GRC Lead – Controls Modernization & Technology Risk

Practice - CIS - Cloud, Infrastructure, and Security Services

About Cloud Infrastructure & Security Services:
Cognizant’s Cloud, Infrastructure, and Security Services Practice (CIS), is all about embracing digital transformation by driving core modernization holistically across layers. We help customers transform infrastructure and workplace to meet the rapidly evolving needs of the digital era. Our holistic approach delivers key results for our customers by achieving cloud driven modernization and workplace and operational transformation to run the business in a secure environment.

We are seeking an experienced GRC Lead to drive the assessment, rationalization, and modernization of technology operational controls within a large‑scale financial services environment. This role will be responsible for leading control assessments, facilitating stakeholder workshops, validating control effectiveness, and developing recommendations to optimize the control landscape. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in technology risk, IT audit, control design, operational risk, and control rationalization, with the ability to translate assessment findings into actionable modernization and automation strategies.

This position requires strong stakeholder engagement, analytical rigor, and hands‑on experience within regulated banking environments.

Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future

• Lead the assessment and rationalization of technology operational controls, validating control design, effectiveness, ownership, risk alignment, and evidence requirements.
• Review control inventories and conduct detailed evaluations to identify control gaps, overlap, duplication, obsolete controls, and optimization opportunities.
• Facilitate workshops and working sessions with control owners, technology teams, risk functions, compliance stakeholders, and governance groups.
• Develop and document recommendations to retain, consolidate, enhance, or retire controls based on risk coverage, efficiency, and business value.
• Update and refine control definitions, ownership models, scope statements, execution frequencies, and evidence expectations.
• Ensure control recommendations align with industry frameworks and regulatory expectations, including FFIEC, COBIT, and enterprise risk management standards.
• Identify opportunities for automation across control execution, evidence collection, testing, monitoring, and compliance activities.
• Develop assessment findings, control rationalization matrices, refreshed control sets, automation recommendations, and roadmap inputs.
• Support stakeholder validation activities and ensure recommendations are traceable, evidence‑based, and aligned with business objectives.
• Perform quality reviews of control documentation, assessment outputs, and consultant deliverables to ensure consistency and accuracy.
• Contribute to executive summaries, governance presentations, and findings reports used to support future‑state control transformation initiatives.
• Partner with delivery leadership and stakeholders to drive risk reduction, audit readiness, and control modernization outcomes.

• 10+ years of experience in Technology Risk, IT Audit, Governance Risk & Compliance (GRC), Internal Controls, Operational Risk, or Controls Transformation.
• Strong hands‑on experience assessing and improving technology operational controls within banking or financial services organizations.
• Proven experience conducting control assessments, evidence reviews, risk‑to‑control mapping, and control effectiveness evaluations.
• Experience rationalizing control inventories and documenting control disposition decisions with supporting rationale and stakeholder validation.
• Strong understanding of control design principles, audit readiness requirements, control ownership, governance models, and risk management frameworks.
• Knowledge of industry standards and frameworks including FFIEC, COBIT, NIST, ITGC, and operational risk management practices.
• Experience facilitating workshops, conducting stakeholder interviews, and translating discussions…