Risk Officer Director

Line of Service

Internal Firm Services

Industry/Sector

Technology

Specialism

IFS - Internal Firm Services - Other

Management Level

Director

Job Description & Summary

At PwC, our people in risk and compliance focus on maintaining regulatory compliance and managing risks for clients, providing advice, and solutions. They help organisations navigate complex regulatory landscapes and enhance their internal controls to mitigate risks effectively.

As a risk management generalist at PwC, you will provide advisory and practical support to teams across a wide range of specialist risk and compliance areas.

As ETIC continues its rapid expansion as PwC’s acceleration and delivery center serving PwC shareholder firms across the region, the scale and complexity of operational, regulatory, cyber, continuity, and enterprise risks continue to evolve significantly. To support sustainable growth, governance, resilience, and compliance with PwC Network standards, ETIC requires a centralized and mature risk management function. The Director is responsible for leading and acting as the primary custodian of ETIC’s risk management framework and governance structure. The role oversees Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”), Business Continuity Management (“BCM”), Business Resilience, Network Information Security (“NIS”), Data Privacy, and oversight of Ethics & Compliance activities delivered in coordination with the PwC Middle East firm. The role is responsible for maintaining ETIC’s enterprise risk register, proactively identifying and assessing risks across the organization, driving mitigation and remediation plans with business and delivery stakeholders, and ensuring alignment with PwC governance standards and shareholder firm expectations.

At Director level, the role sets and operationalizes ETIC’s risk appetite and tolerance, advises leadership on material risk trade-offs, provides forward-looking risk insight to enable sustainable growth, and shapes strategic decision-making beyond baseline compliance.
The Director works closely with ETIC leadership, business functions, delivery teams, and shareholder risk functions to strengthen ETIC’s control environment, resilience capabilities, and risk culture while promoting operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Primary duties and responsibilities
Financial
• Operate within ETIC’s budget and plan, ensuring proportionate investment in risk management and resilience.
• Supports efficient risk and control management practices to minimize operational and regulatory exposure.

KPIs
Enterprise Risk Management
• Own and maintain ETIC’s enterprise risk management framework and risk governance structure.
• Own the design, periodic refresh and operationalisation of ETIC’s Risk Appetite Framework, translating appetite and tolerance into clear decision thresholds, limits and escalation triggers for leadership and governance forums.
• Act as the custodian of ETIC’s enterprise risk register, ensuring periodic review, update, and reporting.
• Work closely with business and delivery functions to identify operational, strategic, technology, regulatory, and people-related risks ensuring risks are clearly articulated, owned and monitored.
• Ensure appropriate mitigation actions, ownership, timelines, and monitoring mechanisms are implemented for identified risks.
• Deliver a disciplined risk reporting suite (e.g., quarterly risk profile and top-risk movements, appetite position, key incidents/themes, resilience testing outcomes and remediation status) to support timely, informed governance decisions.
• Promote a strong risk culture and risk awareness consultation, escalation and accountability across ETIC.

Business Continuity & Resilience
• Lead the development, implementation, maintenance, and periodic testing of ETIC’s Business Continuity Plan (“BCP”) and Disaster Recovery Plan (DR)
• Oversee business continuity exercises, scenario testing, crisis simulations, and remediation activities ensuring learning is embedded and tracked to closure.
• Lead ETIC’s business resilience program to ensure operational resilience and recovery readiness at scale.
• Coordinate crisis management and incident response governance processes where required ensuring clear escalation, decision-making and communications discipline.

Information Security & NIS
• Oversee ETIC’s Network Information Security (“NIS”) function and cyber risk management activities.
• Work closely with the NIS/CISO lead to ensure compliance with PwC Network security standards and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor cybersecurity risks, controls, vulnerabilities, incidents, and remediation activities.
• Ensure effective governance and oversight of information security policies, standards, and awareness initiatives.

Data Privacy
• Oversee ETIC’s data privacy framework and governance activities.
• Work closely with the DPO to ensure compliance with applicable privacy laws, regulations, and PwC Network standards.
• Monitor privacy risks, incidents, assessments, and remediation activities ensuring appropriate escalation and sustained control effectiveness.
• Ensure privacy-by-design principles are embedded into ETIC operations and processes.

