European Finance Observatory

Operations, Asset Servicing & Risk · related to Market Risk Analyst

Operational Risk Analyst

Full profileYour role

Also known as Corporate risk manager · Chief risk executive · Chief Risk Officer · Corporate risk department manager

and 5 moreHead of Risk · Operational risk manager · Risk management director · Risk management specialist · Risk Manager

L3 salary
Not published yetSalary figures open with the salaries section.
Upcoming dated changes
11 changes aheadNext:
Top critical skills
  1. Risk measures and sensitivities
  2. Derivatives and how they work
  3. Basel framework and capital

See all levels

What the role does

An operational risk analyst helps a financial firm identify, assess and reduce the risk of loss from failed processes, people, systems or external events. The role runs risk and control self-assessments, records and analyses loss events, tracks key risk indicators, builds scenarios, challenges the first line on controls and supports operational resilience and ICT risk work under DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act). It also supports operational risk capital under the Basel standardised approach and sits in the second line of defence.

Read a day in the life

A day in the life

The analyst starts by reviewing new loss events logged overnight: a payment sent twice, a pricing error on a fund and a vendor outage that delayed client statements. Each event is checked for completeness, classified by Basel event type and linked to the control that failed. Mid-morning there is a workshop with a payments team for their annual risk and control self-assessment. The analyst challenges the ratings, asks for evidence that key controls work and agrees actions with owners and dates. After lunch the work turns to key risk indicators: two have moved into amber, so the analyst asks the business for an explanation. Part of the afternoon goes to operational resilience: reviewing the impact tolerance for an important business service and the results of a recent scenario test with the ICT risk team. The day ends with drafting a section of the monthly risk report for the operational risk committee, with clear messages and the actions that are overdue.

Levels

  1. L1 Starting out 0-2 years
  2. L2 Independent 2-5 years
  3. L3 Senior or specialist 5-9 years
  4. L4 Leads a team or an area 8-14 years
  5. L5 Leads the function 12+ years
Full level descriptions and job titles

The EFO level names are the common scale; job titles differ between employers.

LevelWhat the work looks likeTypical yearsTypical job titles
L1 Starting outLogs and checks loss events, updates key risk indicators and risk registers, supports workshops and learns the operational risk framework and event taxonomy under supervision.0-2Banks: Analyst, Junior Analyst, Associate (asset servicing), Trainee, GraduateAsset servicers: Junior, Specialist (entry), Officer
L2 IndependentCovers a business area end to end, runs self-assessments and scenario workshops, challenges control owners, tracks actions and trains L1 analysts.2-5Banks: Analyst / Senior Analyst, AssociateAsset servicers: Specialist, Senior Specialist, Senior Officer
L3 Senior or specialistSpecialist in scenarios, operational resilience, ICT and third-party risk or capital, handles major incidents and framework changes, and represents the function in audits and supervisory reviews.5-9Banks: Senior Associate, AVP, Assistant ManagerAsset servicers: Senior Specialist, Expert, Team Lead (small team)
L4 Leads a team or an areaLeads an operational risk team or coverage area, owns risk appetite metrics and reporting for it, and is the escalation point for business heads on material risks and events.8-14Banks: VP, Manager, Senior ManagerAsset servicers: Team Lead, Manager, Head of Section
L5 Leads the functionHead of operational risk for a legal entity or region, sets the framework and risk appetite proposals, and reports to the risk committee, the board and supervisors.12+Banks: Director, Executive Director, Managing Director, Head of functionAsset servicers: Head of Department, Director

Skills

The percentage is the skill's share of the role; the bars are drawn relative to the anchor skill, which is shown full.

Critical 6

The job cannot be done without these.

Important and supporting skills 17

Important 9

Needed in most positions.

Supporting 6

Help in many positions.

Useful 2

Occasionally useful.

Processes

The work the role takes part in.

What each process covers
  • Capital calculationMainComputing how much capital the bank must hold against its risks.
  • ICT risk and operational resilienceMainKeeping systems secure and available, managing incidents and IT third parties.
  • Market risk measurementMainMeasuring sensitivities and potential losses on trading positions.
  • P&L and valuation controlMainProducing and explaining daily P&L and independently checking prices.
  • Model development and validationSupportingBuilding and independently checking risk and pricing models.
  • Operational risk and controlsSupportingIdentifying what can go wrong in processes and keeping controls effective.

Where the role concentrates

How AI is changing the role

Text analytics now classify loss events, read incident reports and spot patterns across audit findings and complaints, and dashboards update key risk indicators automatically.

Read the full assessment

Text analytics now classify loss events, read incident reports and spot patterns across audit findings and complaints, and dashboards update key risk indicators automatically. Routine data collection and first-level reporting are shrinking. At the same time AI adoption creates new risks to assess: model failures, data leakage and dependence on third-party AI providers, which fall under DORA and the EU AI Act. Value grows in challenge, scenario judgement and resilience testing. The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025 lists AI and big data and analytical thinking among the fastest-growing skills.

Dated changes for this role

Worth knowing

Changes that touch a process this role takes part in as a secondary task.

See all 14 in the Regulatory calendar

Salary snapshot

Salary figures are not published yet

The L3 salary range for this role, with its sources, will appear here when the salaries section opens.

Certifications

Concepts to know

All 24 concepts

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Sources

Profile updated 31 Oct 2026.