Procurement Risk Associate

Procurement Risk Associate

Full-Time

Boston, MA or Springfield, MA

The Opportunity

As a Procurement Risk Associate, we need your experience and leadership to partner closely with teams in the MassMutual's Procurement Organization and cross-functional stakeholders to manage third party risk in the first line of defense. The core function of Procurement Risk is being built out and will be responsible for consolidating risk management practices across our key supplier and business units and will do so in collaboration with risk stakeholders and the second line of defense Third Party Risk (TPRM) team. Procurement is category-aligned to four main category or business unit teams. The goal of this role will be to own overall and, together with a team of individual contributor risk specialists, to enable and actively deliver excellent risk management for the suppliers in one of those category teams. The role reports to the Head of Procurement Risk, which will set the overall strategy, direction and priorities of the entire team and the function overall.

In this role, as well as all roles within MassMutual, you will demonstrate accountability, agility, a dedication to be inclusive, a strong business acumen, and will show courage, even in the most difficult situations. We also highly value strong communication skills, a passion for learning, leadership traits, resilience and self-awareness.

The Team

On the MassMutual Procurement team, we have a goal to enable MassMutual's mission and vision by providing the right supplier solution at the right time. Our mission is to streamline the procurement process, align supplier partners to meet business needs and continuously increase the value provided to our policyholders. We have embarked on an extensive maturity of our procurement operating model with a focus on standardization, implementing industry best practices and reducing supplier spend.

The Impact

• Develop, implement, own and execute third party risk management processes in coordination with the Head of Procurement Risk and in alignment with Mass Mutual's Third Party Risk Management Frameworks. You will leverage risk data and third party risk systems to monitor, manage and report out on third party risk.
• Lead these processes and manage third party risks overall for one of Procurement's category teams, working closely and collaborating well with your teammates.
• Own initial and ongoing risk due diligence across the phases of the third party lifecycle in your category area
• Work with a distributed team that may be located both domestically and offshore
• Partner with key risk owners across MassMutual. This may be second line of defense teams (Operational and Enterprise risk or Corporate Compliance) to establish clear roles and responsibilities; it may also be other first line risk owners (e.g. Cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Law, etc.).
• Operate as the escalation point for the team you are supporting; be seen as a 'go-to resource' for the Category and Supplier Managers.
• Specific functions include:
  • Classifying and tiering of third parties according to an inherent risk profile
  • Gathering risk assessment data on third parties and managing it in the risk system of record
  • Lead supplier risk and issue management, including remediation actions and mitigation plans when risks or events are identified
  • Develop risk dashboarding capabilities for all suppliers in your category
  • Understanding and tracking of various types of third-party risks and controls (e.g., financial, legal/regulatory compliance, geographic, 4th party and concentration risk)
  • Partnering with Contract Managers to understand contractual risks
  • Influence suppliers and business partners to ensure compliance with risk management policies, and to drive findings and violations to closure

The Minimum Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree or equivalent
• 3 years of experience in managing the risk and compliance issues in a regulated environment

The Ideal Qualifications

• 5 years of experience with third party risk
• Risk-focused professional qualifications (e.g., Certified Third-Party Risk Professional (CTPRP) or Information Systems Certifications (CISA, CISSP).
• Familiarity with supplier performance management and governance concepts, applications and services
• Experience developing and completing third party risk assessments and scorecards
• Strong business background; experience gathering and interpreting risks and associated impacts in context of financial and operational concerns
• An understanding of complex third party risk topics such as information security and regulatory compliance requirements and the standards that reflect them (e.g., SOC1, SOC2, ISO 27001, NIST, etc.)
• Knowledge of Operational Risk principles, General Risk & Compliance (GRC) systems and various technologies focused on managing ongoing third party risks
• Previous experience in financial services / insurance industry third party risk function and related regulatory requirements / frameworks

What to Expect as Part of MassMutual and the Team

• Regular meetings with the Procurement Team
• Focused one-on-one meetings with your manager
• To be able travel from time to time (up to 25%) to support the team and various project assignments
• Access to mentorship opportunities
• Networking opportunities including access to Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, African American, women, LGBTQ, veteran and disability-focused Business Resource Groups
• Access to learning content on Degreed and other informational platforms
• Your ethics and integrity will be valued by a company with a strong and stable ethical business with industry leading pay and benefits

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MassMutual is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer Minority/Female/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Individual with Disability/Protected Veteran. We welcome all persons to apply. Note: Veterans are welcome to apply, regardless of their discharge status.

If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us and share the specifics of the assistance you need.