Company Background Merrick Bank Founded in 1997, Merrick Bank is FDIC insured, recognized as a top 20 credit card issuer in the U.S., serving nearly 4 million cardholders and extending over $6 billion in credit. Merrick also provides consumer finance options to marine, RV, powersports, horse and utility trailer dealers across the country to help customers find new opportunities to get what they need for recreation. Additionally, as a top 12 Merchant Acquirer, Merrick Bank’s merchant business provides support to over 150,000 merchants through approximately 40 independent sales organizations, with over $60B in annual card purchase volume. With over $5 billion in assets and over $1 billion in equity, Merrick Bank is extremely well capitalized and poised for continued growth.CardWorks Merrick Bank is part of CardWorks, Inc. (“CardWorks”), a leading credit and payments company, and a people-centric, compliance focused organization enabled by data and technology. Founded in 1987, CardWorks operates through its subsidiaries Merrick Bank, CardWorks Servicing, LLC (“CWS”), Carson Smithfield, LLC (“CS”), and Dataline Systems, LLC (“DS”). Managing over 6 million active accounts, CWS is the premier independent servicer of nationally branded Visa/Mastercard cards, secured cards, and unsecured installment loans. CS is exclusively dedicated to post-charge-off debt recovery collection services nationwide. DS provides innovative, automated, and flexible payment disbursement services. With operations in New York, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Florida, CardWorks employs over 2,500 employees, with the majority of its operations housed internally, but also leveraging near-shore outsource partners. CardWorks has substantial capital, robust operational scale, and demonstrated leadership with decades of experience operating effectively as a team, which will allow for continued growth of its lending, merchant, and servicing business lines.Organizational ContextOpportunity CardWorks is managed day to day by a team of Organizational Area Leaders (“OALs”), of which the Chief Risk Officer, who heads the Risk & Regulatory functions, is a key teammate. Strategic management decisions of CardWorks typically involve Dan Pillemer, the CEO of CardWorks, and this team of OALs. The subsidiaries of CardWorks (Merrick Bank, CWS, CS and DS) work cohesively and collaboratively to achieve our joint goals. Merrick Bank is a subsidiary of CardWorks, Inc., but maintains an independent Board of Directors, including an Audit Committee and a Compliance & Risk Committee. Don Berman, the Founder & Executive Chairman of CardWorks, chairs the boards of both CardWorks, Inc., and Merrick Bank. Dan Pillemer is also a member of the Merrick Bank Board, and the new Chief Risk Officer will work closely with both CardWorks, Inc., and the Merrick Bank Boards.Merrick Bank has a long track record of growth and strong operating performance. The Company has endured exceptionally well through various economic cycles and has been highly profitable for many years. Merrick has a seasoned and tested leadership team, is well capitalized, and has a strong balance sheet. The Company is solidly positioned for a potential economic downturn and has the opportunity to come out even stronger given its inherent strengths relative to competitors. Merrick Bank continues to maintain strong relationships with our principal regulators, the FDIC and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. Reporting dually to the CEO and President of CardWorks, Inc., and the President, Merrick Bank, the Chief Risk Officer ensures that we understand and manage risks, continue to comply with the letter and the spirit of the law and maintain our strong regulatory standing; and work hand in hand with business partners across the CardWorks enterprise to achieve our strategic goals. CardWorks Chief Risk Officer Job Profile & Position Summary At CardWorks, we believe that effective risk, regulatory and compliance management are essential to our success. Accordingly, we have a comprehensive, integrated approach to risk and regulatory functions that is designed to enable the processes by which we identify, assess, monitor and manage the risks and regulatory obligations we assume in conducting our business.The Chief Risk Officer (‘CRO’) of CardWorks will lead the Risk & Regulatory Organizational Area, comprising Enterprise Risk Management, Third Party Vendor Management, Compliance, Credit Risk Management, Credit Operations, and Internal Audit. It is a leadership role that is responsible for the monitoring and management of a broad array of risks facing the Company, involving many regulations, rules and requirements across multiple entities.The successful incumbent will maintain oversight and senior-level accountability for defining the organization’s Risk Framework to analyze and mitigate risks in line with the Company’s risk appetite, and also direct the