Operational Risk Analyst (UAE National)

About the role:

You will be acting as the Retail Banking Risk Partner, ensuring strong governance, effective controls, and proactive management of operational risks to protect the bank and support sustainable business growth

What you will be Doing:

Operational Risk Management

• Administer and maintain the bank’s Operational Risk Management Framework, tools, and governance processes.
• Facilitate Risk and Control Self-Assessments (RCSA) to identify, assess, and monitor key operational risks and control effectiveness.
• Conduct control testing to identify process, system, compliance, and training gaps, ensuring timely remediation of identified issues.
• Monitor, analyze, and report Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), highlighting emerging risks, trends, and areas requiring management attention.
• Manage operational risk incidents, including logging, investigation, root cause analysis, tracking, and closure.
• Prepare and coordinate Risk Acceptance submissions, ensuring appropriate approvals, renewals, and stakeholder engagement.

Risk Reporting & Governance

• Develop and present risk dashboards, management reports, project updates, and escalation reports to senior stakeholders.
• Ensure timely, accurate, and insightful reporting to support informed decision-making and prioritization of key initiatives.
• Proactively identify operational risk exposures, control weaknesses, and process or policy gaps, recommending practical mitigation measures.

Process Review & Improvement

• Conduct end-to-end reviews of business processes and customer journeys to identify operational risks, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities.
• Develop and maintain process documentation and recommend enhancements to improve operational efficiency, control effectiveness, and customer experience.
• Partner with business units to implement process improvements and strengthen operational controls.
• Lead root cause analysis of operational issues and customer complaints, implementing corrective and preventive actions to minimize recurrence.
• Review process changes, new products, and customer communications, providing risk and control recommendations prior to implementation.
• Drive process re-engineering and streamlining initiatives to enhance service delivery, operational efficiency, and risk management outcomes.

Core Competencies

• Operational Risk Management
• RCSA & Control Testing
• Risk Incident Management
• KRI Monitoring & Reporting
• Process Re-engineering
• Root Cause Analysis
• Governance & Compliance
• Stakeholder Management
• Data Analysis & Dashboard Reporting
• Continuous Improvement & Customer Journey Optimization

What We Are Looking For :

• 2+ years of experience in Banking or Financial Services, preferably within a First Line of Defense (1LOD), Risk, Operations, or Controls environment.
• Strong understanding of Operational Risk Management, governance frameworks, and internal controls.
• Experience conducting Risk & Control Self-Assessments (RCSA), control reviews, or process assessments.
• Ability to identify operational risks, control gaps, and recommend practical remediation actions.
• Experience in incident management, root cause analysis, and process improvement initiatives.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to monitor trends, prepare dashboards, and present risk insights to stakeholders.
• Exposure to business process reviews, customer journey assessments, and process re-engineering initiatives.
• Ability to work closely with business teams and act as a trusted risk partner to strengthen controls and governance.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and presentation skills.
• Proactive, detail-oriented, and capable of driving risk mitigation and continuous improvement initiatives.