OPT Risk And Compliance Jobs
Risk and Compliance jobs on OPT require employers who can support specialty occupation status, since most roles demand a degree in finance, law, business, or a related field. Your 12-month OPT window (29 months with STEM extension) is enough time to establish yourself and pursue H-1B visa sponsorship.
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The Director of Institutional Risk and Compliance provides strategic leadership and oversight for the College’s comprehensive risk management, insurance, and compliance programs. Reporting to the Associate Vice President of Human Resources, this position is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining policies, procedures, and programs designed to protect the College from operational, financial, legal, and reputational risks. The Director manages the College’s EHS insurance portfolio, oversees claims administration, and conducts legal and contractual risk reviews to ensure institutional interests are protected. This role leads the institutional compliance committee, coordinates campus-wide audits, and manages the compliance matrix and risk priority list. The Director is the primary administrator of the risk management software system, ensuring all required campus-wide training is tracked and regulatory documentation is maintained. The Director supervises the (EHS manager) and student labor, oversees the department budget, and collaborates with leadership to develop and implement risk mitigation and emergency response plans.
Your Key Responsibilities:
-
Strategic Risk Oversight: Develops and implements policies, procedures, and programs designed to protect the College from risks that could adversely affect operations, including environmental protection, occupational health and safety, campus fire safety, and other loss prevention and control functions.
-
Insurance and Claims Management: Serves as the primary administrator for the College’s EHS insurance portfolio; manages the procurement of insurance policies, coordinates with brokers, and oversees the processing and resolution of all insurance claims, including Workers’ Compensation claims.
-
Legal and Contractual Risk Review: Conducts formal risk reviews of institutional contracts, waivers, and legal agreements; identifies potential liability exposure and recommends language or insurance requirements to mitigate risk to the College.
-
Compliance Committee Leadership: Leads the institutional compliance committee, manages the comprehensive compliance matrix, and coordinates multi-departmental audits; organizes and updates the risk priority list; leads campus mitigation plans by engaging key stakeholders and reporting on progress.
-
Training System Administration: Coordinates and tracks all required campus-wide training programs using the designated software system, ensuring full documentation, employee accountability, and regulatory compliance.
-
Programmatic Oversight: Ensures that all programs and procedures for OSHA, fire/life safety, and environmental compliance are effectively managed and executed in partnership with the Fire and Safety Manager.
-
Administrative Management: Oversees the department budget, manages vendor relationships, and provides direct supervision and performance evaluation for the Fire and Safety Manager and student labor positions.
-
Software Integration: Serves as the lead administrator for risk management software, leveraging the platform to streamline training, incident reporting, and data-driven risk assessment.
-
Policy Development: Drafts and updates campus-wide safety and risk policies to reflect current best practices in higher education and evolving legal requirements.
-
Emergency Response Planning: Works with department leadership to develop risk mitigation plans that address training, emergency response, communication systems and procedures, job safety analysis (JSA), process guidelines, documentation, and reporting.
-
Safety Committee Participation: Serves as a leader and full-time member on the campus Safety Committee.
-
Student Labor Development: Schedules, assigns, and approves work performed by student labor; develops students’ workplace acumen and provides tangible work experience in alignment with the College’s Labor Program goals.
-
Other Duties: Performs other duties as assigned to assist the College in attaining its goals and enhancing a positive, respectful learning environment for all staff, faculty, and students.
What You'll Bring:
-
Undergraduate degree in Occupational Health and Safety, Environmental Science, Project Management Engineering (Master’s degree preferred)
-
3-5 years preferable in higher education and experience Enterprise risk management in safety, accident/incident prevention, loss control, industrial hygiene, environmental and safety regulatory compliance, and program management and supervision.
Founded in 1855, Berea College is nationally recognized as the first coeducational and interracial college in the South. Berea has a longstanding commitment to interracial education and is one of the most racially diverse private liberal arts colleges in the United States. With an emphasis on service to Appalachia and beyond, Berea enrolls more than 1,500 students from 46 states and U.S. territories and more than 70 countries. Berea College admits students who are unable to afford tuition and provides all of them with a no-tuition promise. Berea’s students excel in the College’s supportive yet demanding academic environment, and most are the first in their families to attend college. As one of only ten federally recognized Work Colleges, all Berea students are expected to work 10-12 hours weekly in various positions across campus. Berea College is also the only institution in Kentucky to receive the 5-Star Rating from Money Magazine, 2025. Washington Monthly has named Berea College the #1 Best College in the nation in its 2025 College Guide. Berea College appears in their rankings as #1 College (overall): Best College for your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars, #1 Best-in Class College, #1 Liberal Arts College and #1 Best Bang for the Buck Southern College.
