Penn State Job Catalog

The defined natural career progression within or between job profiles.

Risk Management

The Risk Management Manager oversees the administration and advancement of the University's enterprise risk management, insurance, claims, litigation, and captive insurance programs; is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Risk Management Office, supervising professional staff, and coordinating initiatives that identify, assess, mitigate, finance, and monitor institutional risks across academic, research, healthcare, administrative, and operational activities; serves as a key adviser and operational leader, helping to ensure that risk management practices align with institutional objectives, regulatory requirements, financial goals, and industry best practices; collaborates closely with University leadership, Penn State Health leadership, the Office of General Counsel (OGC), insurers, brokers, third-party administrators (TPAs), and external partners to support effective risk financing, claims administration, litigation management, loss prevention, and enterprise risk management activities.

• Support the implementation and continuous improvement of the University's Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework, including risk identification, assessment, mitigation, monitoring, reporting, and maintenance of risk inventories and registers
• Facilitate enterprise risk assessments and collaborate with stakeholders to identify emerging risks, evaluate exposures, and develop mitigation strategies
• Prepare reports, analyses, dashboards, and presentations to support leadership decision-making and strategic initiatives
• Monitor industry trends, regulatory developments, and emerging risks affecting higher education, healthcare, and research organizations
• Administer commercial insurance and self-insurance programs, including renewals, underwriting submissions, policy placement, coverage analysis, exposure data collection, and insurer relationships
• Support insurance budgeting, forecasting, Total Cost of Risk (TCOR) analyses, and the development and utilization of Risk Management Information Systems (RMIS)
• Support the administration and operation of the University's captive insurance company, including underwriting, claims coordination, reserving, compliance, financial reporting, governance activities, and strategic risk retention initiatives
• Oversee claims administration and litigation management activities, including incident reporting, investigations, coverage reviews, reserve monitoring, claim resolution strategies, and coordination with insurers, TPAs, outside counsel, and OGC
• Analyze claims and litigation trends to identify opportunities for loss prevention, risk mitigation, and program improvement
• Support mediation, arbitration, settlement negotiations, and the development of claims management policies, procedures, and best practices
• Review contractual insurance, indemnification, and risk transfer provisions; develop institutional insurance standards; and provide guidance regarding certificates of insurance, additional insurance requirements, waivers of subrogation, and related liability exposures
• Support third-party risk management, vendor compliance reviews, and compliance with applicable insurance, claims, litigation, and regulatory requirements
• Support crisis management, emergency response, business continuity, and organizational resilience initiatives, including significant incident response and post-event reviews
• Collaborate with operational, safety, compliance, and security partners to identify and implement loss prevention and risk reduction strategies
• Oversee, develop, and evaluate Risk Management Specialists and other assigned staff, including hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance management, and professional development
• Establish priorities, monitor performance metrics, and promote a collaborative, customer-focused, and risk-aware culture within the department
• Provide education, consultation, and technical guidance to University and Penn State Health stakeholders regarding risk management, insurance, claims reporting, contractual risk transfer, and related topics
• Represent the Risk Management Office on committees, task forces, and institutional initiatives and serve as a trusted resource regarding risk identification, mitigation, transfer, and financing strategies

Level:

– Manager

Base Description:

– Manages direct reports where primary duty is the management of a working unit.

Level Summary:

– Demonstrates proficient ability in work design, project management, financial planning and development of goals for accomplishing unit assignments. Reviews and guides work to ensure conformity to policy and effective approaches. Evaluates employee performance and recommend development opportunities. Demonstrates ability to coach employees. Presents and communicates key university indicatives and connects it to unit contributions. Provides broad guidelines. Develops, evaluates, enhances, and/or implements quality improvement practices. Recommends innovative solutions.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

– Oversees a team (typically 4 or more; no fewer than 2) full
– time direct reports of individual contributors and/or first level supervisors.

Fiscal Responsibilities:

– Monitors and tracks department/area budget
– May plan, forecast, and/or assist in developing budgets
– May have final signature authority for specific area

Problem Solving:

– Encounters varied and complex problems
– Helps to develop creative and/or novel approaches to resolve problems that are difficult in nature but within limited scope
– Modifies, adapts, or refines guidelines if necessary to resolve issues or problems

Independence of Action:

– Works independently on complex or strategic assignments
– Uses existing practices and advanced working knowledge to determine appropriate work methods for the team
– Reviews completed work of others for conformity to policy, and effectiveness of approach
– Delegates advanced tasks to others

Communication and Collaboration:

– Communicates with both internal and external audiences
– Collaborates closely with team members and various areas across the University
– Prepares written and/or verbal presentations or proposals on complex issues and delivers to a broad variety of audiences
– Communicates key university initiatives and how unit’s work contributes to their achievement
– Presents ideas, concepts and instructions in a clear manner, and uses persuasion and negotiation to build consensus and cooperation
– Establishes and maintains networks to facilitate successful communication among units

• Comp Grade – 15
• Minimum – $115,860.00
• MidPoint – $144,804.00
• Maximum – $173,844.00