Risk Director, Personal Wealth (Cash and Savings

Risk Director

Vanguard's Personal Wealth division helps individuals and families achieve their financial goals through a broad spectrum of advice and wealth management solutions. Cash & Savings is responsible for Vanguard's cash management ecosystem. We are seeking a Risk Director to provide independent risk oversight, credible challenge, and strategic risk advisory support across this growing portfolio. As a trusted advisor to business leadership, the Risk Director will partner closely with product, operations, technology, legal, compliance, financial crimes, and third-party providers to ensure new capabilities are designed, launched, and scaled in a risk-smart, compliant, and operationally resilient manner.

The impact you'll make:

This role is particularly important as Vanguard continues to modernize money movement capabilities, expand Cash Plus, launch debit card capabilities, and enhance client access, speed, transparency, and flexibility. The Risk Director will oversee risks associated with cash products, deposits, interest rate and tiering programs, money movement policies and operations, payment capabilities, third-party banking relationships, fraud prevention, operational resiliency, and regulatory compliance.

The successful candidate will understand and challenge complex risks associated with funds availability, transaction processing, fraud and scam mitigation, money movement infrastructure, and emerging payment capabilities while influencing executive decision-making through risk assessments, strategic advisory support, and effective challenge.

The ideal candidate excels at these top capabilities:

• Experience partnering with cross-functional teams (product, technology, operations, legal, compliance) and third-party vendors to support the design, launch, and ongoing oversight of payment products in complex, highly regulated environments.
• Demonstrated familiarity with payments ecosystems, including debit card programs, money movement, real-time payments, and digital payment models, across issuer, processor, network, and/or sponsor bank environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in payment products, money movement operations, and associated regulatory and industry frameworks (e.g., Reg E, dispute handling, error resolution, fraud and scam management, NACHA Operating Rules, AML/KYC, PCI-DSS, consumer protection requirements, and third-party payment ecosystems).
• Partner with the business to mitigate risk and optimize process efficiency across debit card and digital payment operations. Apply deep industry and technical risk expertise to design effective controls spanning KYC, transaction monitoring, fraud and scam prevention, dispute processes, risk tolerances, and limits.
• Provide consultative support as new products, services, processes, and procedures are developed.
• Assess the design and effectiveness of existing controls supporting payment products and transaction flows, leveraging industry best practices to recommend enhancements as needed. Apply enterprise risk management concepts consistently when evaluating and communicating payment-related risk exposures.

Responsibilities:

• Hire, evaluate, and supervise crew. Provides guidance, training, and coaching as necessary to develop crew. Set performance standards, review performance, and make informed compensation decisions in accordance with all applicable Human Resources policies and procedures.
• Partner with key stakeholders to establish and implement risk and control management standards within the division's processes, based on the divisional risk profile and enterprise and divisional policies and standards. Provide vision and leadership regarding existing and emerging risks, in alignment with strategic priorities.
• Provide independent oversight of Line 1 risk activities, with a primary responsibility to challenge completeness, consistency, quality, and judgment in how risks are identified, assessed, and managed. Ensure that the division has an appropriate level of review of key controls, and that key controls are designed in accordance with established standards.
• Partner in risk identification and challenges completeness and consistency of identified risks. Provides industry and enterprise-wide insights to inform the business on current and emerging risks. Performs independent risk assessments for selected high-impact, critical, or thematic risks.
• Monitor and enable adherence to the enterprise risk governance policies, standards, and procedures. Develop, maintain, and evolve a comprehensive program for monitoring and challenging the risk and control effectiveness in the business.
• Produce independent risk reporting and enterprise-wide insights for divisional leadership and governance forums to enable the business to make risk informed decisions.
• Lead and oversee a team of risk practitioners in analyzing risks, applying risk methodologies, and considering business context in advising the business on key risks. Accountable for the timely completion of risk projects and…