Ethics & Compliance Oversight
• Provide oversight and coordination support for Ethics & Compliance activities delivered by the PwC Middle East firm.
• Ensure ETIC management is appropriately informed of compliance risks, investigations, and remediation activities with clear escalation where required.
• Coordinate with shareholder firms and relevant stakeholders on governance and compliance matters ensuring alignment of expectations and decision support.

Internal Process
• Develop, implement, and maintain ETIC risk management policies, procedures, standards, and governance frameworks.
• Establish effective risk reporting, monitoring, escalation, and issue management processes with clear artefacts and accountability.
• Define and maintain clear accountability between first-line operational owners, risk oversight and escalation, and audit/assurance interfaces—ensuring effective challenge, evidence-based control monitoring and audit-readiness.
• Ensure alignment with any applicable PwC Network standards, policies, and governance requirements.
• Review and enhance internal controls and operational processes to improve and strengthen risk management effectiveness and reduce control gaps.
• Support internal and external audits, assessments, and regulatory reviews where applicable ensuring evidence quality and timely remediation.
• Maintain strong collaboration with shareholder firm risk functions to align on best practices, governance expectations, and risk initiatives.

Learning & Growth
• Build strong relationships with ETIC leadership, business stakeholders, and shareholder firms to enable constructive risk leadership and timely decisions..
• Promote a culture of accountability, resilience, compliance, and continuous improvement.
• Lead, mentor, and develop direct reports and broader risk function capabilities.
• Contribute to cross-functional collaboration and organizational effectiveness.
• Stay informed on emerging risks, regulatory developments, cybersecurity threats, and industry best practices.

Job Requirement
Education
• A professional or academic qualification (degree level or equivalent), or extensive relevant and practical experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Risk Management, Business Administration, Information Security, Law, Finance, or related field.
• Professional certifications such as CRISC, CISM, CISSP, ISO 22301, ISO 27001, GDPR/Data Privacy, or equivalent are preferred.

Language
• Bilingual Arabic-English (with strong English).
Overall Experience
• 13+ years of relevant experience.

Specific Experience
• Relevant experience in enterprise risk management, business continuity, cybersecurity governance, data privacy, compliance, or operational resilience within a professional services organization, multinational environment, regulated industry, or large-scale delivery center.
• Experience working within complex stakeholder and governance environments.
• Prior people management and leadership experience required.
• Experience engaging with senior leadership and governance committees.
Knowledge and Skills
• Strong understanding of enterprise risk management and governance frameworks.
• Strong knowledge of business continuity and operational resilience practices.
• Strong understanding of information security, cyber risk, and data privacy governance.
• Strong understanding of regulatory and compliance environments.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Strong project and program management capabilities.
• Strong decision-making and escalation management skills.
• Strong people leadership and team management capabilities.
• Process-oriented with strong internal control mindset.
• Ability to develop and implement governance frameworks, policies, and procedures.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced and evolving environment.
• Ethical conduct and professional integrity.

Education (if blank, degree and/or field of study not specified)

Degrees/Field of Study required:Degrees/Field of Study preferred:

Certifications (if blank, certifications not specified)

Required Skills

Optional Skills

Accepting Feedback, Accepting Feedback, Active Listening, Analytical Thinking, Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Coaching and Feedback, Coaching and Training, Communication, Compliance Advisement, Compliance Oversight, Compliance Program Implementation, Compliance Risk Assessment, Confidential Information Handling, Contract Review, Contractual Risk Mitigation, Contractual Risk Monitoring, Contract Writing, Creativity, Crisis Management, Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Data Security, Discretion and Business Ethics, Embracing Change, Emotional Regulation, Empathy {+ 44 more}

Desired Languages (If blank, desired languages not specified)

Travel Requirements

Not Specified

Available for Work Visa Sponsorship?

Yes

Government Clearance Required?

No

Job Posting End Date