Risk Director, Personal Wealth (Brokerage & Investments)

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Risk Director, Personal Wealth (Brokerage & Investments)

senior · Risk & Compliance

Overview: 
 

Personal Wealth is transforming how investors access personalized financial advice. Vanguard's Personal Wealth division helps individuals and families achieve their financial goals through a broad spectrum of advice and wealth management solutions—ranging from digital advice and financial planning to comprehensive wealth, trust, and family office services. Serving investors across all stages of their financial journey, Personal Wealth combines Vanguard's client-first philosophy, low-cost investing expertise, and innovative technology to deliver advice at scale. The division operates across a complex landscape of advice, brokerage & investments, cash management, wealth management, and technology-enabled services, creating unique opportunities to influence both business outcomes and client success.

Brokerage & Investments is responsible for Vanguard's self-directed broker-dealer platform and 529 businesses, serving millions of investors through a broad range of investment, trading, lending, and wealth-building capabilities. The division oversees a complex portfolio that includes equity, options, and fixed income trading platforms; margin and fully paid lending programs; client eligibility and financial benefit frameworks; 529 plans; tax, cost basis, and regulatory reporting capabilities; product and platform governance; alternative investment offerings; and emerging capabilities such as digital assets and tokenization. These businesses operate within a highly regulated and rapidly evolving environment where client protection, operational resiliency, technology transformation, and regulatory compliance are critical to long-term success.

We are seeking a Risk Director to provide independent risk oversight, credible challenge, and strategic risk advisory support across this diverse portfolio. As a trusted partner to business leadership, the Risk Director will help assess, monitor, and mitigate operational, regulatory, compliance, technology, and emerging risks associated with both established and evolving broker-dealer capabilities. The role requires deep business acumen, strong regulatory and risk management expertise, and the ability to influence outcomes across complex cross-functional initiatives while maintaining an independent risk perspective.

 
The impact you’ll make:
 

This role is particularly important as Vanguard continues to modernize its brokerage platform, expand product capabilities, and navigate an increasingly complex industry landscape. The Risk Director will be expected to understand the unique risks associated with trading, lending, investor eligibility and benefit programs, tax and reporting functions, product governance, alternative investments, digital assets, and tokenization initiatives. The successful candidate will partner closely with business, technology, operations, legal, compliance, and audit stakeholders to strengthen risk management practices, enhance governance and control effectiveness, and provide thoughtful risk-based guidance that enables innovation while protecting Vanguard, its clients, and its reputation.

The ideal candidate excels at these top capabilities:

• Develop and maintain deep expertise across brokerage and investment products and services, including equities, options, fixed income trading, margin lending, fully paid lending, 529 plans, financial benefit programs, tax and cost basis capabilities, regulatory reporting processes, and product and platform governance frameworks.
• Provide independent risk assessment and challenge for new and evolving business capabilities, including alternative investments, digital assets, tokenization initiatives, and other emerging broker-dealer products and services.
• Evaluate the design and effectiveness of controls supporting brokerage products, trading activities, client eligibility frameworks, product governance processes, and associated operational activities, recommending enhancements where appropriate.

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 initiatives.
• Develop and maintain in-depth knowledge and awareness of industry, risk management practices, and regulatory and/or policy changes. Take an active role in industry forums and remains current on issues and regulatory events affecting the division, firm, and industry.
• Embed deep, division-specific acumen into risk management. Provide relevant, tailored guidance and advice to strengthen decision-making across the division’s complex business operations and strategic initiatives.
• Participate in special projects and performs other duties as assigned, partnering with enterprise risk, legal, compliance, audit, and internal and external stakeholders as appropriate.

Qualifications: What you’ll bring:

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in wealth management and/or personal investment advisory services, with at least 8 years of risk management experience.
• Undergraduate degree required; graduate degree preferred (e.g., JD, MBA, MS in Risk/Finance).
• Hands‑on masterly of operational risk frameworks and control assurance (control design, testing, monitoring, reporting). You know what “good” looks like – and how to build it.
• Demonstrated people leadership capabilities, including building scalable teams, developing leaders, and driving a strong risk culture.
• Exceptional communicator and strategic thinker who shapes outcomes through strong judgement, clarity of message, and an ability to bring stakeholders along. You build buy‑in across senior leaders while navigating complexity with confidence.

Preferred Subject Matter Expertise:

• FINRA broker-dealer regulations
• Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI)
• Margin lending
• Options products
• Securities lending / Fully Paid Lending
• 529 plans
• Tax and cost basis reporting
• Regulatory reporting
• Product and platform governance
• Market structure and trading platforms
• Operational risk and control frameworks

Special Factors

Sponsorship

About Vanguard

At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.

To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.