Business Risk Officer

About the Role

This full-time, remote position is open to candidates with availability and ease of access to travel to our corporate headquarters in Lancaster, PA on a routine basis (1-2 times per month). As the head of First Line of Defense (1LOD) Risk for Data, Technology & Operations (DTO), this role is accountable for building and sustaining a consistent, comprehensive, proactive, and business-embedded risk culture in partnership with enterprise stakeholders.

Reporting directly to the Chief Operations & Technology Officer (COTO) and serving as a member of the DTO senior leadership team, this leader will build and lead the DTO first line risk program and associated risk disciplines and practices, ensuring effective risk management, strong controls, and alignment with the Bank's risk appetite while enabling strategic priorities and operational excellence. This role will serve as the primary liaison between DTO business units, Second Line Risk Management, and regulatory agencies, driving a culture of accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and continuously mature the DTO Business Risk Office, driving a strong First Line of Defense risk management capability that enables effective risk management, transparent risk reporting, sound control environments, and alignment with enterprise risk management frameworks, policies, and standards.
• Serve as primary risk advisor to the COTO and senior leadership team on operational, technology, regulatory, and strategic risks.
• Drive risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and monitoring activities to ensure process-owned risks and controls are effectively documented and managed.
• Ensure execution of risk and control management standards within DTO, including risk and control self-assessments, risk and control change management, and ongoing assessment of control design and operating effectiveness in alignment with enterprise risk frameworks.
• Design, implement, and oversee a first line quality control, testing, and monitoring program to assess control execution, identify emerging issues, validate remediation effectiveness, and drive continuous improvement.
• Implement and execute risk management reporting aligned to enterprise frameworks and standards including key risk indicator and control performance metrics to provide visibility into the DTO risk profile, emerging risks, and mitigation/remediation progress.
• Establish and drive process excellence standards within DTO, including process documentation, ownership, and a strategic roadmap to improve adoption, consistency, and operational discipline.
• Oversee DTO business continuity program in conjunction with functional business leaders, ensuring critical processes are identified, recovery strategies are documented and tested, and resiliency capabilities align with enterprise requirements and regulatory expectations.
• Lead regulatory, audit, and issue management activities and serve as a key liaison with regulators, internal audit, compliance, and risk partners to drive sustainable corrective actions and maintain a strong control environment.
• Partner closely with Second Line Risk Management, Audit, and Compliance functions to ensure proper engagement, transparency, escalation, and alignment with enterprise risk appetite.
• Oversee risk management associated with third parties, technology initiatives, operational change programs, and strategic transformation efforts.
• Partner with DTO leaders to strengthen risk ownership, accountability, and a proactive culture of sound risk management.
• This role may perform other job duties as assigned by the manager.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree or the equivalent experience. Specialty: Business, Finance, Risk Management, Information Systems or related field; or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience. (Required)
• Master's Degree or the equivalent experience. Specialty: MBA or other relevant advanced degree. (Preferred)
• 15 or more years progressive experience in financial services, with deep expertise in operational risk management, banking operations, technology risk, compliance, audit, or regulatory environments. (Required)
• 10 or more years leadership experience, leading teams and driving strategic initiatives within a complex, highly regulated environment. (Required)
• 10 or more years experience with banking regulatory expectations and risk management practices, including experience supporting regulatory examinations, remediation programs, and interactions with regulators, second line risk, and internal audit. (Required)
• 10 or more years deep banking experience across operations, payments, lending, deposits, fraud, or services functions. (Required)

Skills

• Strategic leadership and executive presence with the ability to influence at senior leadership levels (Required)
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills across business, risk, and regulatory audiences (Required)
• Ability to constructively challenge business decisions while maintaining strong partnerships (Required)
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills; able to translate complex risk concepts for non-technical audiences (Required)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with a data-driven approach to risk metrics and reporting (Required)
• Proven ability to lead through change and drive organizational transformation in a regulated environment (Required)

Preferred Qualifications

• Lean six sigma certifications (green belt, black belt, or equivalent).
• Professional certifications in operational risk, information systems, audit, or project management.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $189,300.00 - $315,400.00 annually.

This job is eligible to receive equity in the form of restricted stock units and to participate in a short-term incentive compensation plan subject to individual and company performance.

Benefits

Fulton Bank offers a comprehensive benefits package to those who qualify, including:

• Medical plans with prescription drug coverage
• Flexible spending account or health savings account depending on the medical plan chosen
• Dental and vision insurance
• Life insurance
• 401(k) program with employer match and Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Paid time off programs including holiday pay and paid volunteer time
• Disability insurance coverage and maternity and parental leave
• Adoption assistance
• Educational assistance
• Robust wellness program with financial incentives