Senior Director of Risk Management

Woodcraft Rangers • Los Angeles, CA

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director of Risk Management serves as the organization’s senior leader responsible for protecting people, programs, assets, and mission integrity across a large, complex, youth-serving organization. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this role leads enterprise risk strategy and execution, including contract development and negotiation, insurance portfolio oversight, legal coordination, compliance systems, SOP development, and incident response. The Senior Director partners closely with executive leadership, the Board, and cross-functional teams to identify and mitigate operational, legal, financial, safety, and reputational risks while supporting organizational growth and program delivery. This role requires a pragmatic, solutions-oriented leader who can translate complex risk requirements into clear, field-ready guidance and build a strong culture of safety, accountability, and operational excellence.

Requirements

• 7+ years experience in risk management, compliance or legal operations.
• Demonstrated experience applying California labor and employment law to manage risk related to employee relations, investigations, and compliance.
• Experience drafting, negotiating, and managing complex contracts.
• Experience managing insurance portfolios across multiple coverage lines.
• Strong expertise developing SOPs, internal controls, and compliance systems.
• Demonstrated ability to write and enforce job descriptions.
• Strong communication, analytical, and cross-functional leadership skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in education, youth development, outdoor education/camps, afterschool programs, or nonprofits engaged in government contracting.
• Experience in multi-entity or subsidiary organizational models.
• Legal training (JD or paralegal certification) helpful but not required.
• Professional risk certification (ARM, CRM, CPRM).

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead the organization's enterprise-wide risk management framework.
• Conduct annual and quarterly risk assessments, presenting findings to COO, CEO, and board
• Build and maintain risk dashboards for ongoing monitoring.
• Identify emerging operational, legal, financial, safety, and reputational risks.
• Translate legal, insurance, and compliance requirements into practical, field-ready guidance that enables program delivery while reducing exposure.
• Recommend and implement mitigation strategies aligned with organizational growth.
• Evaluate feasibility and benefits of multi-entity restructuring to create liability firewalls.
• Lead drafting, negotiation, and review of all contracts including LEA agreements, rental/retreat agreements, consultant contracts, vendor agreements, technology/data privacy contracts, and MOU frameworks.
• Ensure all agreements include proper indemnification, risk transfer, liability limitations, and insurance requirements.
• Build and oversee a contract lifecycle management system including templates, workflows, and approval checkpoints.
• Develop vendor risk tiering, onboarding standards, and periodic compliance reviews for high-risk partners.
• Develop and enforce job descriptions (JDs) related to contract oversight and compliance.
• Train leaders and program staff on contract obligations and the implications of risk-bearing terms.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for external counsel and coordinate legal review.
• Support legal strategy for claims, regulatory issues, investigations, and employment-related matters.
• Ensure proper documentation, evidence retention, and incident reporting in accordance with legal guidance.
• Track changes in state and federal laws impacting labor, youth protection, privacy, and operational compliance.
• Manage the organization’s complete insurance portfolio including GL, WC, auto, property, cyber, D&O, EPLI, and umbrella policies.
• Lead coverage analysis, renewal strategy, and broker/carrier negotiations.
• Investigate participation in insurance pooling models to reduce long-term exposure and stabilize premiums.
• Oversee claims management, incident documentation quality, and communication with adjustors.
• Establish internal policies for surcharge pricing and additional requirements for high-risk programming.
• Develop, update, and enforce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for high-risk operational areas including hiring, transportation, adventure programming, supervision protocols, emergency response, and documentation standards.
• Develop and enforce risk-aligned job descriptions in partnership with HR, ensuring role clarity, decision authority, and accountability.
• Conduct internal audits and compliance reviews across regions and departments.
• Partner with HR to strengthen screening, probationary evaluation, and corrective action procedures.
• Build strong cross-department controls to reduce exposure while supporting operational excellence.
• Lead crisis response planning and execution for incidents involving safety, legal exposure, operational disruption, or reputational risk.
• Serve as organizational incident commander or senior advisor as needed.
• Conduct root-cause analysis and produce written findings and improvement recommendations.
• Maintain communication and escalation frameworks for leadership and Board notifications.
• Foster a culture of safety, accountability, clarity, and documentation accuracy.
• Develop and lead training programs for managers, staff, and program leaders.
• Create internal tools including templates, matrices, checklists, and decision-tree guides.
• Collaborate with Communications on internal messaging for safety and compliance.

Benefits

• Paid vacation
• Sick time
• Health Benefits
• 403(b) retirement
• Pet insurance
• Lifecraft
• Upward mobility
• Career development
• The opportunity to create a lasting positive impact on youth within your community.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed