Head of Risk

ElectronX

$150K — $200K *
Finance & Insurance
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in risk management at an exchange, CCP, FCM, or major financial institution.
  • Deep expertise in derivatives risk, including margin, default management, and systemic risk.
  • Proven track record in building or transforming risk functions.
  • Strong regulatory relationship management experience, particularly with the CFTC.
  • Expert quantitative skills in risk modeling, VaR, stress testing, and scenario analysis.

Responsibilities

  • Own the end-to-end risk management framework for the exchange and DCO.
  • Define the enterprise risk appetite and tolerance statement.
  • Establish risk reporting to the Board, regulators, and senior leadership.
  • Design and oversee margin model validation and stress testing programs.
  • Manage counterparty credit risk assessment for clearing members.

Benefits

  • Health, vision and dental insurance
  • 401(k) match
  • Supplemental health and disability insurance
  • Unlimited vacation
  • Parental leave
Full Job Description
What will you be doing?

Enterprise Risk Framework
  • Own the end-to-end risk management framework for the exchange and DCO.
  • Define the enterprise risk appetite and tolerance statement.
  • Build the risk governance structure including policies, procedures, and escalation frameworks.
  • Establish risk reporting to the Board, regulators, and senior leadership.
  • Develop and chair the Risk Committee.

Market & Credit Risk
  • Design and oversee margin model validation, stress testing, and back-testing programs.
  • Manage counterparty credit risk assessment and ongoing monitoring for clearing members.
  • Develop position limits, concentration risk policies, and large trader surveillance.
  • Build default fund sizing methodologies and maintain the default waterfall.
  • Own recovery and resolution planning.

Operational & Liquidity Risk
  • Stand up the operational risk program covering technology risk, business continuity, and third-party risk management.
  • Build real-time risk monitoring and surveillance systems that can scale with 24x7 trading.
  • Manage liquidity risk including liquidity stress testing and contingency funding planning.
  • Establish robust financial controls for wire processing, cash reconciliation, and treasury operations.
  • Ensure full compliance with customer funds segregation and protection requirements.

Regulatory
  • Serve as the primary risk liaison with the CFTC and other regulatory bodies.
  • Lead risk-related regulatory filings, rule submissions, and examination readiness.
  • Ensure compliance with CFTC Part 39 requirements around risk management, financial resources, and default procedures.
  • Stay ahead of evolving regulatory expectations and proactively adapt the risk framework.

Team & Stakeholders
  • Build and lead a high-performing risk management team.
  • Collaborate closely with compliance and finance on margin model design and clearing risk integration, and work cross-functionally with engineering, product, and commercial teams to embed risk thinking into business decisions.
  • Manage relationships with regulators, clearing members, and industry risk bodies.
  • Represent ElectronX in industry risk forums and working groups.
What we need from you

Technical Acumen
  • 10+ years in risk management at an exchange, CCP, FCM, or major financial institution.
  • Deep expertise in derivatives risk including margin, default management, and systemic risk.
  • Proven track record building or significantly transforming a risk function, not just maintaining one.
  • Strong regulatory relationship management, ideally with the CFTC or equivalent bodies.
  • Experience with enterprise risk governance, Board-level risk reporting, and risk committee leadership.
  • Expert quantitative skills in risk modeling, VaR, stress testing, scenario analysis, and back-testing.
  • Deep understanding of margin methodologies including SPAN, VaR-based, and historical simulation approaches.
  • Experience with real-time risk monitoring systems and surveillance technology.
  • Ability to translate risk requirements into technical specifications and work effectively with engineering teams.

The Right Mindset
  • Frameworks first: You think in frameworks, not checklists.
  • Practical rigor: You're someone who builds risk programs that are robust enough to satisfy regulators and practical enough that the business actually uses them.
  • Rigor with speed: You balance rigor with speed because you understand that in a startup, waiting for perfection means falling behind.
  • Clear communicator: You're a clear communicator who can make risk concepts accessible to the Board, to engineers, and to commercial teams.
  • Builder mentality: You want to build something from scratch and put your stamp on it.

Nice to Have
  • FRM, PRM, CFA, or equivalent certification.
  • Experience in energy or commodity risk management.
  • Background at a DCO or CCP during a launch or major expansion phase.
  • Knowledge of real-time payments, digital asset risk, or emerging market infrastructure.
  • Established relationships within the clearing and risk management community.
  • Experience with international risk frameworks and cross-border regulatory coordination.
Benefits
  • Health, vision and dental insurance
  • 401(k) match
  • Supplemental health and disability insurance
  • Unlimited vacation
  • Parental leave

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