Head of Risk

Overview

This role is responsible for risk ownership for a concentrated, thesis-driven investment book. You will monitor positions and the reasoning behind them, review the book daily against the firm’s current views, and ensure the portfolio remains consistent—flagging views that have run their course, positions that contradict each other, and exposures that accumulate without clear ownership.

You will maintain an up-to-date picture of the firm’s exposures and define the data and views required to manage them. This is an individual contributor role built from scratch with no team to manage, no outside investors to report to, and no inherited risk framework. Reporting is directly to the principal.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a “map of the book”: a living inventory of each position, including:
  • why it is on
  • what would take it off
  • what it is exposed to (by name, theme, and factor)
• Perform daily thesis hygiene by reading positions against current firm views and flagging:
  • stale views
  • contradictions between positions
  • mis-sized positions as they occur
• Lead “clean-up” efforts by identifying and resolving:
  • positions nobody is watching
  • residual pieces of old trades
  • exposures that drifted
• Build exposure and scenario views sized to how the principal actually makes decisions.
• Track counterparty, financing, and operational exposures across brokers and platforms, ensuring they are known, sized, and on the same exposure map as the positions.
• Define what data and views this seat requires, and work with the tech team to build them.
• Deliver a daily note that is decision-ready, covering:
  • what changed
  • what is stale
  • what requires a decision

What this role is not

• Not a PM or trader seat
• Not a quant seat
• Not desk housekeeping: execution and position maintenance remain with the trading desk
• Not responsible for setting limits or presenting to a risk committee; the principal decides
• Not a role focused on “where markets are going” forecasting; focus is on whether the book is consistent with the principal’s view and the evidence behind it

Requirements

• Demonstrated judgment and the ability to run a clean risk process end-to-end
• Prior experience doing this work in a relevant environment (e.g., fund, family office, prop desk, or risk side of a bank)
• Careful temperament; loose ends bother you
• Strong fluency in risk, including:
  • positioning
  • derivatives
  • factor exposure
  • liquidity
  • counterparty risk
  • ability to see what a discretionary book is truly exposed to
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving decision environment where the principal may change direction quickly
• Clear, plain communication—able to state when something no longer belongs and support it with numbers
• Low ego and truth-seeking; quick to update when facts change
• Ability to work self-directed with no pre-defined limits framework or risk committee
• Hands-on approach; you do the work yourself, every day
• Builder-minded; can specify and ideally prototype what you need (Python, SQL, or spreadsheets)
• Proportionate prioritization—know which exposures matter versus “institutional theatre”
• AI-native: fluent with modern AI tools for surveillance, synthesis, and reporting, with a trust-but-verify discipline
• Fast and collaborative; work closely with the trading desk and tech team at the speed of markets

Core skills

• Book reading: treat a concentrated book as exposures, not just tickers
• Thesis-to-position mapping: translate discretionary views into what should and shouldn’t be on, keeping the mapping current
• Scenario thinking: factor, theme, and liquidity scenarios that drive decisions
• Counterparty and operational awareness beyond positions themselves
• Data specification: know what risk functions need from position, broker, and internal data, and request it precisely
• Operating discipline: daily rhythm, durable documentation, and follow-through until every flag is resolved

Compensation & Benefits

• Upside tied to how much cleaner and better-protected the book is because you exist

Location

• Remote; US market hours