Vice President - Risk Analytics

Role Overview

Vice President - Risk Analytics at RAK BANK. The role is based at the Bank's location and reports to senior risk leadership, with responsibility for leading the Bank's regulatory modelling, impairment analytics, and portfolio risk measurement capabilities across all business segments.

Company Overview

RAK BANK is committed to building a resilient and data-driven risk management framework that supports sustainable growth and regulatory excellence.

Role Purpose

Lead the Bank's regulatory modelling and impairment analytics function, ensuring the development, governance, implementation, monitoring, and ongoing compliance of IFRS 9, regulatory capital, and internal rating models across Retail, SME, Wholesale, Financial Institutions, and Bond portfolios. Oversee Expected Credit Loss (ECL) methodologies and production processes while maintaining alignment with regulatory requirements, model risk management standards, accounting standards, and the Bank's risk appetite framework.

Key Responsibilities

Model Development & Governance

• Lead the development, enhancement, and governance of regulatory risk models including PD, LGD, EAD, Rating Models, and ECL methodologies.
• Define modelling strategy and roadmap for Retail, SME, Wholesale, Financial Institutions, and Investment portfolios.
• Oversee model lifecycle management including development, recalibration, redevelopment, monitoring, implementation, and retirement.
• Establish model development standards, documentation requirements, monitoring thresholds, and governance practices.

Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with IFRS 9 requirements, CBUAE regulations, Model Risk Management standards, and internal governance frameworks.
• Stay current with evolving IFRS 9 standards and regulatory expectations, incorporating necessary updates into models and methodologies.
• Approve technical modelling approaches, monitoring frameworks, calibration methodologies, and model recommendations prior to governance submissions.
• Accountable for ensuring appropriate controls, documentation, governance, and regulatory compliance across all regulatory modelling and impairment activities.

ECL Production & Reporting

• Oversee quarterly and monthly ECL production processes and ensure timely delivery of management, finance, audit, and regulatory submissions.
• Review and challenge macroeconomic forecasting methodologies, scenario design, overlays, and staging assessments.

Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership

• Lead interactions with Model Validation, Internal Audit, External Audit, Finance, and regulatory authorities.
• Provide strategic risk insights and recommendations to management committees and senior leadership.
• Collaborate closely with the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) team to support stress testing exercises and ICAAP submissions.
• Engage extensively with senior stakeholders across Risk Management, Finance, Credit Policy, Business Banking, Retail Banking, Treasury, Data Management, and Technology functions.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for Model Validation, Internal Audit, External Auditors, regulators, and consultancy partners on all matters relating to regulatory models and ECL methodologies.

Team & Capability Management

• Manage team capacity, resource planning, capability development, and succession planning.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams and drive continuous improvement across modelling, governance, and reporting processes.

Qualifications & Experience

• Master's degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Econometrics, Finance, Data Science, or related quantitative discipline.
• Minimum 12–15 years of experience in credit risk analytics, regulatory modelling, or quantitative risk functions.
• Extensive hands-on experience in IFRS 9, PD, LGD, EAD, rating models, stress testing, and ECL methodologies.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory expectations, model risk governance, accounting requirements, and audit processes.
• Proven leadership experience managing modelling and analytics teams.

Skills & Competencies

• Advanced proficiency in Python, SAS, SQL, Databricks, or equivalent analytical platforms.
• Deep expertise in regulatory credit risk modelling, impairment methodologies, portfolio analytics, and model risk management.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder management capabilities with the ability to challenge complex technical methodologies while effectively communicating to executive and regulatory audiences.
• Strong governance orientation, sound judgement, and strategic thinking.
• Ability to balance technical rigor with practical business application.

Additional Information

• Operates within approved Risk Appetite, IFRS 9 Policies, Model Risk Management Frameworks, Credit Risk Standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Exercises significant professional judgment when evaluating modelling assumptions, calibration approaches, expert overlays, and emerging portfolio risks while balancing regulatory expectations, accounting requirements, business objectives, and model performance.
• Addresses highly complex analytical and regulatory challenges involving large-scale portfolios, evolving regulations, changing macroeconomic conditions, and model risk considerations.