.
Compliance Risk & Monitoring
Establish and maintain the organization's second-line compliance risk management and monitoring framework.
Maintain a risk-based inventory of material compliance obligations, including applicable donor and funder requirements, U.S. Government requirements, sanctions, anti-bribery and anti-corruption requirements, conflicts of interest, privacy and data protection, safeguarding-related requirements, and other significant regulatory obligations.
Lead periodic compliance risk assessments to identify areas presenting the greatest financial, regulatory, donor, operational and reputational exposure.
Develop and execute an annual, risk-based Compliance Monitoring Plan that is separate and distinct from the Internal Audit Plan.
Conduct or coordinate second-line monitoring to assess whether key compliance controls are operating effectively and whether significant requirements are being consistently implemented.
Identify systemic and emerging compliance issues and provide constructive challenge to management regarding the adequacy of corrective actions.
Track and escalate management's remediation of significant compliance issues.
Funding Portfolio & New Funding Risk
Develop a risk-based framework for assessing material or non-standard new funding opportunities and funding mechanisms.
Coordinate structured risk assessments with Business Development, OGC, Finance, Programs and other relevant functions to identify significant compliance, financial, operational, partner and reputational risks before the organization accepts material new funding arrangements.
Support management in understanding risks associated with an evolving funding portfolio, including: U.S. Government and other donor/funder compliance requirements; Fixed Amount Awards and other fixed-price instruments; low indirect-cost-recovery arrangements; milestone and performance-based payment structures; cost-recovery and financial sustainability; new donor and funding mechanisms; new or higher-risk partners and subrecipients; and cumulative portfolio-level funding risks.
Develop portfolio-level risk indicators that enable leadership to understand trends in funding concentration, fixed-price exposure, low-ICR funding, cost recovery, milestone/payment exposure and other material funding risks.
The Vice President will not replace the decision-making responsibilities of Business Development, Finance, Programs, OGC or executive management, but will provide independent second-line risk coordination, monitoring and challenge.
Compliance Enablement, Training & Remediation
Proactively translate compliance-monitoring results, emerging risks and regulatory or donor developments into appropriate organizational action.
Work with responsible departments and subject-matter experts to determine whether identified gaps require training, communications, policy revisions, procedures, job aids, system changes, enhanced controls or other corrective measures.
Ensure that appropriate owners are assigned to significant compliance actions and monitor implementation through completion.
Assess whether significant corrective actions have effectively addressed the underlying compliance risk and escalate persistent or systemic issues.
Coordinate with OGC regarding legal and regulatory interpretation and with relevant functional leaders regarding the development and delivery of technical training and communications.
Promote a culture in which compliance is understood as a management responsibility rather than solely the responsibility of a centralized compliance function.
Three Lines Accountability
The Vice President will help reinforce clear accountability across the organization's governance model:
Management and Business Functions own compliance, implement requirements and operate controls.
OGC interprets applicable laws, regulations, contractual requirements and donor/funder requirements from a legal perspective.
Enterprise Risk & Compliance establishes the second-line risk and compliance framework, assesses risk, conducts risk-based monitoring, facilitates organizational responses to emerging gaps, and tracks and escalates remediation.
Internal Audit remains independent from the operation of the compliance framework and provides objective assurance regarding the effectiveness of governance, risk management and internal controls.
Executive Leadership and the Board/Audit Committee provide appropriate oversight and risk governance.
Leadership & Collaboration
The Vice President will serve as a trusted risk and compliance advisor to senior leadership and will be expected to influence across organizational boundaries without assuming management's responsibilities.
The successful candidate will build strong partnerships across legal, financial, programmatic and operational functions and will be able to translate complex risk and compliance matters into practical business decisions.
The role requires the ability to challenge constructively, distinguish between material and lower-level risks, and focus organizational attention and resources on issues that could materially affect the organization's financial sustainability, reputation, mission or ability to operate.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in business, finance, law, accounting, international development, risk management or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
Significant senior-level experience in enterprise risk management, compliance, donor/funder compliance, governance, or a related discipline.
Demonstrated experience designing or leading enterprise risk and/or compliance programs in a complex, decentralized organization.
Strong understanding of risk-based compliance monitoring and the respective roles of management, legal/compliance and Internal Audit within a three lines model.
Experience with U.S. Government-funded programs and applicable compliance frameworks strongly preferred.
Experience with international development, humanitarian, nonprofit or similarly complex global operating environments strongly preferred.
Understanding of different funding mechanisms, including cost-reimbursement, fixed-price, milestone-based and Fixed Amount Award structures.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate financial, compliance, operational and reputational risks associated with new funding arrangements and partnerships.
Experience working with senior executives and presenting complex risk matters to executive leadership and/or Board committees.
Strong analytical judgment and the ability to prioritize a broad risk universe into a focused set of material enterprise risks.
Demonstrated ability to influence across functions and geographies without direct authority.
Excellent written, verbal, facilitation and executive communication skills.
Preferred Experience
Experience in several of the following areas would be particularly valuable: