Omar Ramsay, Chief Risk Officer at United States Senate Federal Credit Union, discusses his career progression, ERM team structure, partnership with Internal Audit, and leveraging Archer GRC for vendor management. They also talk about issue management, using ERM maturity model, and the importance of a strong team.
Transitioning from law to risk management showcases transferable skills and career evolution.
Leveraging Archer GRC for vendor management and using maturity models to build enterprise risk management.
Deep dives
Omar's Background and Journey in Risk Management
Omar Ramsey shares his career journey, starting from law school and realizing his passion for compliance and risk management. He discusses the various positions he held in different financial institutions before becoming the Chief Risk Officer at United States Senate Federal Credit Union.
Development and Staffing of ERM Program
Omar explains that the ERM program at the credit union has been established since he joined three years ago. He highlights the importance of senior management buy-in and discusses the team he currently leads, consisting of seven members who cover areas such as compliance, operational risk, and control testing. He also mentions the use of a GRC platform, specifically the Archer GRC tool, to automate various processes within the program.
Partnerships with Internal Audit and IT
Omar describes how his team collaborates with the outsourced internal audit function, establishing clear roles and responsibilities. He also mentions that the IT department uses a separate platform, JIRA, for their tracking needs. Omar provides insights into the risk management committee, which is in progress, and its role in overseeing and keeping the ERM program on track.
Challenges and Advice in ERM Program Development
Omar highlights the challenge of sizing the ERM program appropriately for the organization, considering their asset size and resource availability. He emphasizes the use of maturity models, specifically mentioning the RIMS maturity model, as a tool to set expectations, plan initiatives, and justify resource needs. Moreover, Omar emphasizes the importance of buy-in from senior management and the aspiration to reach risk quantification to communicate risk in a way that resonates with the business.
Omar Ramsay, Chief Risk Officer at United States Senate Federal Credit Union, joins David in a discussion about Enterprise Risk Management.
Topics include:
- Omar's career progression from Law, to Compliance, to Risk Management and how his legal profession skills transfer to risk management. - How the risk management team is staffed at USSFCU and what's included in the department. - How ERM partners with Internal Audit on operational controls and controls testing. - How Archer GRC is leveraged for vendor management, issue management, the risk register, and soon, business continuity. - Issue management at USSFCU. - Using an ERM maturity model as a tool to build enterprise risk management. - The benefit of having an amazing team to work with.