Senior First Line Risk and Control Officer

About the role

The Senior First Line Risk & Control Officer sits within the first line of defense, working directly with business leaders and control owners and partnering with the second and third Lines of Defense to build and sustain a strong first‑line risk and control environment. The role blends two complementary senior‑level responsibilities: designing risk and control programs, owning process and control documentation, maturing the control inventory, governing assessment cycles, and shaping reporting; and driving risk management in a live operating environment by closing complex issues, leading root‑cause and thematic analysis of operational risk events, representing the first line to auditors and regulators, and serving as a trusted senior risk partner to the business.

Location: On‑site at the location listed in the job posting.

Responsibilities

• Issues management: Lead the first‑line issue lifecycle across assigned business verticals, including validation, root‑cause analysis, action‑plan design, owner accountability, escalation of aging or at‑risk items, closure evidence, and sustainability validation. Set the standard for issue‑owner meetings and ensure closed items withstand second‑line challenge, audit review, and regulatory examination.
• Risk event management: Direct capture, triage, and escalation of risk events within established thresholds; lead root‑cause analysis on significant events; ensure events convert into issues where a control failed or was absent; own thematic analysis that turns the event population into control improvements.
• Risk and control self‑assessment (RCSA): Own RCSA execution across a portfolio of risk‑assessable units, including building the process universe, leading process‑to‑risk‑to‑control mapping, challenging residual risk ratings with the business, and driving remediation of control gaps under the enterprise methodology.
• Controls management: Set and apply first‑line control standards, prioritizing higher‑risk controls; ensure control design is documented and owned; safeguard the integrity of the control inventory in the system of record; and lead assessment of design and operating effectiveness.
• Business partnership and proactive risk identification: Serve as the senior first‑line risk partner to business leaders, anticipating emerging risk ahead of events and influencing decisions before losses occur, while providing guidance and technical direction to less‑experienced risk and control staff.
• Regulatory and audit engagement: Represent the first line to examiners and internal audit for assigned areas, coordinate and quality‑review responses, and assess how regulatory change affects the risk and control environment.
• Reporting, indicators, and risk culture: Shape recurring risk reporting and Risk and Control Forum materials for senior leadership and second‑line partners, define and monitor risk and control indicators, and drive a strong risk culture across first‑line associates and leaders.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of related experience in banking or a regulated financial institution.
• At least 10 years of direct experience in risk management, risk and control, or a comparable control discipline, with a sustained track record leading issues management and RCSA.
• Deep expertise across the full first‑line risk and control toolkit: issue lifecycle and remediation, operational risk event and loss data management, control design and testing, RCSA methodology, and regulatory and audit engagement.
• Proven record designing, building, or maturing a risk and control program, framework, or taxonomy and driving it to a sustainable, examinable state.
• Advanced knowledge of consumer and small‑business banking processes (deposit, payment, digital channel, fraud, origination, servicing) sufficient to challenge owners and anticipate emerging risk.
• Strong command of the three‑lines‑of‑defense model and the first‑to‑second line boundary, with a track record influencing senior business and risk leaders, maintaining quality under pressure, and representing the first line to internal audit and regulators.
• Bachelor’s degree (4‑year college) required.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite.

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive experience inside a first‑line risk and control or business control function, including lead or program‑owner capacity.
• Background in second‑line operational risk, first‑line risk management, internal audit, or regulatory examination with an authoritative view of supervisory expectations.
• Track record helping build, scale, or modernize a risk and control function.
• Deep familiarity with risk domains typical of consumer banking: external fraud, manual processing error, technology and third‑party dependence, data quality, workforce and incentive risk.
• Experience building or mapping enterprise risk, control, or process taxonomies and applying automation and analytics to control testing and monitoring.
• Experience mentoring or providing technical direction to risk and control staff.
• Professional certifications such as CRCM, CIA, CRMA, CAMS, PRM, or equivalent; advanced degree is a plus.

Benefits

• Medical coverage with wellness incentives
• Dental and vision plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with company match
• Maternity and parental leave
• Tuition reimbursement
• Mentor program
• 401(k) with 6% company match

About Us

First Horizon Corporation is a leading regional financial services company dedicated to helping clients, communities, and associates unlock their full potential with capital and counsel. Headquartered in Memphis, TN, its banking subsidiary First Horizon Bank operates in 12 states across the southern U.S., offering commercial, private, consumer, small‑business, wealth and trust management, retail brokerage, capital markets, fixed income, and mortgage banking services. First Horizon has been recognized as one of the nation’s best employers by Fortune and Forbes magazines and as a Top 10 Most Reputable U.S. Bank.