How To Become A Risk Control Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a risk control director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The main function of a risk control director is to create an environment that is aware of risks to ensure risk reduction for the company. Risk control directors are responsible for developing and implementing risk control strategies including an analysis of the financial impact of risks on the company. They also design risk models involving market, credit, and operational risk, and assure controls programs are functioning effectively. Likewise, they evaluate current risks and identify potential risks and exposures affecting the company.

A bachelor's degree in business, finance, or any related field is the minimum educational requirement required to become a risk control director. However, it would be beneficial to hold an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) certificate or Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification. You'll need analytical, teamwork, maths, problem-solving, communication, organization, and presentation skills. The average base salary for a risk control director is $143,708. This ranges from $124,770 to $165,376.

ScoreRisk Control DirectorUS Average

Salary

8.4

Avg. Salary $129,635

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.2

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 10.45%

Black or African American 4.90%

Hispanic or Latino 12.06%

Unknown 3.97%

White 68.44%

Gender

female 30.65%

male 69.35%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a risk control director

Explore risk control director education requirements

Most common risk control director degrees

Bachelor's

70.5 %

Master's

16.3 %

Associate

8.0 %

Start to develop specific risk control director skills

Skills	Percentages
Oversight	10.99%
Governance	7.12%
Risk Assessments	6.73%
Internal Audit	5.91%
Project Management	5.63%

Complete relevant risk control director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New risk control directors 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 a risk control director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real risk control director resumes.

Research risk control director duties and responsibilities

Create database to manage, validate and mitigate network rights and access to DoD systems/devices.
Develop and implement key processes for managing and measuring work including OLA, SLA, KPI, and CSF.
Conduct planning sessions and manage the successful implementation of hardware and software changes to the QA and production environments.
Manage accounting procedures and general ledger reconciliations.

Get risk control director experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a risk control director. The most common roles before becoming a risk control director include manager, controller team lead and vice president.

Prepare your risk control director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your risk control director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a risk control director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable risk control director resume templates

Build a professional risk control director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your risk control director resume.