Located where the Bluegrass Region meets the Cumberland Mountains, the town of Berea (pop. 16,000) lies forty miles south of Lexington and is approximately two hours from Cincinnati, Louisville, and Knoxville. More information about Berea College is available at www.berea.edu.
Berea College, in light of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and social equality, welcomes all people of the earth to learn and work here.
Berea College is always looking for talented, self-motivated individuals to join our team.
Berea College is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.
Our Benefits:
Berea College offers a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees and their families including health care, dental, vision, retirement, health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability and an Employee Assistance Program. The benefit package also includes access to the Child Development Laboratory for children of College Staff, ages 6 weeks to 6 years, Seabury Center Membership, Staff Development Funds and Tuition Reimbursement.
Eligible staff employees also receive paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave.
Part-time employees who work an average of 24 hours per week over the course of a year, receive benefits on a pro-rated basis.
Description:
The Director of Institutional Risk and Compliance provides strategic leadership and oversight for the College’s comprehensive risk management, insurance, and compliance programs. Reporting to the Associate Vice President of Human Resources, this position is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining policies, procedures, and programs designed to protect the College from operational, financial, legal, and reputational risks. The Director manages the College’s EHS insurance portfolio, oversees claims administration, and conducts legal and contractual risk reviews to ensure institutional interests are protected. This role leads the institutional compliance committee, coordinates campus-wide audits, and manages the compliance matrix and risk priority list. The Director is the primary administrator of the risk management software system, ensuring all required campus-wide training is tracked and regulatory documentation is maintained. The Director supervises the (EHS manager) and student labor, oversees the department budget, and collaborates with leadership to develop and implement risk mitigation and emergency response plans.
Your Key Responsibilities:
-
Strategic Risk Oversight: Develops and implements policies, procedures, and programs designed to protect the College from risks that could adversely affect operations, including environmental protection, occupational health and safety, campus fire safety, and other loss prevention and control functions.
-
Insurance and Claims Management: Serves as the primary administrator for the College’s EHS insurance portfolio; manages the procurement of insurance policies, coordinates with brokers, and oversees the processing and resolution of all insurance claims, including Workers’ Compensation claims.
-
Legal and Contractual Risk Review: Conducts formal risk reviews of institutional contracts, waivers, and legal agreements; identifies potential liability exposure and recommends language or insurance requirements to mitigate risk to the College.
-
Compliance Committee Leadership: Leads the institutional compliance committee, manages the comprehensive compliance matrix, and coordinates multi-departmental audits; organizes and updates the risk priority list; leads campus mitigation plans by engaging key stakeholders and reporting on progress.
-
Training System Administration: Coordinates and tracks all required campus-wide training programs using the designated software system, ensuring full documentation, employee accountability, and regulatory compliance.
-
Programmatic Oversight: Ensures that all programs and procedures for OSHA, fire/life safety, and environmental compliance are effectively managed and executed in partnership with the Fire and Safety Manager.
-
Administrative Management: Oversees the department budget, manages vendor relationships, and provides direct supervision and performance evaluation for the Fire and Safety Manager and student labor positions.
-
Software Integration: Serves as the lead administrator for risk management software, leveraging the platform to streamline training, incident reporting, and data-driven risk assessment.
-
Policy Development: Drafts and updates campus-wide safety and risk policies to reflect current best practices in higher education and evolving legal requirements.
-
Emergency Response Planning: Works with department leadership to develop risk mitigation plans that address training, emergency response, communication systems and procedures, job safety analysis (JSA), process guidelines, documentation, and reporting.
-
Safety Committee Participation: Serves as a leader and full-time member on the campus Safety Committee.
-
Student Labor Development: Schedules, assigns, and approves work performed by student labor; develops students’ workplace acumen and provides tangible work experience in alignment with the College’s Labor Program goals.
-
Other Duties: Performs other duties as assigned to assist the College in attaining its goals and enhancing a positive, respectful learning environment for all staff, faculty, and students.
What You'll Bring:
-
Undergraduate degree in Occupational Health and Safety, Environmental Science, Project Management Engineering (Master’s degree preferred)
-
3-5 years preferable in higher education and experience Enterprise risk management in safety, accident/incident prevention, loss control, industrial hygiene, environmental and safety regulatory compliance, and program management and supervision.
