Principal Risk Jobs in Illinois (NOW HIRING)

About Us

DriveWealth is on a mission to make investing easier. We believe that everyone should have the ability to control their financial future, and that access to financial markets should not be limited by geography, wealth, or legacy systems. We are a global B2B financial technology organization dedicated to democratizing access to financial independence around the world. Our mission is realized through an API-based platform, empowering our partners to offer seamless investing and trading experiences to clients worldwide, all from their mobile devices. Our technology provides partners with a modern, extensible toolkit, enabling traditional investment workflows and innovative techniques like fractional share ownership. DriveWealth has evolved into a global platform offering trading of US equities, mutual funds, ETFs, fixed income, and options.

There’s never been a better time to build a category-defining business and there has rarely been a team better positioned for this opportunity. Our culture blends the pace and agility of a fintech start-up with the impact, stability, and discipline of Wall Street. We encourage creativity and experimentation while ensuring institutional-grade execution and regulatory compliance in everything we do. Join us and help build the future of global investing!

About The Role

Reporting to the Head of Risk Management, the Lead of Financial Risk owns second-line oversight of market, credit, liquidity, and counterparty risk across the firm. You will build the financial risk appetite and limit framework, establish the governance that sits around it, and carry meaningful visibility with executive leadership and the Board.

This is a builder's role in an environment where the risk profile is still taking shape. Fractional inventory, multi-currency partner funding, stablecoins, and tokenized settlement do not map cleanly onto conventional broker-dealer risk methodology, and you will be expected to build defensible frameworks without waiting for the market or the regulators to settle the question.

Success requires an independent, proactive leader who can quantify exposure credibly, challenge the first line without stalling it, and translate financial risk into decisions the business will act on. You will partner closely with Treasury, Trading, Operations, Finance, Engineering, and Compliance, which separately owns programs that integrate with the firm-wide financial risk framework.

What You'll Do

Build and Own the Financial Risk Framework

• Build the financial risk appetite statement, limit framework, and supporting policies from the ground up.
• Establish and lead the financial risk forum, with clear decision rights and limit breach escalation that has teeth.
• Own financial risk reporting to the Global Risk Committee and the Board.
• Establish escalation protocols and independent challenge over first-line risk-taking.

Own the Margin Program

• Build the enterprise margin policy, including decision authority, exception management, and supporting KRIs.
• Establish margin portfolio stress testing and scenario design, and put it into practice through exposure limits and loss budgets.
• Define risk mitigation practices for margin call sellouts, option expiration exposure, and concentrated position risk.

Protect Liquidity, Capital, and Market Access

• Partner with Treasury on the liquidity risk framework covering intraday funding, clearing and settlement obligations, and stress scenarios including partner-driven withdrawal and redemption surges.
• Own second-line oversight of market access and pre-trade risk controls, including credit and capital thresholds, order and position limits, and kill switch governance across partner integrations.
• Partner with Finance and Regulatory Reporting to build objective, data-driven views of net capital, capital adequacy, and clearing fund and NSCC/DTCC exposure that drive action rather than readouts.

Own Counterparty, Credit, and Market Risk

• Build the counterparty risk framework covering securities lending, clearing and settlement counterparties, banking relationships, and partner credit exposure, including due diligence, ongoing review, and concentration limits.
• Own credit risk arising from margin lending and partner receivables.
• Extend market risk coverage to exposures specific to our model, including derivatives trading, fractional share inventory and principal positions, and currency exposure from international partner funding, which requires bespoke treatment.

Build the Framework for Digital Assets and Tokenization

• Own financial risk for digital asset and tokenized activity, including stablecoin reserve and redemption risk, issuer and custodian counterparty risk, and settlement risk in tokenized environments.
• Assess how tokenized settlement changes liquidity, credit, and operational exposure relative to conventional clearing.
• Develop a forward view of how the firm’s financial risk profile shifts as these products scale, and bring it to the business early enough to shape the design.

