Freelance Merchant Risk Analyst Jobs in Illinois

Application Deadline:
08/27/2026
Address:
320 S Canal Street
Job Family Group:
Business Management
Business Overview
Treasury & Payment Solutions (TPS) is a strategic business within BMO's North American Integrated Solutions (NAIS) platform, delivering payment, treasury management, commercial card, merchant acquiring, liquidity, and cash management capabilities to commercial, corporate, institutional, and government clients across North America. As a critical enabler of client growth and the movement of money, TPS supports organizations through innovative payment solutions, operational excellence, and prudent risk management.
The TPS Governance & Controls team serves as the first line of defense risk and governance function for TPS and is responsible for ensuring that risk management practices keep pace with business growth, product innovation, regulatory expectations, and evolving operational risks. The team partners closely with business leaders, product teams, operations, compliance, legal, technology, and second line risk functions to identify, assess, monitor, and mitigate risk while enabling strategic business objectives.
The Opportunity
The Director, TPS Risk Advisory plays a key leadership role within TPS Governance & Controls, providing strategic risk oversight and trusted advisory support across a diverse portfolio of payment, treasury, and commercial banking products and services. The role is responsible for partnering with business executives and key stakeholders to assess new initiatives, product changes, emerging risks, regulatory developments, and operational challenges to ensure risks are appropriately identified, understood, and managed.
The successful candidate will lead a team of risk professionals responsible for providing governance and risk advisory coverage across TPS initiatives, programs, products, and client-facing activities. This includes oversight of risk assessments, issue management, audit and regulatory engagement support, control design and effectiveness reviews, change initiatives, third-party risk considerations, and the implementation of risk mitigation strategies.
As a member of the TPS Governance & Controls leadership team, this role contributes to the broader mandate of protecting the organization, strengthening the control environment, supporting sustainable business growth, and ensuring the ongoing safety, soundness, and resilience of BMO's Treasury & Payment Solutions business

• Fosters a culture aligned to BMO purpose, values and strategy and role models BMO values and behaviours in all that they do.
• Ensures alignment between values and behaviour that fosters diversity and inclusion.
• Regularly connects work to BMO's purpose, sets inspirational goals, defines clear expected outcomes, and ensures clear accountability for follow through.
• Builds interdependent teams that collaborate across functional and operating groups to create the highest value for all stakeholders.
• Attracts, retains, and enables the career development of top talent.
• Improves team performance, recognizes and rewards performance, coaches employees, supports their development, and manages poor performance.Acts as a strategic partner to ensure the program elements becomes an integrated component of the overall business/group strategies.
• Develops an expert understanding of business/group challenges.
• Develops longer term program strategies assessing both internal needs & industry trends to deliver best-in-class programs for BMO.
• Supports multiple, varied business units with significant complexity & business transaction risk.
• Acts as a subject matter expert on relevant regulations and policies.
• Acts as a subject matter expert in the evaluation, development and implementation of an internal control system.
• Prepares and briefs senior leaders on regulatory matters across multiple businesses/groups.
• Monitors and advises on management of risk requirements within the defined risk appetite.
• Manages/supports large/complex risk programs/frameworks /projects/initiatives to ensure risks are appropriately mitigated and regulations adhered to.
• Monitors industry and legislative developments and continuously updates programs to ensure they are competitive and effective.
• Supports the position on regulatory compliance issues by interpreting requirements (existing, new and emerging) and identifying, analysing and addressing resultant gaps and issues, including those raised through the review of change initiatives.
• Understands the identified risk exposures and supports the development of action plans required to mitigate identified risks.
• Represents the business/group on Governance/Risk Working Groups/Forums and provides regular updates.
• May establish/manage a 1st LOD control group to oversee business/group adherence to the applicable risk managements requirements. May include evaluating the effectiveness of the controls, reporting on risk assessments and reviews, ensuring the business/group management addresses any identified risks and control deficiencies and the provision of advice and guidance to management concerning the design, and operation of the business/group controls.
• May consult to or serve on various committees and task forces.
• Directs strategic programs that impact BMO and provides integrated management of subsidiary projects and internal or external stakeholders.
• Provides overall program level change leadership to ensure program vision and objectives are achieved and effectively integrated across BMO.
• Builds effective relationships with internal/external stakeholders.
• Ensures alignment between stakeholders.
• Acts as the prime contact for internal/external stakeholder relationships, which may include regulators.
• Monitors and tracks performance, and addresses any issues.
• Breaks down strategic problems, and analyses data and information to provide insights and recommendations.
• Leads change management programs of varying scope and type, including readiness assessments, planning, stakeholder management, execution, evaluation and sustainment of initiatives.
• Leads the execution of operational programs; assesses and adapts as needed to ensure quality of execution.
• Monitoring to ensure that 1st line jobs are following defined processes and procedures.
• Develops, documents and maintains business/group procedures updating and obtaining approvals as regulations or the operating environment changes and communicates changes to the business/group & relevant stakeholder groups.
• Designs measurable sustainment strategies including assessing and recommending mitigations for industry/ segment-specific risks and prioritizing opportunities presented by internal and external stakeholders.
• Tracks exception/exemption requests and corresponding approvals.
• Facilitates training to ensure business unit employees fully understand requirements.
• Provides quality control for investigations, self-reports, examinations and independent reviews conducted by internal and external stakeholders, including regulators, providing verbal and written responses to requests for positions, action plans, information and/or documentation.
• May act as the designated Primary Business Unit Compliance Officer (BUCO) and/or Anti-Money Laundering Reporting Officer for the operating group and is accountable to meet all program requirements (e.g., Operating Group Compliance Program, AML Program Framework).
• Builds awareness, knowledge, and skills and, as necessary, provides communication, practical tools and ongoing support including making presentations, to promote a culture of risk identification and management.
• Supports the design, development, coordination of implementation, automation and continuous improvement of 1LOD LOB risk management programs, including supporting the establishment and maintenance of LOB specific policies standards, business processes and controls across all applicable financial and non-financial risks.
• Works with assigned business/group leaders to interpret, apply and operationalize relevant regulatory frameworks across the LOB/jurisdiction and designs, develops, coordinates and continually improves the LOBs risk management programs and supporting activities to ensure the business operates within the approved risk appetite and optimizes risk return while meeting BMO's regulatory compliance obligations and consistent with the Bank's Risk Management Framework
• Conducts or supports self-assessments to demonstrate control effectiveness and adherence, coordinating 1LOD risk remediation efforts, responding to regulatory requirements, implementing policies, and managing risk measurement and reporting.
• Develops and maintains an understanding of the business/group strategies and objectives, products and services, internal and external stakeholders and business processes as well as the underlying infrastructure to identify and manage implications and risk exposures for the business/group.
• Identifies, investigates, analyzes, documents & mitigates program risks, taking into account jurisdictional issues, and raises any issues or concerns to senior leaders and other stakeholders.
• Contributes to a strong risk culture through collaboration with 1LOD, and engagement with Second Line of Defence (2LOD), Corporate Audit (3LOD), to ensure risks related to products, services, and processes are identified, assessed, measured and managed within the approved risk appetite, and reported on an ongoing basis.
• Analyzes the impact and effectiveness of the program through periodic reviews.
• Recommends adjustments to the overall program, policy or processes within the business/group in accordance with the Risk Appetite Statement, Governance and Corporate Policy.
• Supports the business/group through internal/external audits or regulatory examinations and assists in development of action plans to resolve any identified issues.
• Provides support to the development and delivery of training and awareness programs within the business/group to increase awareness of and compliance to risk management requirements.
• Takes measured risks while protecting the bank by applying our Risk Management Framework in the execution of your role, in line with our Risk Culture and within our approved Risk Appetite, making sound and risk informed decisions that align to business strategy, protect assets, and adhere to applicable policy documents (Frameworks, Policies, Standards, Procedures and Supporting documents), laws and regulations.
• Operates at a group/enterprise-wide level and serves as a senior specialist resource across BMO.
• Influences how teams/groups work together.
• Applies expertise and thinks creatively to address unique or ambiguous situations and to find solutions to multiple, interdependent, complex problems.
• Communicates abstract concepts in simple terms.
• Fosters strong internal and external networks and works with and across multiple teams to achieve business objectives.
• Anticipates trends and responds by implementing appropriate changes.
• Broader work or accountabilities may be assigned as needed.

