Head of Risk Management

Job Objective:

The role is responsible to keeps credit, capital, liquidity and operational risk within the Board-approved risk appetite and in line with the CBB Rulebook. It leads the end-to-end credit risk function, combining strategic oversight with hands-on, techno-functional work in data analytics, credit decision engine management and model development.

Job Specifications:

Risk Framework and Governance

• Design, maintain and review at least annually the ERM Framework and Risk Appetite Statement, for ExCom review and Board approval; report material changes to the Board.

• Own the Risk Management policy suite and keep it aligned with CBB Rulebook requirements and changes.

• Maintain the enterprise risk register and Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), with tolerance thresholds and escalation triggers.

• Provide independent risk sign-off on new products, pricing changes, material business decisions and material variations to the scope of the CBB licence.

• Advise senior management on the risk implications of strategy and business decisions across microfinancing, BNPL and credit cards.

• Promote a sound risk culture through training and awareness across the three lines of defence.

Credit Risk

• Own the credit risk management framework, including product-level credit policies for microfinancing, BNPL and credit cards, scoring and decisioning criteria, credit limits and approval authorities.

• Set loan-size and tenor grids by customer segment, consistent with the Board-approved risk appetite.

• Review the portfolio's risk indicators daily, including delinquency, arrears, roll rates and early-warning signals.

• Set and monitor portfolio quality metrics (PAR, NPL, default and delinquency rates, roll rates, vintage curves) against approved targets and market benchmarks, and escalate breaches proactively.

• Monitor concentration risk by segment, product, merchant and counterparty, and advise on collections strategy.

• Oversee provisioning and impairment under the IFRS 9 expected credit loss (ECL) methodology, including staging criteria, model assumptions and management overlays, in coordination with Finance.

• Monitor and report exposures to controllers and close links, ensuring compliance with limits and tracking related action plans.

Credit Decisioning, Models and Analytics

• Keep the credit decision engine and its scorecards and rules up to date with current risk appetite and market conditions.

• Coordinate periodic recalibration, back-testing and validation of decisioning rules and credit scoring models.

• Work with IT and vendors to implement decision engine changes, with version control and a full audit trail of every rule change.

• Build, test and refine credit risk and scoring models for accuracy, stability and predictive power.

• Stay hands-on with database queries, data extraction and dataset preparation for analysis.

• Run ongoing analytics to detect emerging risk trends, anomalies and early portfolio deterioration, and turn findings into actions for underwriting, collections and portfolio strategy.

• Work with IT and Data teams to source additional data (credit bureau, alternative data, internal transactional data) to strengthen decisioning.

• Segmentation and Portfolio Growth

• Define customer segments by risk profile, behaviour and profitability to support targeted credit strategies.

• Develop segment-specific underwriting criteria and provide risk input into pricing and product design, to grow the portfolio responsibly.

• Partner with Sales, Marketing and Product to identify growth opportunities within approved risk parameters, while keeping the independence of the risk function.

Capital, Liquidity and Operational Risk

• Oversee the Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) and monitor compliance with CBB capital adequacy requirements (Module CA), including the gearing ratio.

• Monitor compliance with minimum liquidity requirements and maintain the approved liquidity management and contingency funding policy.

• Run periodic stress testing and scenario analysis covering credit losses, funding and liquidity stress, and macroeconomic shocks; report results and recommended actions.

• Own operational risk management, including risk and control self-assessments (RCSAs), incident and loss-event reporting, and root-cause follow-up.

• Identify and mitigate operational risks across the credit lifecycle: origination, disbursement, monitoring and collections.

• Ensure credit operations comply with internal policies, CBB regulations, and AML/CFT and consumer protection requirements.

• Oversee business continuity management, and monitor fraud, outsourcing/third-party and technology risk in coordination with the relevant functions.

Reporting and Regulatory Engagement

• Present regular risk reports to the CEO, the ACGC, the Board Risk Committee (where constituted) and the Board, covering risk appetite adherence, KRIs, portfolio performance, capital, liquidity, emerging risks and key decisions.

• Act as the key point of contact with the CBB on risk matters: attend CBB meetings, respond promptly to information requests, and prepare and submit accurate, timely credit risk, portfolio and other required regulatory reports.

• Prepare credit risk and portfolio performance reports for investors and shareholders, supporting fundraising and governance requirements.

• Work with Compliance and the MLRO on financial-crime risk indicators embedded in lending and card products.

• Support internal and external audits and CBB inspections, and track remediation of risk-related findings to closure.

Qualification & Experience:

Qualifications :

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, Risk Management or a related field; a Master's degree is preferred.

• A recognized risk or finance certification, such as FRM, PRM, CFA or ACCA/CPA, is preferred.

Experience :

• At least 10 years in risk management within banking or financial services, including at least 8 years in credit risk and at least 5 years in a senior role.

• Hands-on experience in retail or consumer credit risk, ideally covering microfinance, BNPL or credit cards in Bahrain or the GCC.

• Proven experience with credit decision engines, scorecards and credit risk models.

• Working knowledge of the CBB Rulebook, regulatory reporting obligations, ICAAP, capital adequacy and liquidity requirements.

• Experience with IFRS 9 ECL methodology and stress testing.

• Experience presenting to Boards, Board committees, regulators and investors.

Note:

Preference in hiring will be given for Bahraini nationals.