Risk Officer
Zodia Custody · Abu Dhabi
Tungsten Custody Solutions Limited is part of the Zodia Custody Group of companies and has offices under ADGM and VARA. Zodia Custody is an institution-first digital assets platform backed by the power of Standard Chartered Bank.
Through the combination of its custody, treasury, and settlement solutions, Zodia Custody enables institutional investors around the globe to realise the full potential of the digital assets future – simply, safely, and without compromise.
Risk Officer
This is a full-time role for a Risk Officer in the ADGM for an FSRA authorised digital asset custodian. The individual will be responsible for safeguarding Zodia against emerging risks by establishing and maintaining a robust risk framework, proactively managing incidents, performing risk assessments and overseeing the controls required to meet regulatory standards.
The ideal candidate is an experienced risk professional with existing knowledge of risk frameworks within digital asset regulations along with experience or a strong interest in digital assets.
Key Responsibilities:
- Enterprise Risk Management: Design and enhance an enterprise-wide risk management framework and conduct comprehensive risk assessments.
- Strategic Risk Advising: Act as a risk advisor to the executive team and board.
- Operational Risk Management: Identify, mitigate, and manage operational risks.
- Technology and Cybersecurity: Collaborate with tech teams to address cybersecurity risks and develop cybersecurity policies.
- Financial Risk Management: Handle financial risks including credit, market, and liquidity, and Oversee stress-testing.
- Reputational Risk Management: Monitor and manage potential risks to Tungsten's reputation and develop crisis management strategies.
- Risk Analytics and Reporting: Set up risk analytics/reporting frameworks and provide regular reports.
- Risk Culture and Training: Foster risk awareness across the organization and design risk
- Management training.
- Act as Incident Manager for risk, compliance, and operational incidents in the absence of a dedicated Incident Manager appointment, ensuring incidents are identified, logged, triaged, and escalated without delay.
- Coordinate the immediate response to incidents, including engagement of relevant stakeholders (Technology, Operations, Legal, Senior Management) and, where applicable, external parties.
- Ensure incidents are assessed for regulatory notification obligations and that any required notifications to the regulator are made within prescribed timeframes.
- Maintain an incident log/register capturing root cause, impact assessment, remediation actions, and lessons learned.
- Escalate material incidents to senior management and the Board in accordance with the entity's escalation thresholds and reporting protocols.
- Support post-incident review and ensure remediation actions are tracked to closure.
Risk Appetite Statement — Ownership and Governance
- Own and maintain the Risk Appetite Statement (RAS), ensuring it remains current, board-approved, and reflective of the entity's risk-taking capacity and strategic objectives.
- Define and maintain documented escalation thresholds across all material risk categories, ensuring breaches of risk appetite are identified on a timely basis.
- Establish and maintain breach reporting protocols, ensuring any breach of risk appetite thresholds is reported to senior management and, where material, to the Board, with appropriate detail on cause, impact, and remediation.
- Operate with independence from business and revenue-generating functions in the exercise of risk oversight responsibilities, free from undue influence in risk assessment, reporting, or escalation.
- Be subject to conflict-of-interest safeguards, including a requirement to declare any actual or potential conflicts and to recuse from decisions where independence may be compromised.
Requirements
- 7+ years’ experience in a Risk Management function within financial services.
- Previous Risk experience developing risk governance frameworks and overseeing a risk function.
- Regulatory Understanding in UAE, ADGM, FSRA and VARA regulatory frameworks,
- Existing knowledge of developing and managing Risk Governance Frameworks, Enterprise Risk Management, Incident Management, Disaster Recovery and undertaking Business Risk Assessments
- Strong delivery mindset — proactive, detail‑oriented and comfortable operating at pace.
- Leadership experience managing teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
- Knowledge of digital asset regulation and associated risks; strong interest in blockchain technology.
- UAE residency eligible and ability to work regularly from ADGM.
- Exceptional communication skills and a reputation for integrity, transparency and trust.
- Desirable: Experience in digital asset firms, custody, or blockchain analytics tools.
Benefits
We are a friendly team, with monthly socials and seasonal celebrations as well as offering a range of fantastic benefits including:
- Competitive salary
- Private health care
- Generous Annual Leave
- Flexible working arrangements (subject to agreement)