SVP, Enterprise Controls

Fortitude Re · Jersey City · $225,000–$245,000 (stated in the posting)

Apply on the company website

The Senior Vice President, Enterprise Controls will establish and lead the Company’s second line of defense controls function. This senior leadership role will be responsible for building a modern, scalable, and AI-forward controls program that strengthens the enterprise control environment across key business and functional areas, including finance, investments, actuarial, operations, technology, data, and other corporate functions. 

This leader will design and implement the second line controls framework, including the tools, templates, standards, and governance needed to document controls consistently across the enterprise. The role will also own the annual controls calendar and coordinate enterprise-wide control activities such as walkthroughs, risk and control self-assessments, control design assessments, operating effectiveness monitoring, and risk-based periodic testing.  

The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in controls, operational risk, financial controls, compliance, internal audit, and governance, paired with strong business judgment and a practical understanding of how technology, data, automation, and AI can improve control design, monitoring, evidence collection, and reporting. This individual will serve as the enterprise leader for second line controls, partnering closely with first line business and functional leaders, compliance, internal audit, finance, technology, information security, and data teams.  This position will report directly to the Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”). 

What You Will Do:

Build and lead the second line control function 

• Lead the execution of and contribute to the development of the second line of defense controls strategy, governance model, and functional objectives in partnership with the CCO. 

• Col-develop and implement the structure and vision for a modern, risk-based, and AI-enabled controls program that supports regulatory expectations and business resilience. 

• Manage a team of control professionals in compliance with operating budget accountability  

• Serve as the senior subject matter expert on enterprise controls, control governance, and control lifecycle management. 

• Lead and influence stakeholders across the three lines of defense to promote clarity of roles, accountability, and consistency of execution.  

Establish the enterprise controls framework, tools, and templates 

• Design and implement the enterprise controls framework for the second line of defense, including methodologies, standards, procedures, taxonomies, and documentation requirements. 

• Develop and maintain practical tools, templates, and guidance for documenting processes, risks, controls, objectives, evidence, issues, and remediation plans and activities. 

• Standardize approach to control identification, control design, design effectiveness assessment, and operating effectiveness monitoring. 

• Recommend harmonized approaches to controls methodologies across risk disciplines where appropriate for CCO endorsement, including control ratings, risk ratings, evidence standards, and issue escalation criteria.  

Own the annual enterprise controls calendar 

• Develop and manage the annual controls activity calendar for the enterprise to coordinate key second line activities across business and functional areas.  

• Plan and sequence annual control activities, including walkthroughs, risk and control self-assessments, design reviews, testing cycles, issue validation, and reporting cycles. 

• Coordinate with business, compliance, operational risk, finance, and other stakeholders to reduce duplication and improve discipline across the annual control lifecycle.  

Conduct walkthroughs and self-assessments 

• Lead or oversee control walkthroughs to confirm process understanding, risk identification, control design, documentation quality, and ownership clarity. 

• Design and facilitate risk and control self-assessments with first line teams, ensuring consistent methodology and useful outputs. 

• Assess whether controls are appropriately designed to address material risks, regulatory obligations, and policy requirements. 

• Challenge first line assessments where needed and drive improvements to control documentation and control rationalization.  

Assess control design and effectiveness 

• Evaluate the adequacy of control design across key enterprise processes and functions. 

• Develop a risk-based methodology for assessing both control design effectiveness and operating effectiveness. 

• Review control inventories to identify gaps, overlaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities for automation or simplification. 

• Ensure controls are documented clearly enough to support effective execution, evidence retention, monitoring, and testing. 

Monitor operating effectiveness and perform risk-based periodic testing 

• Build and execute a risk-based monitoring and testing program for second line controls oversight. 

• Conduct periodic testing of controls to assess whether they are operating as intended, with clear reporting of findings, root causes, severity, and remediation actions. 

• Define testing frequencies and scope based on risk, materiality, control maturity, regulatory considerations, and historical issues. 

• Maintain procedures for issue tracking, management reporting, remediation validation, and escalation of material control weaknesses.

Drive AI-forward controls transformation 

• Lead the adoption of AI-enabled and technology-supported approaches to controls documentation, evidence collection, issue analysis, testing, and reporting. 

• Evaluate and implement tools that improve scalability and insight, including workflow, GRC, automation, analytics, continuous monitoring, and dashboard capabilities. 

• Partner with technology, data, and business teams to modernize the control environment and increase use of automated and embedded controls. 

• Promote a controls-by-design and automation-first mindset across transformation initiatives. This is consistent with the automated-controls role’s emphasis on built-in controls, dashboards, continuous monitoring, and change leadership. 

Integrate data, technology, and emerging risk considerations 

• Ensure the controls framework appropriately addresses key operational, financial, technology, data governance, cybersecurity, and emerging AI/model/end-user-computing (“EUC”) risks. 

• Work with data and technology teams to improve control traceability, data quality monitoring, access governance, and exception reporting. 

• Support the incorporation of AI, model and EUC governance considerations into the broader controls environment where relevant.  

Reporting, governance, and management communication 

• Establish routine reporting for management committees and senior leadership on the health of the control environment. 

• Support the CCO in preparation for, and where appropriate, attendance at Board Audit Committee meetings.         

• Develop meaningful KRIs, KPIs, dashboards, and escalation triggers related to controls execution, testing results, issue trends, and remediation status. 

• Support governance processes and committee reporting, including Board-level reporting where appropriate.  

What You Will Have:

Required 

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business administration, risk management, information systems, or related discipline. 
• 10+ years of progressive experience in controls, operational risk, compliance, internal audit, risk management, financial controls, or related second line / assurance functions within a regulated industry. 
• Significant experience in insurance, reinsurance, financial services, investment management, or a similarly regulated environment.  
• Strong public accounting experience.  Rotations within national professional standards or audit quality standards practices preferred.  
• Demonstrated success building or leading enterprise control frameworks, controls testing programs, or oversight functions. 
• Deep expertise in: 
• control framework design. 
• risk and control documentation. 
• control design assessment. 
• operating effectiveness monitoring and testing 
• issue management and remediation. 
• governance and management reporting 
• Experience developing tools, templates, standards, and structured methodologies for enterprise use. 
• Strong leadership, influencing, and cross-functional stakeholder management skills. 
• Experience working with or overseeing GRC platforms, workflow tools, data analytics, or controls automation capabilities. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting to senior executives and governance committees. 

Preferred 

• Advanced degree such as MBA or JD. 

• Professional certification such as CPA, CIA, CISA, CRISC, CFA, CISSP, or CISM. 

• Experience in a reinsurance organization, particularly in settlements, actuarial, investments, finance, or shared services processes. 

• Experience implementing or enhancing controls in technology-enabled environments, including data platforms, workflow tools, or control automation solutions. 

• Exposure to AI, advanced analytics, model governance, or the use of AI to improve control execution and oversight.  

Leadership Characteristics 

• Strategic and hands-on; able to set direction and also build practical solutions. 
• Highly credible with senior business, functional, and control stakeholders. 
• Structured, disciplined, and able to create order in a growing or evolving control environment. 
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and driving transformation. 
• Strong judgment and the ability to balance rigor with pragmatism. 
• AI-forward and innovation-minded, with an interest in using technology to make controls more effective, efficient, and scalable. 
• Collaborative but willing to challenge constructively. 

More jobs at Fortitude Re · Legal & Compliance jobs in New York