VP of First Line Operational Risk

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What We Do

At CardWorks, we aim to help people connect with possibility and opportunity using our financial servicing expertise. Building meaningful, long-term relationships with consumers, our employees, and our clients is what matters most.

Who We Are

CardWorks, Inc. is a diversified consumer finance service provider and parent company of CardWorks Servicing, LLC, Merrick Bank and Carson Smithfield, LLC.

CardWorks Servicing, LLC provides end-to end operational servicing functions for credit cards, secured cards, and installment loans.  We service consumer and small business loans across the credit spectrum and offers backup servicing and due diligence services to capital providers and trustees.

Merrick Bank is an FDIC-insured Utah Industrial Loan Bank.  Merrick operates three main business lines:  credit cards, recreational lending, and merchant services.

Carson Smithfield, LLC provides a variety of post-charge-off debt recovery services, including digital self-service, IVR, live agent, and external agency management.

Position Summary:

The Vice President of First Line of Defense (FLOD) Oversight provides enterprise leadership for the design, implementation, and management of operational risk and control frameworks across all business lines. The role ensures the integrity of risk governance, issues management, control testing, and regulatory compliance within the first line of defense. This leader drives proactive risk identification, transparent reporting, and alignment with enterprise risk appetite, while fostering collaboration with Compliance, Audit, Technology, and Operations leaders.

Essential Functions:

• Leads the enterprise FLOD program across Non-Card, Deposits, Merchant, and Lending operations.
• Drives consistency in RCSA development, KRI/KPI monitoring, issue management, and control documentation.
• Ensures operational governance, control evidence, and risk analytics meet regulatory and audit standards.
• Partners with the Second and Third Lines of Defense to sustain effective risk management and remediation outcomes.
• Leads readiness and validation activities supporting FDICIA/SOX, operational resilience, and process optimization.

Coverage Areas & Tools:

• Risk Governance & Framework (RCSA, issue management, control validation, loss event tracking)
• Analytics & Reporting (Power BI dashboards, KRI/KPI heat maps, trend analysis, executive summaries)
• Systems & Tools (Archer, ServiceNow, SharePoint, Power Automate, Snowflake data lineage)
• Change Management Integration (risk assessment, testing evidence, control readiness in major initiatives)
• Audit & Exam Readiness (documentation oversight, sampling coordination, end-to-end control reviews)
• Business Continuity & Third-Party Oversight (partnership with BC/DR and Vendor Management for integrated risk visibility)

Operational Governance

• Defines and sustain the enterprise FLOD operating model, policies, and performance routines.
• Establishes standardized governance calendars, templates, and reporting quality standards.
• Chairs or co-chairs risk and control committee forums, driving accountability for remediation and improvement.

Analytics & Tooling Leadership

• Leads the design of operational dashboards and Power BI datasets for risk transparency.
• Owns the enterprise KRI/KPI framework and ensure consistent metric reporting across business units.
• Maintains SharePoint governance structure for evidence, SOPs, and control documentation.

Risk & Change Integration

• Embeds risk assessments and control validations into product, technology, and operational changes.
• Leads readiness and post-implementation reviews to ensure sustainable control performance.
• Coordinates with project management, compliance, and audit teams to close risk and issue gaps.

Stakeholder & Team Enablement

• Mentors and develop AVP-level and Manager-level leaders across the FLOD team.
• Builds collaborative relationships with Operations, IT, Compliance, and Risk partners.
• Presents executive-level briefings to senior leadership and contribute to enterprise governance forums.

Compliance with Laws & Regulations:

• Responsible for developing, documenting, communicating, maintaining, and enforcing effective control system policies and procedures within your area of oversight.
• Responsible to act in a timely manner to update policies and procedures when changes in operating conditions occur and / or breakdowns or noncompliance with laws and regulations appear.
• Responsible for complying with all of the Bank's internal control policies and procedures.
• Responsible for understanding and complying with all laws and regulations to which the Bank is subject.
• Responsible for communicating problems in operations, noncompliance with the code of conduct, noncompliance with laws and regulations, policy violations, or illegal acts.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, Finance, Accounting, Risk Management, or a related field required.  Equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• 15+ years in financial services with 7+ years in FLOD/operations risk, analytics, or governance leadership roles.

Summary of Qualifications:

• Advanced Power BI (data modeling/DAX) and strong SharePoint governance experience.
• Demonstrated delivery of executive-ready reporting and sustainable remediation outcomes.
• MBA or relevant master's degree.
• PMP, CRMA, CRCM, or Lean Six Sigma certification.
• SQL/Tableau/Power Automate experience; knowledge of ServiceNow/Archer.
• Demonstrated success presenting to regulators, boards, and executive committees.

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Our Employee Value Proposition

• Competitive Pay, including a Bonus Target or Variable Pay Incentive Program 
• Benefits Package -Medical, Dental, and Vision (plus much more) 
• 401(k) Plan with Company Match 
• Short- & Long-Term Disability 
• Wellness Programs 
• Group Life and AD&D Insurance 
• Paid Vacation, Sick Days and bank Holidays 
• Employee Engagement Activities including Employee Appreciation Day, DEI Employee Resource Groups, Corporate Social Responsibility, Service Recognition

We offer a total rewards package comprised of a competitive base rate of pay, variable pay incentive programs based on the role, and a comprehensive benefit suite.  Offered rates of pay are determined based on job-related knowledge, relevant experience, skills, certifications, and geographic location.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic.  We will conduct a thorough background check for all hires in compliance with applicable.