What does a Risk Manager do?
A risk manager is responsible for analyzing potential risks that may affect the organization's operations, reputation, and market credibility. Risk managers identify risk controls and discuss business contingency plans for unforeseen circumstances to prevent delays in operational services. They also develop compliance training and programs for all the employees to provide them the awareness of the safety and security regulations within the company premises. A risk manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially on handling and investigating cases that might compromise the business stability and financial status.
Risk manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real risk manager resumes:
- Lead team in addressing Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and SAS70 compliance and control mandates.
- Develop procedures and policies to manage site implementation of successful JD Edwards ERP system.
- Direct staff, manage A/R and reconciliations, petty cash disbursements and tracking of all incoming claims and payments.
- Manage the loan loss receivables SAS data mart, document change initiatives, implement SAS coding changes and process ongoing updates.
- Manage accounting procedures and general ledger reconciliations.
- Lead SOX project planning and implementation, successfully implement the corporate governance policies and internal control framework.
- Create entire billing system by extracting billable occurrences from customer service database through SQL queries.
- Run a class teaching several colleagues about relational databases, SQL, and SAS programming.
- Provide threat assessment, analysis and risk mitigation for infrastructure and applications.
- Create and chair cross-functional teams across diverse business units, providing sustaining governance and oversight for risk management.
- Participate in educating and training employees and patients regarding risk management program, event relate policies and improvement activities.
- Define corporate standards for high-risk operational controls and wholesale definition of compliance supporting ERM risk tolerance definition and governance.
- Conduct CRO responsibilities for both sectors.
- Generate plots and used the visualization tools through python.
- Serve as administrative liaison between healthcare providers and the health plan TPA.
Risk manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Risk Managers are proficient in Oversight, Risk Assessments, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Math skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Risk Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Oversight, 10%
Developed, implemented, and facilitated security and safety programs with oversight for compliance with all Federal and State mandated requirements.
- Risk Assessments, 6%
Identified risks included motivating information asset owners to become involved with high-level risk assessments to get their sign-off on risk remediation.
- Project Management, 6%
Coached and developed staff in auditing, presentation and facilitation, relationship development, and project management skills.
- Portfolio, 5%
Identify additional opportunities for application of risk assessment tools that help the GSO organization understand operational misses and related portfolio impact.
- Strong Analytical, 4%
Demonstrated strong analytical skills identifying areas of improvement in coding guidelines which helped increase and protect business unit assets.
- Operational Risk, 4%
Credit Risk|Operational Risk|Enterprise Risk Management|AML KYC|Cash Management|Securities Services
"oversight," "risk assessments," and "project management" are among the most common skills that risk managers use at work. You can find even more risk manager responsibilities below, including:
Organizational skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a risk manager to have is organizational skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "because financial managers deal with a range of information and documents, they must have structures in place to be effective in their work." Risk managers often use organizational skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "manage the fiduciary responsibilities of all occupational incidents, property loss/damage, and organizational litigation. "
Math skills. Another essential skill to perform risk manager duties is math skills. Risk managers responsibilities require that "financial managers need strong skills in certain branches of mathematics, including algebra." Risk managers also use math skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "conducted due diligence, quantitative/qualitative analysis of hedge fund managers. "
Analytical skills. This is an important skill for risk managers to perform their duties. For an example of how risk manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "to assist executives in making decisions, financial managers need to evaluate data and information that affects their organization." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a risk manager: "maintained various databases to retain in-house claims and litigation related information. ".
Detail oriented. For certain risk manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "detail oriented." The day-to-day duties of a risk manager rely on this skill, as "in preparing and analyzing reports, such as balance sheets and income statements, financial managers must be precise and attentive to their work in order to avoid errors." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what risk managers do: "developed and implemented corporate risk management policies and procedures with results oriented action plans. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for risk manager responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of risk managers all the time, as "financial managers must be able to explain and justify complex financial transactions." An excerpt from a real risk manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a risk manager does: "provide all communications relating to new or updated government and/or corporate risk and controls requirements. "
The three companies that hire the most risk managers are:
- DDeloitte1,000 risk managers jobs
- Pwc486 risk managers jobs
- KPMG LLP322 risk managers jobs
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Compare different risk managers
Risk manager vs. Credit and collection manager
A credit and collection manager is responsible for evaluating credit services and supervising the credit and collection team in reaching out to clients with outstanding debts and credit applications. Credit and collection managers oversee the cash flow systems and identify opportunities to minimize excessive loss and resolve credit disputes. They also determine a customer's eligibility for credit options by analyzing documents and financial status. A credit collection manager must have excellent communication and analytical skills to process receivables and perform credit reconciliations accurately and efficiently.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, risk manager responsibilities require skills like "oversight," "risk assessments," "project management," and "portfolio." Meanwhile a typical credit and collection manager has skills in areas such as "credit limits," "dso," "customer accounts," and "delinquent accounts." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Credit and collection managers really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $77,448. Comparatively, risk managers tend to make the most money in the technology industry with an average salary of $119,668.The education levels that credit and collection managers earn slightly differ from risk managers. In particular, credit and collection managers are 9.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a risk manager. Additionally, they're 2.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Risk manager vs. Administrative & finance manager
An administrative and finance manager handles a company's expenditures, requests, invoices, and other financial documentation. Their primary duty is to oversee a finance team's daily work. Additionally, they must coordinate financial staff, ensure that orders from management are carried out, complete the company's financial statements, and provide tax data for the legal department.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that risk manager responsibilities requires skills like "risk assessments," "project management," "portfolio," and "strong analytical." But an administrative & finance manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "payroll processing," "human resources," "administrative procedures," and "financial management."
Administrative & finance managers may earn a lower salary than risk managers, but administrative & finance managers earn the most pay in the insurance industry with an average salary of $92,645. On the other hand, risk managers receive higher pay in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $119,668.administrative & finance managers earn similar levels of education than risk managers in general. They're 3.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Risk manager vs. Management accounts manager
A management accounts manager is responsible for maintaining healthy business relationships with clients by handling their project accounts, improving account management procedures, and identifying business opportunities that would generate more revenue resources for the company. Management accounts managers compile portfolio reports, including how the client's account performs in the market and its financial stability. They also negotiate contracts, settle terms and agreements, and ensure the highest customer experience by implementing strategic plans to enhance the company's services.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, risk managers are more likely to have skills like "oversight," "risk assessments," "portfolio," and "strong analytical." But a management accounts manager is more likely to have skills like "strategic account management," "customer satisfaction," "crm," and "client relationships."
Management accounts managers make a very good living in the energy industry with an average annual salary of $108,174. On the other hand, risk managers are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $119,668.When it comes to education, management accounts managers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to risk managers. In fact, they're 5.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Risk manager vs. Finance and insurance manager
A finance and insurance manager is an individual who is responsible for selling new and used car buyers with financing and insurance programs. Finance and insurance managers are required to provide a thorough explanation of aftermarket products and extended warranties to customers as well as a complete explanation of manufacturer and dealership service procedures and policies. They must seek new lending institutions and maintain a good relationship with them to secure competitive interest rates and financing programs. Finance and insurance managers should also train the sales team and provide information on finance and lease programs.
Types of risk manager
Updated January 8, 2025
