Senior manager risk management

The Senior Manager, Risk Management builds and oversees Tri-State’s risk management functions — enterprise risk management, commodity risk, credit risk, and insurance — providing independent, objective oversight in support of regulatory compliance and strategic financial objectives. Working closely with the Vice President, Finance, this role operates at both the strategic level (risk assessment, risk appetite, insurance strategy, and Board/executive reporting) and the technical level, building strong relationships across all corporate and operations functions.

Tri-State recognizes the value of a highly-engaged and committed workforce and provides an excellent benefits program that includes: Medical Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Work Schedules including compressed work week and telecommuting opportunities to work remotely up to 40%, Life Insurance, 401K, Long Term Disability (LTD), Short Term Disability (STD), Employee Assistant Program (EAP) and Paid Leave Benefits.

Responsibilities

Overall Responsibilities

• Leads a team of risk, credit, and insurance professionals — hiring, developing, and managing performance and workload across the group; also works cross-functionally with, but does not supervise, Energy Management/Trading, Procurement, Legal, Safety, Operations, Internal Audit, and Corporate Finance personnel.
• Advises business areas on strategic initiatives (capital projects, market participation, financing, etc.) to ensure risks are identified, vetted and potentially mitigated before executive or Board approval.
• Coordinates risk committee meetings and Board presentations, including development of meeting materials and preparation of minutes.
• Manages the risk department’s annual budget and variance analysis.
• Mentors and evaluates direct reports to build a high-performing team.
• Upholds Tri-State’s Cooperative Principles, code of conduct, and core values; maintains compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements (e.g., NERC, FERC, Safety, etc.) and corporate policy; and remains available for after-hours emergencies consistent with Tri-State’s continuous service obligations.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)

• Leads and enhances Tri-State’s ERM framework, including risk identification, risk registers, and heat-map reporting.
• Delivers regular ERM updates and deep-dive briefings to the CFO, Risk Advisory Committee, executive leadership, and the Board.
• Benchmarks industry peers and partners with Internal Audit, Legal, and business leaders to develop, assign, and track risk mitigation plans.
• Leads development of risk analytics (e.g., KRIs) and maintains systems and tools to track and monitor enterprise risks.

Commodity Risk

• Maintains and monitors Tri-State’s interest rate risk policy, verifies hedging transactions, and coordinates with Corporate Finance on hedging metrics.
• Administers and ensures compliance with Tri-State’s Energy Risk Management Program (ERMP), including:
• Independent confirmation of power, gas, coal, and fuel oil trades; validates and reports mark-to-market valuations and exposures.
• Administers trading platforms (OATI, ICE, WREGIS, M-RETS).
• Monitors SPP market activity, including energy markets and transmission congestion hedging.
• Supports asset optimization analysis, reviewing and establishing model assumptions, methodologies and effectiveness.
• Trains and advises the trading/resource planning desk on risk limits and authorizations.
• Coordinates periodic independent ERMP assessments as requested by the Board.

Credit Risk

• Sets and secures approval of credit policies, counterparty rating methodologies, exposure limits, and collateral/margin requirements, in compliance with applicable laws, tariffs, and industry agreements (EEI, ISDA).
• Oversee counterparty credit limits, monitoring, and periodic evaluations; ensure credit risk modeling and reporting.
• Coordinates in- and out-bound collateral, ensuring timely monitoring and renewals to protect Tri-State’s interests.

Insurance

• Establishes and manages Tri-State’s insurance and risk management policies, monitoring effectiveness and implementing changes as needed.
• Owns Tri-State’s enterprise insurance program, including property, general/excess/umbrella liability, D&O, and other appropriate lines.
• Leads the annual placement and renewal process — exposure analysis, broker/carrier selection, negotiation, and premium budgeting.
• Evaluates alternative risk transfer structures (captive insurance, parametric coverage, risk-pooling, etc.) to close coverage gaps and manage total cost of risk.
• Ensures excellent service delivery by coordinating all activity with brokers and carriers.
• Oversees investigation and resolution of insurance claims, coordinating with Safety and Environmental on accident analysis and disaster planning; reports claims data to carriers, executive leadership, and the Board as appropriate.
• Manages certificates of insurance issued on Tri-State’s behalf.
• Manages loss control efforts, coordinating visits and reviewing and clearing recommendations in coordination with Safety and Operations.
• Supports Legal contract review, interpreting, drafting and structuring contract language regarding insurance and counterparty risk, indemnity provisions, waivers of subrogation, etc.
• Manages the corporate surety bond program, including issuance, renewals, and surety updates.

Qualifications

Education and Training:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, risk management, engineering, or a related field; graduate degree preferred.
• Certified Risk Manager or similar certification preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Ability:

This role combines skill sets across multiple disciplines; candidates are not required to have deep expertise in every area listed below but should bring strong experience in several with general knowledge and ability to grow in others.

• Working knowledge of ERM principles and applicable insurance/risk management laws and regulations, plus extensive knowledge of insurance and counterparty risk management practices.
• Experience in financial review, counterparty credit monitoring, and developing analytical methods to assess counterparty and commodity credit risk, including stochastic modeling.
• Creative problem-solving skills and recognized subject-matter expertise, including a solid understanding of contracts and indemnities.
• Knowledge of asset optimization, merchant energy trading, power dispatch, derivatives, and mark-to-market valuation.
• Working knowledge of computer-based risk management tools and systems.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, able to translate technical risk, insurance, and credit concepts for executive leadership and the Board.
• Sound judgment, integrity, and independence to constructively challenge trading, operational, and business decisions from a risk mindset while building and maintaining strong working relationships.
• Strong relationship management and negotiation skills with brokers, carriers, counterparties, and industry peers.

Experience:

• Ten (10) + years of progressive risk management experience, preferably in the electric utility industry.
• Experience with insurance procurement, claims/litigation management, loss control, underwriting, and broker selection.
• Experience administering counterparty and commodity risk programs in organized markets, including stochastic modeling.
• Experience in enterprise-level risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and monitoring.

Other:

• Willingness to travel as required (valid driver’s license).
• Ability to exercise sound judgment in handling confidential data.

Tri-State is a wholesale power supply cooperative, operating on a not-for-profit basis, with electric distribution cooperatives and public power district members in four states: Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming. Together with its members, Tri-State delivers reliable, affordable and responsible power and energy services to nearly a million electricity consumers across roughly 200,000 square miles of the West.

Founded in 1952 by its member systems to provide a reliable, cost-based supply of electricity, Tri-State is now headquartered in Westminster, Colo., employing approximately 1,000 people across five states.

Tri-State's electricity is generated from coal, natural gas, hydropower, wind, and solar. This power reaches members via a transmission system that includes substation facilities, telecommunications sites and almost 6,000 miles of high voltage transmission lines.

As a member-owned and -governed cooperative, every member has a voice and an equal vote in the future of Tri-State.