Build the Analytics and Lead the Team

• Hire and develop the financial risk team and build the quantitative capability to support the program as it matures.
• Use agentic AI for continuous counterparty monitoring, automated exposure aggregation and limit breach detection, and faster scenario construction, so the team spends its time on judgment rather than assembly.
• Scale the program through tooling leverage rather than headcount.

You Bring

• 10+ years in financial risk management, with substantial experience at a broker-dealer, clearing firm, prime broker, or comparable regulated environment, and prior ownership of a risk program.
• Direct experience across market, credit, liquidity, and counterparty risk, ideally including securities lending and margin.
• Demonstrated experience building margin policy, stress testing methodology, and scenario design, not only running an inherited model suite.
• Working knowledge of clearing and settlement mechanics, including NSCC and DTCC exposure and clearing fund dynamics.
• Practical fluency with agentic AI applied to risk work, with real examples of what you have built or deployed.
• Strong quantitative capability with the tooling to apply it: Python or SQL, comfort working directly with large datasets and BI and data visualization software.
• Strong, practical understanding of SEC, FINRA, CFTC, and NFA requirements relevant to financial risk and net capital.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to write for a Board audience and the judgment to know when a number is the wrong answer.

Special Knowledge (Nice To Have, But Not Required)

• Exposure to digital assets, stablecoins, or tokenized securities
• Experience with event contracts, derivatives, or prediction markets
• Experience in a global business with multi-currency funding exposure
• Treasury or balance sheet management experience
• Hands‑on experience with risk analytics, exposure aggregation, or BI tooling
• Relevant certifications: FRM, CFA, or comparable
• Series 7, 24, 27, or 4
• Advanced degree in a quantitative field

Location

This role is open to candidates in the following locations: New York City, NY or Chicago, IL - Hybrid

• This role is expected to come into the office on a cadence set by the Hiring Manager/Team.
• If you're not based in one of the locations listed above, this role is not a fit, and we cannot accommodate remote work outside these locations.
• Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. DriveWealth does not sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Pay Range: $200,000 – $215,000 USD

Working at DriveWealth

We do our best work when we're in the same room. To maintain the speed our partners expect, our New York, Chicago, and Lithuania teams work in office on a hybrid schedule. We've found that being physically side-by-side is the only way to solve complex problems in real-time and stay truly accountable to the products we ship. When you're here, you're working directly with the people making the decisions.

To support that work, we provide competitive compensation, equity, and a 401(k) match. We also offer Medical insurance, Dental insurance, Vision insurance, Disability insurance, and Paid Parental Leave, along with a wellness reimbursement, a company-provided phone, and a personal development allowance. Finally, we value the time you spend away from the office with generous Paid Time Off (PTO) and observed holidays.

Work Authorization

Applicants must possess the legal right to work in the country where the position is located at the time of application. DriveWealth requires all employees to provide original documentation verifying their work authorization on or before their first day of employment.

For US-based roles: Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without the need for current or future visa sponsorship. DriveWealth does not provide visa sponsorship or support for employment authorization, including transfers, at this time. Offers of employment are strictly contingent upon an individual’s ability to secure and maintain the legal right to work at the Company.

How We Think About AI

We leverage AI to work smarter and move faster. We seek AI-curious talent who are proactive about using emerging tools to increase signal quality, reduce friction, and improve outcomes to deliver products faster, provide better service to our partners, and to streamline processes. Your ability to leverage our internal tools and technology to drive results is as important to us as your core domain expertise.

Compensation

Pay is generally based on the level, complexity, responsibility, location, and job duties/requirements of the specific position. We then source candidates with the requisite skills, expertise, education, training, and experience. If you are selected for an interview, please feel welcome to speak to a recruiter about our compensation philosophy and other available benefits. This role is eligible for base, bonus, equity, 401(k) match, and heavily subsidized benefits and perks.

Equal Employment Opportunity

To build technology and products that are used and loved by people and solve real-world problems, we need to build a team with many different perspectives and experiences. We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

Agency Disclaimer

DriveWealth does not accept agency resumes. Do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, employees, or any other organization location. DriveWealth is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.