Director, Financial Risk

About the role

The will own the end to end strategy and execution of financial risk management across credit and non credit risk domains. They will lead the design of analytical frameworks that translate complex risk data into clear governance signals for the business. This role will set the standard for decision governance and effective challenge across all major initiatives that touch financial risk. They will be the primary steward of risk data and responsible for ensuring that risk insights are reliable, timely, and actionable. In addition, they will own the oversight of IFRS 9 provisioning, loss forecasting, and portfolio monitoring to protect the long term health of the business. They will partner closely with Finance, Product, Technology, and Data teams to align risk management with strategic growth objectives.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Lead and develop a high performing team of people managers and individual contributors across all financial risk domains, setting clear expectations and career growth paths.
• Establish robust decision governance frameworks for key business decisions with financial risk impact, ensuring alignment with KOHO's stated risk appetite.
• Provide effective challenge on decisions that affect financial risk, including model development and performance monitoring by technology and data science teams.
• Oversee risk appetite frameworks, lead the approval process with senior leadership and the board, and monitor risk appetite metrics on an ongoing basis.
• Lead the governance of financial risk policies, including credit policy, and monitor behavioral trends to recommend immediate adjustments such as tightening credit limits.
• Drive second line oversight of models used in financial risk decisions, ensuring appropriate validation, documentation, and control environments.
• Oversee short term and long term delinquency and loss forecasting, and lead the calculation of expected credit loss under IFRS 9 standards.
• Collaborate with finance and treasury teams to develop and execute forecasting frameworks for market and liquidity risk, including the design of monitoring and reporting.
• Lead the stress testing process, including methodology development and scenario selection, and provide effective challenge to first line teams on their risk inputs.
• Drive portfolio risk monitoring, reporting, and insight generation to identify trends, risks, and opportunities early in the business lifecycle.
• Act as the primary steward for financial risk data, defining data sources and critical elements, working with technology and data teams on metadata and lineage.
• Partner closely with finance teams to ensure that financial risk insights are embedded into planning, forecasting, and performance management processes.
• Champion the use of state of the art tools and anomaly detection techniques to improve the accuracy and timeliness of risk insights.
• Represent financial risk in cross functional initiatives, ensuring that risk considerations are integrated into product, marketing, and operational decisions.
• Mentor and coach team members to elevate analytical rigor, transparency, and accountability in how risk is managed across the organization.

Requirements

• You hold a Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field such as finance, economics, mathematics, or statistics.
• You possess demonstrated experience in financial risk management, including credit risk, market risk, and liquidity risk.
• You have led the implementation of IFRS 9 provisioning and loss forecasting in a regulated financial environment.
• You have managed or supervised a team of financial risk analysts or data specialists, providing mentorship and performance development.
• You are experienced in designing and overseeing risk appetite frameworks and metrics used at the executive level.
• You have a strong track record of effective challenge and influencing skills within complex organizations.
• You are proficient in data analysis and modeling techniques, with hands on experience using tools such as SQL, Python, or R.
• You have worked closely with data and technology teams to ensure data quality, lineage, and metadata management for risk reporting.
• You have experience collaborating with finance and treasury teams on market and liquidity risk forecasting and monitoring.
• You are comfortable operating in a fast paced, remote first environment where autonomy and clear outcomes are prioritized.
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical risk concepts into actionable insights for non specialists.
• You are detail oriented and able to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic and growing organization.
• You have a strong commitment to compliance and regulatory standards in financial services.
• You are passionate about building financial products that empower users and remove barriers to financial wellbeing.

Nice to have

• Prior experience in a financial technology company focused on serving Canadian consumers.
• Familiarity with AI assisted risk analytics and emerging techniques for anomaly detection in financial portfolios.
• Experience with agile delivery practices and cross functional product teams.

Practical notes

KOHO offers a remote first work arrangement with flexible hours and asynchronous collaboration. The role is full time and based in Canada. Travel requirements are not specified. No visa sponsorship information is provided in this job description. There are no explicit deadlines for application submission mentioned in the source material.