Head Of Risk Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

THE WORK:

As Head of Managed Services at Ripple Treasury, you own the delivery, performance, and growth of our Hedge Accounting managed services practice, spanning both FX and Interest Rate Risk management. You lead a team of Derivative Accountants who deliver technical excellence to our client portfolio, and you're accountable for the practice's operational health end to end: client satisfaction, delivery quality, staffing, and the workflows that let the team execute quarter after quarter.

You are responsible for running the Hedge Accounting practice: forecasting capacity against a growing client portfolio, making staffing calls, tracking delivery KPIs, resolving client escalations, and building the processes that let the team scale. When something technically challenging comes up - a contested de-designation, a novel structuring question, an auditor pushing back - you're the final point of resolution, setting the direction the practice follows going forward.

This is a role for someone who can manage and lead a service organization day-to-day, and who has the technical depth in hedge accounting to support the team, when they need it.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

Practice Management & Operations

• Design and manage the day-to-day operating model for how the practice delivers - from trade capture through close, disclosure, and audit response - across both FX and Interest Rate programs.
• Lead Hedge Accounting Managers and Derivative Accountants who bring technical excellence to every client engagement.
• Drive resource planning and capacity forecasting - including client-level staffing and organizational planning.
• Set, track, and hold the team accountable for the KPIs that define what great delivery looks like, and step in personally when you see signs of trouble.
• Identify and introduce technology that makes the team faster and more accurate in service delivery.
• Own hiring, organizational design, and workforce planning as the practice grows under you.
• Define and own the practice's overarching strategy and methodology for how we advise clients on FX and Interest Rate hedge programs - setting the standards, frameworks, and technical positions the team operates within - and serve as the final escalation point for issues, discrepancies, or contested positions Managers unable to resolve.
• Manage the Client Support and Solutions team, ensuring excellent customer support for users of our hedge accounting products.

• Set clear performance expectations for Managers and team members, and provide ongoing coaching and feedback that develops both technical depth and delivery discipline.
• Build a team culture grounded in accountability, technical rigor, and continuous improvement.
• Develop each Manager's technical and people leadership capability, so routine delivery decisions get made confidently without you.

• Own the practice's technical position on ASC 815 and IFRS 9 across FX and Interest Rate risk management - the standards and precedents the Managers and team apply day-to-day.
• Act as the escalation point when a Manager or team member surfaces a hedge accounting question that's genuinely novel, contested, or high-risk - de-designation disputes, structuring problems without precedent, or positions an auditor is challenging.
• Step into audit conversations personally when a position is contested or precedent-setting, standing behind the practice's most defensible technical calls.
• Stay current on FASB and IASB developments affecting FX and Interest Rate hedge accounting, and make sure the practice is ahead of upcoming changes rather than reacting to them.

• Serve as the final escalation point for client inquiries, audit questions, and accounting positions Managers are unable to resolve, across both FX and Interest Rate risk engagements.
• Build trusted, strategic relationships with client treasury, accounting, and finance leadership.
• Partner with Ripple Treasury's Product, Implementation, and Customer Success teams to inform platform capabilities and service design based on what you're seeing across the practice.
• Represent Managed Services in internal planning and reporting on portfolio health, delivery performance, and growth.
• Partner with Sales and Renewal teams to ensure ongoing growth and retention of the customer base.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING: 

• CPA required; advanced degree in Accounting or Finance a plus.
• 12+ years of progressive accounting experience, with at least 8-10 years focused on derivative instruments and hedge accounting under ASC 815 and IFRS 9, spanning both FX and Interest Rate risk management.
• 5+ years of experience managing and developing accounting or finance teams, including managing managers, not just individual contributors.
• Proven experience running the operational side of a service practice: staffing/capacity planning, KPI tracking, workflow design, and delivery quality management.
• Deep, current technical fluency in ASC 815 and IFRS 9, able to independently research, interpret, and defend the standards on the most complex and contested positions, whether the exposure is currency or interest rate driven.
• Strong understanding of FX derivative instruments (FX forwards, options, cross-currency swaps) and interest rate derivative instruments (interest rate swaps, caps, floors, collars), and the distinct hedge accounting considerations each presents.
• Demonstrated track record of designing and implementing process improvements - you leave workflows better than you found them.
• Experience with hedge accounting platforms (Ripple Treasury, Chatham Financial, Reval, FIS Quantum, or comparable TMS) strongly preferred.
• Strong communicator: you make complex accounting conclusions accessible to non-technical audiences, and you hold your ground on technical positions when it matters, including with auditors and skeptical clients.