IT Risk Manager: Skills, Roles & Responsibilities

In today’s competitive world, every business faces a wide range of risks and challenges that might be detrimental to the company. Because of the fast speed of industrialization, the threats that new firms face have gotten increasingly complicated. In today’s uncertain business climate, every company wants to reduce risk. As new threats arise regularly, businesses hire prominent IT Risk Managers who consider reputational risk and play a key role in implementing policies to comply with industry rules. The IT Risk Manager’s profile is linked to cybersecurity and information security in firms that have primarily been driven by information and data.

Table of Contents

What is an IT Risk Manager
Skills of an IT Risk Manager
IT Risk Manager’s roles and responsibilities

In this article, we will describe what an IT Risk Manager is and their skills, roles, and responsibilities.

What is an IT Risk Manager?

An IT Risk Manager works for a company’s activities to analyze, assess, and manage an organization’s event and operational risks. An IT Risk Manager collaborates with a company’s or organization’s IT department to develop and implement plans and conduct investigations to identify and manage any risks that could threaten the firm’s essential information. They have the potential to regulate, anticipate, and comprehend the threats that can compromise a company’s image, security, and financial success. The company’s IT Risk Manager does a thorough internal and external investigation. They are in charge of research operations like risk assessment for current corporate affairs or risk evaluation, which assesses the organization’s risk management in the past.

IT risk management strategies include the following critical elements:

• Risk Assessment
• Allocation of Ownership
• Control Measures in the Planning Stage
• Strategy Execution
• Evaluation and Improvement

IT Risk Manager Skills

Here are some top IT Risk Manager skills:

Soft Skills for IT Risk Managers

1. Analytical Skills: IT Risk Manager must have analytical skills to think critically, assess situations, and analyze and detect prospective risks and vulnerabilities.  
2. Communication Skills: IT Risk Managers must possess superior written and verbal communication skills to collaborate effectively with other IT risk management experts. This skill is crucial for understanding the company’s principal risks and developing effective risk management solutions.
3. Strategizing Skills: IT Risk Manager should devise creative strategies and solutions to protect the company’s risk while minimizing the possible threat. They can discover advanced approaches and tools to manage risk effectively.
4. Working Under Pressure: IT Risk Manager must be able to function under pressure because an error in the company’s system can compromise its survival. They must already have a strategic plan to limit risk and maintain skills under pressure. They will be able to identify the threat instantly and manage it as soon as possible.
5. Leadership and Management Ability: IT Risk Managers must possess leadership skills to inspire and manage their teams. If a threat happens, offer your employees support, make suggestions, and manage the potential risk.
6. Problem-solving Skills: To solve technical problems analytically and successfully manage management information and collection, analysis, reports, and other tasks, IT Risk Manager must have outstanding problem-solving skills.
7. Interpersonal Skills: IT Risk Manager must have excellent interpersonal abilities to build productive, trusting relationships with other IT and business stakeholders.

Technical Skills for IT Risk Managers

1. Computer Skills: IT Risk Manager works in various industries, including finance and banking. As a result, they must have a thorough grasp of computer systems and networks and a working knowledge of numerous computer programming languages to identify and mitigate technical risks.
2. Business Knowledge: IT Risk Managers must have a thorough understanding of the business environment and be able to comprehend how businesses operate, how policies work, and how to recognize internal and external risks.
3. Financial Expertise: IT Risk Managers who work in the banking sector must be familiar with applicable banking regulations. If an IT Risk Manager has sufficient financial risk understanding, they can quickly assess risk, calculate the cost of productivity loss, and minimize threats.

IT Risk Manager Roles and Responsibilities

An IT Risk Manager’s job is to develop and administer risk policies and procedures for an organization and ensure that the systems are not breached. There are various duties and responsibilities of an IT Risk Manager, including:

• Develop, establish, and implement policies and frameworks for IT security and risk management
• Analyze the financial, safety, and security threats that the company or organization may face
• Perform or monitor risk assessments, which comprise analyzing, identifying, describing, and quantifying risks that impact all business risks
• Perform risk evaluation, which entails comparing potential risk with company-defined criteria such as cost, environmental issues, and regulatory requirements, and evaluating the company’s previous risk management
• They are in charge of managing all applicable risk factors, such as the possibility of system failure or data loss
• Prepare risk management plans to develop a business continuity plan that will help to decrease risk factors
• Develop and maintain good communication channels with other risk partners, such as Enterprise Risk Management, Operational Risk Management, etc.
• Prepare and balance the risk-management budget
• Collect confidential financial information from the customer, including income, assets, and liabilities
• Managing the insurance policies of the company
• To raise risk awareness, provide education and training to employees inside the organization
• Create and maintain an external network with other senior IT risk managers, and relevant risk forums

Salary of an IT Risk Manager

Based on information from Glassdoor, the annual average salary of an IT Risk Manager in the United States is $148,466. Additionally, IT Risk Managers receive an average of $32,742 in extra cash compensation, which can vary between $24,556 and $45,838.

CRISC with InfosecTrain

In the world of technology, the position of an IT Risk Manager is critical. Our industries face various threats that can compromise their long-term viability and development. If you have decided to become an IT Risk Manager, InfosecTrain is a great place to start. InfosecTrain has consistently delivered the best value and results in the industry.

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AUTHOR
Ruchi Bisht

“ My Name is Ruchi Bisht. I have done my BTech in Computer Science. I like to learn new things and am interested in taking on new challenges. Currently, I am working as a content writer in InfosecTrain. “