Head of Risk Management

The Role

This is a senior, strategic role responsible for designing, leading, and scaling the market surveillance and risk management framework across the organisation’s European entity/entities. The role plays a critical part in ensuring market integrity, regulatory compliance (including MiCA), and robust risk governance across trading activities and operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and own the Market Surveillance and Risk Management function for the organisation.

• Design and implement frameworks to detect market manipulation, abusive behaviour, wash trading, insider trading, and other suspicious activities.

• Oversee real-time surveillance systems, alerts, escalation processes, and investigation workflows.

• Ensure ongoing alignment with MiCA requirements, including market abuse, conduct, and risk obligations.

• Develop, implement, and maintain the firm’s enterprise risk management framework, covering:

o Market risk

o Operational risk

o Custodial risk

o Counterparty and third-party risk

• Prepare and deliver internal management reporting and regulatory reports on risk indicators, incidents, breaches, and mitigation actions.

• Act as a key stakeholder with regulators and internal governance bodies where required.

• Partner closely with Compliance, Legal, Product, Trading, and Technology teams to monitor changes in business models, products, and technical infrastructure.

• Provide leadership, mentorship, and direction to surveillance and risk team members.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• University degree in Finance, Economics, Law, Risk Management, or a related discipline.

• 5–8+ years of relevant experience in market surveillance, risk management, or compliance within:

o Financial institutions

o Trading venues

o Crypto exchanges

o Market infrastructure providers

• Strong working knowledge of EU regulatory frameworks, with a particular focus on MiCA and market abuse regulations.

• Hands-on experience with market surveillance tools, monitoring systems, and data analytics platforms.

• Proven investigative experience with the ability to assess complex trading behaviours and risk scenarios.

• Strong leadership, stakeholder management, and decision-making capabilities.

• Fluency in English is essential; German language skills are strongly preferred.