handling of all risks and regulatory obligations connected with our activity and the broader organization’s 3-5 Year Strategic Plan.The Risk & Regulatory Organizational Area is a team of approximately 160 professionals across the US.Essential Functions / Scope of Role Specific responsibilities of the Chief Risk Officer will include, but not be limited to the following: Board Level ResponsibilitiesLead representative from management in the Compliance & the Committee of the CardWorks board.Support the Merrick Chief Compliance Officer as the lead representative from management in the Compliance Committee of the Merrick Bank board.Administratively support the Head of Internal Audit, who reports directly to the Audit Committees of both the CardWorks and Merrick boards.Work with both boards to review and manage the firm’s overall Risk Appetite. Oversight of Enterprise Risk ManagementOversee the Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”) function across CardWorks, including a team of approximately 20 professionals, providing both risk management and third-party vendor management functions.Provide leadership to the ERM team in managing Issues, Control Gaps, Risk Assessments, Third Party Vendor approvals and reviews.Manage the organization’s Risk Governance Framework and overall enterprise risk management (ERM) profile/appetites in an effort to control potential exposures across our organization in a way that matches our desired risk profile.Drive compliance with our risk limits, reporting and monitoring exceptions while independently reviewing regulatory adherence, along with material market, credit, model, and liquidity risks. Analyze results of risk management assessments with the Company’s leadership teams, the Boards, the Risk/Compliance Committee, and the Audit Committee, as appropriate.Continually oversees the review and understanding of material market, credit, model, operational and liquidity risks.Monitor the progress of all risk mitigation activities, advising on projects and strategic approach, while communicating the risk profile of the operations. Oversight of ComplianceOversee the Compliance function across CardWorks, including a team of approximately 50 professionals, managing both bank and non-bank aspects of compliance.Ensure full adherence to all of the organization’s internal control policies and procedures, preparing for and facilitating regulatory examinations.Maintain clarity along with full understanding and awareness of all laws and regulations to which the organization is subject for all aspects of the business, developing and monitoring actions plans to remediate regulatory findings.Collaborate closely with the CFO and the SOX organization to ensure compliance with all aspects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that apply to the Company; assess risks that may impact SOX compliance; and provide support for and influence governance of the SOX program Drive resolution and immediate solutions to resolve all gaps in an efficient manner.Annually review and maintain accountability for updating (as necessary) account & product disclosures, including supporting changes to products and services to ensure that disclosures remain fully compliant with all applicable banking laws and regulations.Review, maintain, and update applicable Board policies, ensuring adherence, which can include: Privacy policies.BSA/OFAC/CIP/AML programs and SAR reportingTrack & successfully manage regulatory compliance changes.Perform risk assessments and audits of key compliance functions.Records retention policies and procedures Oversight of Credit Risk ManagementOversee the Credit Risk Management function at Merrick Bank, including a team of approximately 30 professionals, focused on overall second line credit risk functions. Steer the organization’s credit risk management approach to properly control the account origination and portfolio level credit risk associated with the bank’s loan and deposit portfolios.Manage reporting infrastructure (human & system based) that controls and monitors portfolio behavior with deep analysis, predictive modeling, and more robust management reporting.Oversight of the management of our CECL modeling for loan loss reserves, working in conjunction with the CFO of CardWorks and Merrick Bank.Understand and influence credit dynamics to ensure the bank’s multi-year strategy addresses transaction, account, and portfolio level credit risks.Assist in the management of relationships with the major credit bureaus.Play a leading role in the overall management of fraud risk across the organization (as it applies to credit), including application and ongoing fraud, working closely with the Lending, Operations, and Data, Technology & Digital Organizational Areas. Consultative Partnership with Internal AuditInternal Audit (IA) reports directly to the Audit Committees of the CardWorks and Merrick Bank boards of directors; these Committees approve the