“Teacher”, “doctor” or “baseball player” may be some of the first things that come to mind when children are asked what they want to be when they grow up. Does anyone ever say they want to be a “Risk Manager”? Probably not, or at least not at that age. So how (and when) do you get started in a risk management career and what makes it so attractive?

You may enter risk management in the beginning, middle or twilight of your career. You may be on buy-side or sell-side. You may have a specialization like finance, trading or quantitative analysis. No matter what stage or area you are in, risk management is one of the more compelling developmental roles in our industry. Risk analysts, managers and officers have to be critical thinkers. They are required to integrate a vast understanding of commercial strategies, valuation methods, statistics, risk analysis and technology. Many risk management assignments are temporary and rotational. The exposure to different types of projects broadens one’s knowledge and accelerates one’s personal growth.

Just within Veritas, you can get a good sampling of different career paths in risk management. We participate in all levels of risk management careers. We train young risk analysts as well as employ deep subject matter experts who were risk professionals in former industry positions. Meet a few people from Veritas and hear about different career paths and the significance that risk management assignments have played in their careers.

Meet Mike.

Mike began his 35-year career with an early series of trading and risk management jobs. Since then, he has held various software, industry and consulting positions, all of which informed by his past risk roles. Mike is unique in that he has the deep knowledge of CTRM system and other risk management solutions, but has also demonstrated successful consulting skills and practices. Mike leveraged this winning combo to start a consulting firm specializing in energy with risk management consulting as one of the core offerings.

Meet Kenny.

Kenny is a classic example of someone who learned the business as a trader and then leveraged that knowledge to become a successful consultant. Kenny graduated with a classics degree from Princeton, but he decided that academia was not for him and was hired by a futures trader after responding to classified ads upon graduating. He spent his first seven years in the workforce as a trader. He was taught how to trade and eventually handled all the trading. Kenny leveraged his trading experience and moved into consulting roles as a developer and business process consultant. He continued to spend several years as an independent contractor, then as an employee for an International Oil and Gas company, and finally returned to consulting with Veritas. Kenny’s well-versed background makes him a strong consultant, because his knowledge of the industry is unmatched.

Meet Nick.

Nick is currently a Business Analyst who started his career in healthcare consulting and moved over to risk management consulting. Upon graduating, Nick took his first professional job at a small healthcare company. This job combined analytical thinking and consulting practices. It was here that Nick found an appreciation for consulting but also learned the importance that data plays. Moving to Veritas was an easy decision because Nick was able to get hands on experience with consulting and data – but this time as it related to risk management and CTRM systems. Nick, having an economics degree and the right skill set, adapted quickly. He was trained by his peers when working on his first implementation project as a consultant. He was impressed that some of the topics covered are so big and complex that even experienced SMEs are still learning, which makes this an existing business to stay in. Nick quickly became passionate about solving challenges, getting exposure to technical projects and learning from some of the top people in the industry. He sees this as a career that has a lot of opportunities and one that will keep him challenged and engaged.

Meet Brad.

Brad has always been on the technical side of the business, even in his consulting roles. His initial interest in CPU architectures, signal processing and custom hardware led him to leading roles in telecommunications and then he made the leap into the finance industry as computerized trading became available to the masses. Advancements in financial innovation and technology were progressing, thus creating the need for timely and interactive trading systems that provided cohesive risk metrics, position, and P/L to manage the new flood of computerized trades, complex products and tick based market data. Although daunting, Brad enjoyed being on the forefront of these industry breaking challenges. In order to build a completely integrated trading, risk and portfolio management solution using the latest technology, it required Brad to be a trader, risk manager and a technologist all at the same time. Brad’s experience in these different types of roles led him to consulting, focusing on modeling upstream and physical production models as the needs of physical market players evolved. Consulting is a good fit for Brad because he finds trade strategy development and modeling risk (both trading and counterparty credit) to be the mental challenge that he enjoys and can provide clients the most value. In this role, Brad can apply his broad technical knowledge to integrate technology and business for the most efficient results.

Interested in pursuing a career in risk management?

For young professionals entering the workforce, risk positions are a good fit for those who demonstrate aptitude and interest. These are coveted positions that result in valuable experience and perspective. Risk assignments offer employees the opportunity to discover whether their interests tend toward greater specialization or more general commercial or managerial responsibility. At Veritas, we both develop new business analysts in risk positions and provide a home for some of the most experienced subject matter experts and consultants.

At Veritas Total Solutions, we offer a range of trading & risk advisory services to our clients and have team members at all levels supporting these services. If you are interested in a career at Veritas, check out the type type of people that we are looking for on our careers page or email us directly at careers@veritasts.com. Our Culture Code is also avaialble if you want to get some insight into the type of company we aspire to be.