Global Chief Risk Officer

Join us to change the world.

Gojo and Company, Inc. (Gojo) is a Tokyo-based holding company of inclusive financial service providers operating in 14 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia & the Caucasus. Gojo was founded in 2014 to extend financial inclusion across the globe. Gojo Group, including major investees, is serving 3.4 million clients across the globe as of March 2025. Gojo has been a Certified B Corporation™ since January 2025, committed to the continuous improvement of its social and environmental performance. (http://gojo.co/).

We build partnerships with the best financial service providers by taking the share ownership to create a world in which everyone can determine their future. Our goal is to be the private-sector World Bank. What makes our mission possible is a group of great talent who are committed to achieving the goal with passion, quality, and ability. We look forward to your application.

[This is a remote working set up from your home office however] you may need to travel across countries/locations depending on your nature of work. We have an unrelenting work ethic, and ambitious performance standards in place to ensure we can be productive and meet our goals. At Gojo we have very inclusive HR policies. We as an organization believe in work life balance and promote that whole heartedly.

The Role

We are seeking a Global Chief Risk Officer who will build and lead the enterprise-wide risk management function for the Gojo group. You will take ownership of a function that is in its early stages—a Group Risk Policy has been submitted to the Board, initial engagement with group companies risk teams is underway, and foundational documents (risk reporting methodology, group risk report templates, group company assessments) are being finalized. Your mandate is to take this foundation and build it into a mature, operating risk governance system across the group.

You will initially work with our Group company's Risk management team and progressively develop in the first 18 to 24 months a team (1 to 2 direct reports possibly based in the field) while overseeing and coordinating with CROs and Risk Heads across all group companies. The role demands someone who can operate both strategically and hands-on: designing frameworks by him/herself in the morning and reviewing group companies risk data in the afternoon.

Key Responsibilities

Risk Identification and Assessment

• Map all material risk factors across the group, combining quantitative analysis with structured imagination—scenario planning, pre-mortems, and external benchmarking—to surface blind spots
• Build and maintain a Group Risk Taxonomy covering all material risks, updated annually
• Quantify exposures where possible; where not, describe risks through scenarios and narratives, recognizing model limitations
• Perform independent deep-dive reviews of group company loan portfolios to assess asset quality (PAR, non-performing loans) and the adequacy of provisioning levels.
• Aggregate risks across entities accounting for correlations and concentrations
• Key deliverables: Group Risk Dashboard (quantitative and narrative), Concentration Analysis (by country, product, funding source, counterparty), Vintage Analysis and Roll-Rate reports for all major credit portfolios, Periodical Stress Test Results, Special Watch List with defined triggers

Risk Control and Mitigation

• Design and implement mitigation measures proportionate to risk severity: limits, hedges, insurance, operational controls, contractual protections, and diversification
• Document residual risk after controls and conduct control effectiveness assessments
• Key deliverables: Credit Risk Appetite Framework, including sector/product limits and concentration caps at both entity and group levels, other Risk Limits Framework ( liquidity, FX, operational), Control Effectiveness Assessments, Mitigation Action Plans for risks exceeding tolerance

Strategic Risk Advisory and Independent Risk Opinion

• Provide an Independent Risk Opinion for all material decisions, including capital allocation, new market entry, and M&A
• Prepare risk sections for Executive Committee and Board papers
• When risk-reward trade-offs are unfavorable, articulate dissenting views with sufficient rigor and conviction to shift executive decisions
• Key deliverables: Risk Sections in EC/Board papers, Risk Appetite Utilization Reports

Continuous Monitoring

• Continuously track risk exposures against limits and early warning indicators through a PDCA cycle
• Establish escalation protocols for breaches and emerging threats
• Build and operate risk reporting dashboards for the holding company and group companies, with regular reporting to the CEO, Risk Committee, and Board

Internal Controls and J-SOX

• Lead the implementation of J-SOX internal control requirements across the group in preparation for IPO
• Work closely with external auditors and the finance team to establish sustainable compliance processes

Group Company Risk Governance

• Ensure group companies operate under risk frameworks aligned with Group principles, scaled appropriately to their size, maturity, and local regulatory requirements
• Maintain dotted-line reporting from local CROs to Group Risk
• Review and challenge the credit underwriting standards and collection strategies of group companies to ensure they remain robust throughout different market cycles.
• Mentor and develop local risk teams, raising the quality and consistency of risk management across the group
• Conduct regular on-site visits to group companies to assess risk management practices firsthand

What Success Looks Like (Year 1)

After your first year, success means that:

• Risk visibility: All material risks across the group are comprehensively identified, weighted, and visible to the leadership team. The Group Risk Taxonomy, Dashboard, and reporting cadence are operational.
• Better decisions: The executive team can make bolder and better-informed decisions because they have a clear, quantified view of what they are risking.
• Healthy governance tension: When a decision carries disproportionate risk, you have the credibility and analytical foundation to push back—and the leadership team takes that pushback seriously.
• Risk culture: Decision-makers at all levels across the group demonstrate risk-aware judgment. Risk is understood as a shared organizational responsibility, not a department.
• Survivability: No single event or correlated exposure threatens the group's survival.
• J-SOX on track: Internal control implementation is progressing on schedule for IPO readiness.

Candidate Profile

Required

• Significant hands-on experience in risk management within banking, microfinance, inclusive finance, or financial services in emerging/frontier markets
• Track record of managing risk functions across multiple countries, ideally at financial institutions/banks such as Baobab, Access Microfinance, ProCredit, or comparable international financial groups operating in developing markets
• Deep expertise in credit risk, including portfolio stress testing, NPL management, and IFRS 9 impairment modeling. Demonstrated ability to build risk frameworks from early stages: taxonomies, dashboards, stress testing, limits frameworks, and reporting systems—not just inherit and maintain existing ones
• Ability to work hands-on: building models, analyzing data, drafting policies, designing dashboards, and reviewing reports—not only directing others to do so
• Proven ability to influence and earn the respect of strong-minded senior executives with deep industry experience (gravitas rooted in field experience, intellectual rigor, and personal authority)
• Comfort with providing Independent Risk Opinions that may challenge executive consensus, and the analytical skill to make those opinions compelling
• Excellent cross-cultural communication skills and experience leading or mentoring risk teams in diverse, multilingual environments
• Experience with J-SOX or SOX implementation
• Fluent English (working language of the group)

Preferred

• Japanese and Russian language proficiency (not necessary)
• Experience working in or with organizations preparing for IPO
• Familiarity with ALCO/Treasury reporting and liquidity risk management at the holding company level
• Competence in data analytics and IT software dedicated to risk monitoring
• Past experience working as a CRO

Important Note on Profile

We are specifically looking for someone who has been running risk operations in practice—not exclusively at the C-suite strategic level. Candidates who have held CRO titles but relied heavily on large teams for execution may find our lean operating model challenging. We need someone who combines strategic vision with a willingness and ability to do the work themselves.

Location & Working Arrangements

This role is location-flexible. Candidates based anywhere in Asia, Europe and Africa are welcome, provided they can:

• Be available for video conferences during core overlap hours (14:00–18:00 JST / 05:00–09:00 UTC)
• Travel regularly to group companies in various countries for on-site risk assessments and team development