Internal Audit plan, and budget; receive reports from the head of Internal Audit on the results of internal audit activities or other matters that the head of Internal Audit deems necessary; approve the appointment, removal, evaluation, and compensation of the head of Internal Audit, and determine whether there are scope or budgetary limitations that impede the Internal Audit function in carrying out its work. The CRO will partner with the Head of IA - consulting, counseling, and collaborating as necessary in their roles as the 2nd & 3rd lines of defense. This partnership will ensure smooth workflow execution, effective reporting and governance, and will represent the creation of an integrated, accountability-based, and supportive “tone at the top” with respect to Risk, Regulatory and Controls across the organization. Effectively represent the organization and its subsidiaries to stakeholdersServe as a key executive in interfacing with regulators, providing the necessary level of gravitas to maintain credibility with the external agencies. Demonstrate leadership in guiding the organization to fulfill its regulatory obligations in a constructive and compliant manner.Maintain a Voice of Authority throughout the organization and with senior executives as an effective advisor, and knowledgeable subject matter expert on risk and all Risk & Regulatory functions. Provide a Workforce Planning approach to grow and lead a high performing teamSupport and empower the high-performing Risk & Regulatory teams to execute their annual plansThrive in a dynamic and high-pressure environment, with honed problem-solving capability, while embedding a deep sense of accountability across the senior leadership team.Demonstrate the passion and compassion that fosters a CRITICAL Values-based culture of accountability, communication, inclusion, and engagement.Support and reinforce a culture of continuous learning and performance.Provide an environment that continues to drive deliverables in a complex business by enhancing individual / team performance with strategic coaching, transparent communications, aligned goals and robust talent engagement. Partner with Company leadership in overall organizational structure optimization. Candidate Profile The ideal candidate will possess the following experiential profile:15 years of progressive risk roles with demonstrated success in risk and regulatory work at a thriving institution with a reputation for strong competitive growth and efficient risk management. Banking experience a significant plus. 10 years, preferably as CRO within a banking context, leading executives who make analytically driven decisions along with the achievement of clear revenue targets.Sited ability to strategically align priorities based on Board and Regulator directive, along with direct collaboration with a parent entity.Experience in managing a consumer credit card and lending businesses, with a strong preference for the subprime credit segment. Exposure to many or all segments of the lending lifecycle (acquisitions, underwriting, product development, customer management, and credit risk).Utilization of data warehouse facilities and an understanding of the strategy and architecture required to support organization-wide, data-driven initiatives. Deep expertise in credit performance and dynamics, grounded in through-the-economic-cycle experience and insights.Significant ability in utilizing the monitoring and reporting capabilities/rhythms that enable efficient tracking and management of lending portfolios.Successful development of strong and productive relationships with banking regulators.Capacity to develop a vision and then instituting a data-driven, analytically rigorous framework and infrastructure to support marketing and credit decisions.Bachelor’s degree, preferred, in a financial or business leadership discipline - Master’s degree, a plus. The ideal candidate will possess the following behavioral profile as an executive leader:By demonstrating an entrepreneurial mindset, you will confidently drive synergies with your robust business acumen, resulting in a track record marked by accomplishments such as new product launches, expansion into untapped markets, revenue augmentation and expense management.Fundamental desire to help consumers live a better life through fair and reliable access to credit and education.Ability to balance the need for (a) patience (in line with our long-term, disciplined philosophy on delivering cross-cycle financial performance) with (b) urgency (to continually evolve the business and advance our innovation agenda).Capacity to manage and interact with a highly diverse set of teams with different ways of thinking and perspectives; and demonstrable willingness to modify personal leadership styles or behaviors for the betterment of the organization.Understanding of modern technology capabilities and innovation driven by latest advances in financial technology.