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Portfolio Risk Strategies Director

Data Analytics

Newark, Delaware; Westwood, Massachusetts

Description

Portfolio Risk Strategies, Director (RSK590)

The Portfolio Risk Strategies, Director leads a team responsible for end-to-end credit card account management strategies that balance risk, customer experience, and profitable growth. This role owns strategic direction, prioritization, and execution across Credit Line Management (CLI/CLD), Account Closure, Authorizations, Payments, and other balance growth strategies. The leader will elevate the team’s approach to align with an advanced credit risk organization by introducing stronger segmentation, test-and-learn discipline, decision science, monitoring, and implementation rigor. This position partners closely with Product, Finance, Operations, Fraud, Analytics, Technology, Compliance, and Governance to deliver strategies that are analytically sound, operationally executable, and consistent with risk appetite and portfolio objectives.

Primary responsibilities include

  • Lead the vision, design, and execution of credit card account management strategies across Credit Line Management, Account Closure, Authorizations, Payments, and balance growth programs to optimize portfolio profitability while managing credit losses within risk appetite.
  • Manage, coach, and develop a team of risk strategy professionals, raising the team’s capabilities in portfolio segmentation, decision strategy design, test-and-learn frameworks, performance monitoring, and data-driven storytelling.
  • Evolve existing portfolio management methods toward a more advanced credit risk model by embedding sophisticated segmentation, challenger strategies, champion/challenger testing, forecasting, and ongoing strategy calibration.
  • Translate portfolio objectives into actionable risk strategies and decision rules that improve customer-level treatment across line assignment, exposure management, transactional controls, payment behavior, and engagement strategies.
  • Partner with Analytics and Decision Science teams to identify opportunities for advanced models, alternative data, automated decisioning, and optimization techniques that improve strategy precision and business outcomes.
  • Oversee strategy implementation from concept through deployment, including business case development, requirements definition, controls, validation, and post-implementation review to ensure strategies are delivered accurately and perform as intended.
  • Establish robust portfolio monitoring and governance routines, including KPI tracking, early warning indicators, exception management, and clear escalation paths for emerging risks or underperforming strategies.
  • Provide strategic thought leadership to senior stakeholders by synthesizing portfolio trends, recommending actions, and clearly articulating tradeoffs across risk, growth, customer experience, and operational feasibility.
  • Ensure strategies comply with internal policy, regulatory expectations, and governance standards through strong partnership with Compliance, Legal, Model Risk, and Risk Governance teams.
  • Monitor macroeconomic, regulatory, consumer, and competitive developments and translate those trends into proactive recommendations for portfolio strategy adjustments.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

  • 7+ years of progressive experience in credit card risk strategies, portfolio management, or consumer lending risk, including deep experience in account management strategies.
  • Strong portfolio analytics and strategy development background, including segmentation, test design, performance monitoring, forecasting, and interpretation of portfolio credit and profitability dynamics.
  • Experience translating analytical insights into executable strategies and partnering with technology and operations teams to implement decision rules and policy changes at scale.
  • Working knowledge of risk governance, controls, regulatory expectations, and policy frameworks applicable to consumer credit card portfolios.
  • Strong executive communication skills with the ability to present complex analyses, recommendations, and tradeoffs clearly to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
  • Proficiency with analytical and reporting tools such as SQL, SAS, Python, Excel, Power BI, or similar tools used in large-scale portfolio strategy environments.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience leading strategy modernization efforts that introduced more advanced segmentation, optimization techniques, machine learning, or automated decisioning into account management strategies.
  • Broad knowledge of credit card economics, including loss performance, revolving behavior, customer profitability, utilization, and spend or balance growth levers.
  • Experience working in highly matrixed organizations and influencing senior partners across Product, Finance, Operations, Fraud, Compliance, and Technology.
  • Demonstrated success building strong governance and monitoring routines that improve strategy performance, transparency, and control execution

Education

  • Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Business, Data Science, or a related quantitative discipline; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
  • Advanced degree such as an MBA, Master’s in Analytics, Statistics, Economics, or a related field a plus.

Hours & Work Schedule

  • Hours Per Week: 40
  • Work Schedule: Monday - Friday

Some job boards have started using jobseeker-reported data to estimate salary ranges for roles. If you apply and qualify for this role, a recruiter will discuss accurate pay guidance.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.

Background Check

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the candidate successfully passing a background check, which may include initial credit, motor vehicle record, public record, prior employment verification, and criminal background checks. Results of the background check are individually reviewed based upon legal requirements imposed by our regulators and with consideration of the nature and gravity of the background history and the job offered. Any offer of employment will include further information.

Benefits

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more.

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Awards We've Received

2023

Glassdoor Best Place to Work in Consulting, Finance & Insurance

2025

Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index 100 Award

2026

Newsweek America's Most Charitable Company

2025

The Banker's
US Bank of the Year

2025

Dave Thomas Foundation’s Best Adoption-Friendly Workplace

2024

Disability:IN Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion

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