RISK & CONTROLS DIRECTOR (CHARLOTTE, NC)

 

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As the leading foodservice and support services company, Compass Group USA is known for our great people, great service and our great results. If you’ve been hungry and away from home, chances are you’ve tasted Compass Group’s delicious food and experienced our outstanding service. We have over 284,000 US associates who work in award-winning restaurants, corporate cafes, hospitals, schools, arenas, museums, and more in all 50 states. Our reach is constantly expanding to shape the industry and create new opportunities for innovation. Join the Compass family today!

great people. great services. great results.

Each and every individual plays a key role in the growth and legacy of our company. We know the next big idea can come from anyone. We encourage developing and attracting expertise that differentiates us as a company as we continue to raise the bar.

Job Summary:

Reporting to the VP, Risk and Controls, the Director, Risk & Controls is an exciting opportunity for a candidate with a strong financial/internal controls and risk management background to join the North America Risk & Controls team, based in our Charlotte Corporate Office. As part of the Second Line of Defense, the team oversees the internal control frameworks to monitor that these continue to meet leading practices and UK Corporate Governance Code requirements as they evolve. The Director will lead a team of 5–8 professionals, providing direction, oversight, and coaching to ensure consistent, high-quality execution of monitoring, testing, and reporting activities.

 

This role will partner with control pillar owners and senior stakeholders to support a robust risk and control environment by providing assurance of the design and operating effectiveness of controls, sharing leading practices, and guiding control owners to strengthen their processes with a primary focus in the areas of food/workplace safety, compliance, and ESG controls. The Director will have accountability for overseeing the documentation, challenge, monitoring, testing, reporting, and escalation of risk and control issues. In addition, the Director will support the enterprise risk management process.

 

As part of a new and growing team, the Director will have a hands-on leadership opportunity to shape and advance the organization’s control environment as it progresses on its control enhancement journey.

Responsibilities:

• Working closely with the second line control pillar owners, Lead the ongoing design, implementation, and continuous improvement of internal controls frameworks.
• Own the second line control pillar for designated control areas (e.g., Sales and Retention, Business Continuity Planning, etc.)
• Provide leadership and oversight to the Risk & Controls team, setting priorities, guiding performance, and developing team capability.
• Assure business processes across functions and sectors have appropriate controls to manage risks effectively, including participation in risk assessments as needed.
• Serve as a key advisor and challenger to corporate functions and operating sectors on their identified risks and controls as documented in their Risk and Control Matrices (RACMs).
• Oversee the development and documentation of process flows, RACMs, and related control documentation to ensure accuracy, completeness, and clarity.
• Identify and promote leading practices that can be leveraged across the organization to drive consistency and efficiency.
• Develop and disseminate guidance to support the organization with control compliance such as job aids and control owner training.
• Partner with business teams and functional leaders on cross-departmental projects to improve the overall control environment, including process optimization and automation opportunities.
• Support the VP Risk and Controls in executing the enterprise risk assessment process.
• Lead and support training initiatives to improve awareness and understanding of internal control requirements across the organization.
• Partner with both internal and external audit teams to ensure streamlined and effective audit processes.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders across all levels of the organization to enhance risk and control awareness and strengthen accountability for effective risk management.
• Respond to emerging regulatory updates/UK Corporate Governance Code updates.

 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Deep technical expertise in internal controls, with the ability to assess, challenge, and improve both design and operating effectiveness.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a demonstrated ability to identify risks, evaluate controls, and prop