CRO (Chief Risk Officer) - Telcoin Digital Asset Bank

📋 Description

• • Architect and launch the first enterprise-wide risk management program for Telcoin Digital Asset Bank, a pioneering Nebraska-chartered depository institution purpose-built for digital assets. You will own the end-to-end design of policies, procedures, and governance structures that safeguard customer deposits, protect the bank’s balance sheet, and enable sustainable innovation in crypto banking.
• • Perform deep-dive risk assessments across every business line—custody, settlement, lending, treasury, payments, and product development—quantifying credit, market, liquidity, operational, cyber, fraud, model, and third-party risks. Translate findings into prioritized mitigation roadmaps that balance growth velocity with prudent risk limits.
• • Build and maintain a dynamic risk-appetite statement approved by the Board and aligned with regulatory expectations from the Nebraska Department of Banking & Finance, FDIC, and emerging federal crypto guidance. Continuously refine thresholds as the bank scales assets under custody and expands into new geographies.
• • Establish a best-in-class control library and Key Risk Indicator (KRI) dashboard that delivers real-time visibility to the CEO, Board Risk Committee, and external regulators. Automate data feeds from core banking systems, blockchain analytics platforms, and third-party vendors to ensure accuracy and timeliness.
• • Partner with Compliance to embed regulatory change management into the risk framework. Interpret new rules (e.g., Basel III crypto add-ons, stablecoin legislation, AML travel rule updates) and translate them into actionable policy amendments, training, and technology requirements.
• • Serve as the primary liaison with examiners and auditors, leading mock examinations, remediation projects, and evidence collection. Cultivate transparent, trust-based relationships that reduce regulatory friction and accelerate product approvals.
• • Design and deliver enterprise-wide risk education—from front-line staff to the Board—using interactive workshops, scenario simulations, and micro-learning modules. Foster a culture where every employee feels empowered to escalate emerging threats without fear of blame.
• • Oversee the bank’s cyber-resilience program in lockstep with IT and Security teams. Evaluate attack-surface exposure across hot/cold wallets, smart-contract custody logic, and cloud infrastructure. Commission red-team exercises and incident-response drills to validate defenses.
• • Create a fraud-prevention strategy that leverages on-chain analytics, behavioral biometrics, and machine-learning models to detect mule accounts, phishing, and social-engineering schemes before losses materialize. Set up rapid-response playbooks that freeze assets and notify law enforcement within minutes.
• • Manage the bank’s insurance portfolio (D&O, cyber, fidelity, E&O, crime) ensuring coverage limits evolve with the balance sheet and emerging threats. Lead claims advocacy and renewal negotiations to optimize premiums and terms.
• • Establish a vendor-risk tiering methodology that evaluates fintech partners, blockchain infrastructure providers, and data vendors on security, financial health, and regulatory standing. Embed continuous monitoring and exit strategies into every contract.
• • Champion model-risk governance for proprietary pricing, liquidity-stress, and capital-adequacy models. Ensure independent validation, back-testing, and documentation meet SR 11-7 standards and forthcoming OCC guidance on crypto models.
• • Prepare quarterly risk reports for the Board Risk Committee, articulating residual risk levels, emerging threats, and strategic recommendations in plain language. Present at shareholder meetings to demonstrate how prudent risk-taking drives long-term value creation.
• • Mentor and grow a high-performing risk team (initially 2–3 analysts, scaling to 10+) across quantitative analysis, regulatory affairs, and cybersecurity. Instill a learning mindset that keeps Telcoin at the forefront of risk innovation in digital-asset banking.