How To Become An Operational Risk Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is an operational risk analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Operational risk analysts help the company to alleviate risks that might come from internal processes, systems, and people. As an operational risk analyst, you will investigate the procedures the company undertakes in the process of operation. You will document the activities and standardize the procedure where necessary. You will also report the key risk and control indicators of the company after monitoring and tracking the operational risk issues regularly. In addition, you will implement strategies to prevent, eliminate and mitigate operational risks. Lastly, you will give a timely update of the operational risk issues and decisions to management.

A minimum of a Bachelor's degree or equivalent is required for the post of operational risk analyst. You must have relevant experience in the field or related field. A very strong interpersonal skill is important because you will interact and build effective working relationships with staff and all levels of management. Operational risk analysts earn an average of $85,683 yearly.

ScoreOperational Risk AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.4

Avg. Salary $82,457

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.6

Growth rate 23%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 10.42%

Black or African American 12.35%

Hispanic or Latino 14.28%

Unknown 6.00%

White 56.32%

Gender

female 54.45%

male 45.55%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

4.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an operational risk analyst

Explore operational risk analyst education requirements

Most common operational risk analyst degrees

Bachelor's

66.8 %

Master's

11.5 %

Associate

11.4 %

Start to develop specific operational risk analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Risk Management	17.15%
Operational Risk	15.07%
Risk Assessments	8.29%
Strong Analytical	5.14%
Internal Audit	4.04%

Complete relevant operational risk analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New operational risk analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an operational risk analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real operational risk analyst resumes.

Research operational risk analyst duties and responsibilities

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Manage treasury workstation steering team for automation of core treasury operations for increase reliability of financial reporting and decision making.
Prepare SAR (suspicious activity reports) reports to cases.
Apply knowledge of fixed-income securities to structure restrictions on exposure to risk.

Get operational risk analyst experience

Prepare your operational risk analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your operational risk analyst resume.

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