Risk manager

The role

• Completing risk assessments
• Reporting on current problems or concerns
• Providing support to help reduce future incidents
• Creating reports to communicate findings
• Visiting different sites/departments to monitor changes to processes
• Scheduling meetings to implement change
• Considering potential costs, legal requirements and the practicality of finding the best solution to the problem
• Working around 40 hours a week, usually between 9am and 6pm
• If you work for a large organisation, you might have to work additional hours and also travel, both nationally and internationally. This is so that you can assess other sites

Qualifications and training

Most risk managers are graduates, and those with a risk management BSc Honours Degree in England, or a L6 NVQ/HNC in Wales, or the Scottish equivalent, are highly sought after by employers. But there are other degrees that are useful for becoming a risk manager include:

• finance and economics
• engineering
• law
• management  
• business studies

For those with a non-risk management specific degree, there are two distance learning qualifications that can help, provided by the Institute of Risk Management (IRM):

• The International Certificate in Risk Management
• The International Diploma in Risk Management, which is a postgraduate qualification