What does a risk assessment analyst do?
A risk assessment analyst conducts extensive assessments to identify potential operational risks and recommend strategies to prevent them, thereby avoiding financial losses and optimizing an organization's workflow. Although the extent of their responsibilities depends on their place or industry of employment, it usually includes coordinating with different departments to gather and analyze data, suggesting budgets and guidelines, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of current operations, and implementing solutions against problem areas, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Risk assessment analyst responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real risk assessment analyst resumes:
- Manage treasury workstation steering team for automation of core treasury operations for increase reliability of financial reporting and decision making.
- Conduct lead-based paint analysis for NYCHA, HUD, EPA contracts in multi-unit family dwellings and community spaces.
- Provide quality assurance for approval workflows within team SharePoint site.
- Recommend building infrastructure improvements, energy efficient lighting, and upgrade HVAC systems.
- Recognize opportunities to strengthen controls and develop recommendations to close identify control gaps ensuring SOX compliance.
- Produce impact assessment framework and report that used climate change models to identify system vulnerabilities that can lead to catastrophic outcomes.
- Involve in performing validating automate valuation models for real-estate appraisals to support OCC requests.
Risk assessment analyst skills and personality traits
We calculated that 34% of Risk Assessment Analysts are proficient in Risk Assessments, NIST, and Security Risk Assessment. They’re also known for soft skills such as Computer skills, Math skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Risk Assessment Analysts that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Risk Assessments, 34%
Conduct formal in-depth risk assessments to identify relevant system protection requirements and information security risks.
- NIST, 15%
Conduct Certification and Accreditation (C&A) for agency FISMA systems currently under the NIST 800-53 rev 3 standard.
- Security Risk Assessment, 10%
Determine and define security risk assessment scope for new and existing digital payment products during SDLC and architecture implementation.
- ISO, 7%
Analyze business controls to develop and document review process and procedures in the International Standards Organization (ISO) format.
- HIPAA, 5%
Served as chief privacy analyst and first point of contact for HIPAA privacy and security compliance program.
- Data Analysis, 4%
Used ABC Data Analysis to identify usage trends and appropriate application of new equipment.
Most risk assessment analysts use their skills in "risk assessments," "nist," and "security risk assessment" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential risk assessment analyst responsibilities here:
Computer skills. One of the key soft skills for a risk assessment analyst to have is computer skills. You can see how this relates to what risk assessment analysts do because "financial analysts must be adept at using software to analyze financial data and trends, create portfolios, and make forecasts." Additionally, a risk assessment analyst resume shows how risk assessment analysts use computer skills: "logged in xrf readings using lpa-1 software on computers. "
Math skills. Another essential skill to perform risk assessment analyst duties is math skills. Risk assessment analysts responsibilities require that "financial analysts use mathematics to estimate the value of financial securities." Risk assessment analysts also use math skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided qualitative and quantitative analysis to various strategic/business, operational and financial risk exposures across the business. "
Detail oriented. risk assessment analysts are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to risk assessment analyst responsibilities, because "financial analysts must pay attention when reviewing a possible investment, as even small issues may have large implications for its health." A risk assessment analyst resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "performed detailed financial analysis and modeling to properly deem risk. "
Analytical skills. A big part of what risk assessment analysts do relies on "analytical skills." You can see how essential it is to risk assessment analyst responsibilities because "financial analysts must evaluate a range of information in finding profitable investments." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical risk assessment analyst tasks: "produce analytical ct related finished intelligence reports to support the uscg foreign port threat assessment. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in risk assessment analyst job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what risk assessment analysts do. Risk assessment analyst responsibilities rely on this skill because "financial analysts must be able to clearly explain their recommendations to clients." You can also see how risk assessment analyst duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "maintain clear line of communication with the sox testing area and external auditors. "
The three companies that hire the most risk assessment analysts are:
- Morgan Stanley19 risk assessment analysts jobs
- Bank of America10 risk assessment analysts jobs
- HydroGeoLogic
6 risk assessment analysts jobs
Compare different risk assessment analysts
Risk assessment analyst vs. Data recovery planner
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between risk assessment analysts and data recovery planner. For instance, risk assessment analyst responsibilities require skills such as "risk assessments," "nist," "security risk assessment," and "iso." Whereas a data recovery planner is skilled in "server configurations," "business continuity," "business impact analysis," and "emergency operations." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, data recovery planners reach lower levels of education than risk assessment analysts. Data recovery planners are 6.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Risk assessment analyst vs. Business continuity planning director
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, risk assessment analyst responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "risk assessments," "nist," "security risk assessment," and "iso." Meanwhile, a business continuity planning director has duties that require skills in areas such as "business impact analysis," "financial analysis," "strategy development," and "direct reports." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Business continuity planning directors earn a higher average salary than risk assessment analysts. But business continuity planning directors earn the highest pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $137,429. Additionally, risk assessment analysts earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $91,091 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Business continuity planning directors tend to reach similar levels of education than risk assessment analysts. In fact, they're 4.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for risk assessment analysts in the next 3-5 years?
Christopher Ball Ph.D.
Director Central European Institute & Istvan Szechenyi Chair Associate Professor of Economics, Quinnipiac University
Risk assessment analyst vs. Business continuity planner
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a risk assessment analyst is likely to be skilled in "nist," "security risk assessment," "hipaa," and "data analysis," while a typical business continuity planner is skilled in "business impact analysis," "impact analysis," "crisis management," and "business continuity planning."
Business continuity planners earn the highest salary when working in the retail industry, where they receive an average salary of $98,821. Comparatively, risk assessment analysts have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $91,091.business continuity planners typically earn lower educational levels compared to risk assessment analysts. Specifically, they're 5.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Risk assessment analyst vs. Business continuity management director
Types of risk assessment analyst
Updated January 8, 2025