Qualifications:

• Typically 9+ years of relevant experience and post-secondary degree in related field of study or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Program management skills - Expert.
• Seasoned expert with extensive industry knowledge.
• Technical leader viewed as a thought leader for innovation.
• Verbal & written communication skills - Expert.
• Analytical and problem solving skills - Expert.
• Influence skills - Expert.
• Collaboration & team skills; with a focus on cross-group collaboration - Expert.
• Able to manage ambiguity.
• Data driven decision making - Expert.

Salary:
$137,000.00 - $238,000.00
Pay Type:
Salaried
The above represents BMO Financial Group's pay range and type.
Salaries will vary based on factors such as location, skills, experience, education, and qualifications for the role, and may include a commission structure. Salaries for part-time roles will be pro-rated based on number of hours regularly worked. For commission roles, the salary listed above represents BMO Financial Group's expected target for the first year in this position.
BMO Financial Group's total compensation package will vary based on the pay type of the position and may include performance-based incentives, discretionary bonuses, as well as other perks and rewards. BMO also offers health insurance, tuition reimbursement, accident and life insurance, and retirement savings plans. To view more details of our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.bmo.com/global/en/Total-Rewards
About Us
At BMO we are driven by a shared Purpose: Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. It calls on us to create lasting, positive change for our customers, our communities and our people. By working together, innovating and pushing boundaries, we transform lives and businesses, and power economic growth around the world.
As a member of the BMO team you are valued, respected and heard, and you have more ways to grow and make an impact. We strive to help you make an impact from day one - for yourself and our customers. We'll support you with the tools and resources you need to reach new milestones, as you help our customers reach theirs. From in-depth training and coaching, to manager support and network-building opportunities, we'll help you gain valuable experience, and broaden your skillset.
To find out more visit us at http://jobs.bmo.com/us/en
BMO is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. We evaluate applicants without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or any other legally protected characteristics. We also consider applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.
BMO is committed to working with and providing