Job Description
At MFS, you will find a culture that supports you in doing what you do best. Our employees work together to reach better outcomes, favoring the strongest idea over the strongest individual. We put people first and demonstrate care and compassion for our community and each other. Because what we do matters – to us as valued professionals and to the millions of people and institutions who rely on us to help them build more secure and prosperous futures.
THE ROLE
Serve as the lead Enterprise Risk Business Partner supporting Operations at MFS, providing independent risk advice, effective challenge, and oversight across operational processes, controls, transformation initiatives, and emerging risks. Partner with Operations leadership and process owners to identify, assess, monitor, and communicate risk, strengthen the control environment, and incorporate risk considerations into business decisions and change initiatives.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Serve as the lead Enterprise Risk Business Partner for Operations, developing a detailed understanding of its business activities, critical processes, risk profile, strategic priorities, and control environment.
- Provide independent risk advice and effective challenge to Operations leadership, process owners, project teams, and governance forums on significant operational risks, control matters, business decisions, and transformation initiatives.
- Lead and facilitate Risk and Control Self-Assessments and targeted risk assessments across Operations, helping stakeholders identify inherent risks, evaluate control design and effectiveness, assess residual risk, and develop appropriate risk responses.
- Support the identification, assessment, escalation, and ongoing monitoring of operational risk issues, including processing errors, control deficiencies, incidents, losses, near misses, service disruptions, and recurring risk themes.
- Provide risk oversight for significant Operations change initiatives, including process redesign, automation, system implementation, operating-model changes, outsourcing, vendor arrangements, and other technology-enabled transformation.
- Assess the design and effectiveness of key operational controls, working with business owners to identify practical opportunities to strengthen preventative, detective, and corrective controls.
- Develop and monitor risk indicators, metrics, and reporting that provide Operations leadership, Enterprise Risk, and governance committees with timely insight into risk exposure, control performance, incidents, emerging risks, and remediation progress. Identify recurring themes, concentration risks, interconnected risks, and opportunities for broader control or process improvements.
- Partner with Operations and relevant control functions on issue management, including root-cause analysis, corrective-action planning, risk acceptance, escalation, and validation of sustainable remediation.
- Promote a strong risk-aware culture within Operations through training, workshops, risk discussions, practical guidance, and constructive challenge that positions Enterprise Risk as a business partner and enabler of sound decision-making.
- Contribute to the continued enhancement of MFS’s Enterprise Risk framework, including risk taxonomy, risk appetite, assessment methodologies, operational risk standards, and reporting practices. Represent Enterprise Risk in Operations governance forums and significant initiatives, communicating risk considerations clearly and escalating material matters when appropriate.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
- Must have at least 6 to 8 years of experience in enterprise risk, operational risk, investment operations, internal controls, audit, compliance, or a related role within financial services.
- Strong understanding of operational risk management principles, including risk identification, RCSA, control assessment, issue management, incident analysis, risk acceptance, and ongoing monitoring.
- Knowledge of investment-management or financial-services operational processes and the risks associated with transaction processing, data quality, reconciliations, asset servicing, valuation, reporting, technology dependencies, and third-party services.
- Demonstrated ability to evaluate the design and effectiveness of preventative, detective, and corrective controls and to recommend practical, risk-based improvements.
- Experience assessing the risks associated with significant business, process, technology, vendor, and organizational change.
- Ability to provide independent, constructive challenge while developing credible and collaborative relationships with senior leaders, process owners, subject-matter experts, and control partners.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to analyze incidents, identify root causes and recurring themes, and translate complex information into clear risk insights.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing executive-ready risk assessments, reports, presentations, and governance materials.
- Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and exercise sound judgment in determining when matters require escalation.
- Strong project-management and organizational skills, with a demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality work within established timelines.
- Some periodic travel, domestic and international, may be required.
PREFERRED SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
- Understanding of internal control concepts and experience in conducting risk assessments preferred.
- Experience conducting or facilitating risk assessments, control evaluations, issue management, and management reporting.
- Experience with Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) tools.
- Experience with risk analytics, data visualization, and reporting tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
- Experience within investment management, asset management, fund administration, or fund treasury organizations.
- Experience in investment operations, asset management, investment management, fund administration, custody, asset servicing, or another complex financial-services operating environment.
- Understanding of the investment transaction life cycle and related operational dependencies, including data, systems, vendors, reconciliations, and handoffs between business functions.
- Experience developing key risk indicators, risk-appetite measures, operational-risk reporting, and executive-level risk insights.
#LI-JN1
Base Salary Range: $110,000.00 - $158,500.00 This position is eligible for competitive incentive bonus.
At MFS, we believe in fair and transparent compensation. For that reason, we’re including the salary range for this position. This range reflects our good-faith expectation for what we’ll pay depending on the candidate’s experience, training and education. In addition to the salary, we also offer significant and competitive incentive compensation based on both individual and company performance. Other components of our Total Rewards Package include:
- MFS contributes an amount equal to 15% of your base salary to your retirement account that is separate from the company -sponsored 401(k)
- Education Assistance: MFS contributes $100 monthly up to $10,000 lifetime maximum directly to loan provider
- Education Assistance: Tuition reimbursement up to $8,000 annually
- Education Assistance: Access to discounted tutors and college coaches
- Generous time off and fully paid leaves including 20-weeks for maternity, 12-weeks for parental and caregiver leaves
- Choice of medical and dental plans and an and an employer contribution into the Health Savings Account
- Tax deferred commuter benefits & flexible spending accounts (medical & dependent care)
- Wellness Programs: Robust wellness webinars, employee assistance program with a focus on mental health, subsidized fitness benefit via Wellhub (formerly Gympass), where you can workout at gyms, studios and boutique fitness locations near you, join virtual personal training sessions and access a wide variety of well-being apps
Our compensation philosophy is to pay competitively for talent while ensuring equity across employees performing comparable work. We are committed to transparency – if you have questions about how we arrived at this range or what additional benefits and bonus opportunities come with the role, we’ll be happy to discuss them
#LI-HYBRID
At MFS, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If you are excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly, we encourage you to apply - you might be just the right candidate for this role or others.
MFS is a hybrid work environment (remote/onsite) unless otherwise stated in the job posting.
If any applicant is unable to complete an application or respond to a job opening because of a disability, please contact MFS at 617-954-5000 or email talent_acquisition@mfs.com for assistance.
MFS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and it is our policy to not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state or local laws. Employees and applicants of MFS will not be subject to harassment on the basis of their status. Additionally, retaliation, including intimidation, threats, or coercion, because an employee or applicant has objected to discrimination, engaged or may engage in filing a complaint, assisted in a review, investigation, or hearing or have otherwise sought to obtain their legal rights under any Federal, State, or local EEO law is prohibited. Please see the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal document, linked for your reference.