Head of Risk & Control Assurance, Personal Investor

Overview

We’re seeking a seasoned and strategic senior leader to serve as the Head of Risk & Control Assurance, a newly established leadership role critical to building and scaling a comprehensive risk and control function within the Service & Operational Excellence (S& OE) organization.  This executive will lead the design, execution, and evolution of an integrated risk and control ecosystem including oversight of line of business risk, control assurance, and control self-assessments. The role will serve as a senior interface with the second line of defense, internal and external audits, ensuring alignment, transparency, and proactive risk management across the enterprise.   This is a high-impact opportunity for a risk leader who thrives in complexity, builds strong partnerships, and brings clarity and structure to evolving environments.

Responsibilities

• Drive the risk and control strategy across Personal Investor: including control ownership, assurance activities (manual and automated), and business accountability.
• Build and maintain a critical and high process inventory that aligns with enterprise risk appetite and regulatory expectations.
• Champion Control Automation and emerging technologies to strengthen control execution and reduce risk.
• Define and embed Control Accountability across business teams, ensuring clarity of ownership and control execution.
• Lead the design and execution of the RCSA program, embedding risk awareness, rigor and ownership throughout the business
• Serve as a key liaison to line of business partners including second line of defense and Internal Audit, ensuring proactive engagement, audit readiness, and issue management.
• Deliver robust reporting and insights on control health and risk posture to senior leaders, enabling data driven decision making.
   

Qualifications

• Minimum of ten years related work experience. Supervisory experience preferred.
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience. Graduate degree preferred.
• Deep risk management expertise, control frameworks and operational risk.
• Experience in line of business risk, control assurance or internal audit, ideally in a regulated financial services environment.
• Strong relationship management and influencing skills across all levels of the organization.
• Ability to analyze data and translate it into meaningful insights and recommendations.
• Exceptional relationship management and executive communication skills to influence across functions and lines of defense.
• Strong data literacy and ability to translate data into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
• Experience with GRC platforms (e.g., Archer) is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through complexity and ambiguity while delivering sustainable outcomes.
• FINRA SIE, Series 7, 63 and 24 are required.

Why This Role Matters

As Personal Investor, SO&E continues to evolve, this role will be instrumental in shaping a disciplined, transparent, and resilient risk culture. You’ll drive enterprise-wide accountability, enhance audit and regulatory engagement, and lead the build out of a future forward control environment that enables growth and protects the business.

Special Factors

Sponsorship

Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.

About Vanguard

At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.

To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.