Founded in 1855, Berea College is nationally recognized as the first coeducational and interracial college in the South. Berea has a longstanding commitment to interracial education and is one of the most racially diverse private liberal arts colleges in the United States. With an emphasis on service to Appalachia and beyond, Berea enrolls more than 1,500 students from 46 states and U.S. territories and more than 70 countries. Berea College admits students who are unable to afford tuition and provides all of them with a no-tuition promise. Berea’s students excel in the College’s supportive yet demanding academic environment, and most are the first in their families to attend college. As one of only ten federally recognized Work Colleges, all Berea students are expected to work 10-12 hours weekly in various positions across campus. Berea College is also the only institution in Kentucky to receive the 5-Star Rating from Money Magazine, 2025. Washington Monthly has named Berea College the #1 Best College in the nation in its 2025 College Guide. Berea College appears in their rankings as #1 College (overall): Best College for your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars, #1 Best-in Class College, #1 Liberal Arts College and #1 Best Bang for the Buck Southern College.
Located where the Bluegrass Region meets the Cumberland Mountains, the town of Berea (pop. 16,000) lies forty miles south of Lexington and is approximately two hours from Cincinnati, Louisville, and Knoxville. More information about Berea College is available at www.berea.edu.
Berea College, in light of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and social equality, welcomes all people of the earth to learn and work here.
Berea College is always looking for talented, self-motivated individuals to join our team.
Berea College is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.
Our Benefits:
Berea College offers a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees and their families including health care, dental, vision, retirement, health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability and an Employee Assistance Program. The benefit package also includes access to the Child Development Laboratory for children of College Staff, ages 6 weeks to 6 years, Seabury Center Membership, Staff Development Funds and Tuition Reimbursement.
Eligible staff employees also receive paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave.
Part-time employees who work an average of 24 hours per week over the course of a year, receive benefits on a pro-rated basis.
See all 255+ OPT Risk And Compliance Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new OPT Risk And Compliance Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship in Risk And Compliance
Target regulated industries first
Banks, insurance firms, and healthcare companies maintain large compliance departments and file H-1B visa petitions regularly. Regulated industries have structural incentives to sponsor because replacing trained compliance staff mid-project is costly and disruptive.
Frame your degree as a specialty occupation requirement
Risk and compliance roles qualify as specialty occupations when the employer requires a specific degree. Emphasize your finance, accounting, law, or business degree in applications to reinforce that your background satisfies that requirement directly.
Pursue relevant certifications early
Credentials like FRM, CRCM, or CAMS signal long-term commitment to compliance as a profession. Employers are more likely to sponsor candidates who demonstrate they are building a career, not just filling a temporary role during OPT.
Ask about sponsorship before accepting offers
Compliance hiring timelines often run longer than your OPT authorization window. Confirming sponsorship willingness during the offer stage prevents you from investing months into a role that cannot support your visa status after OPT expires.
Highlight your knowledge of U.S. regulatory frameworks
Familiarity with frameworks like BSA, AML, SOX, or GDPR is a direct differentiator for OPT candidates. Employers hiring for U.S. compliance roles need staff who understand the local regulatory environment, not just general risk concepts.
Use STEM OPT strategically if your degree qualifies
Finance, management information systems, and some business analytics degrees qualify for the 24-month STEM extension. That extension gives you two additional H-1B lottery cycles, significantly improving your odds of securing long-term work authorization.
Risk And Compliance OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Do Risk and Compliance jobs qualify as specialty occupations for OPT and H-1B purposes?
Most risk and compliance roles qualify as specialty occupations because they typically require a bachelor's degree or higher in a specific field such as finance, accounting, business, or law. The key is that the employer must require that specific degree for the position. Roles like compliance analyst, risk analyst, and AML investigator consistently meet this standard, which matters both for your OPT work authorization and for any future H-1B petition.
Which compliance roles are most likely to lead to H-1B sponsorship?
Roles in financial services compliance, AML and BSA compliance, model risk management, and regulatory affairs tend to attract the most sponsorship activity. Large banks, asset managers, and insurance companies file H-1B petitions for compliance staff regularly because retaining trained employees is operationally valuable. Searching Migrate Mate for risk and compliance positions lets you filter for employers who have sponsored visa holders in the past, which saves significant research time.
Can I work in compliance consulting on OPT?
Yes, but there are restrictions you need to understand. OPT requires that your employment is directly related to your degree field. Consulting arrangements are permitted as long as you have a formal engagement with a client, are paid by the employer of record, and the work aligns with your degree. Self-employment and independent contracting without a sponsoring employer are not permitted under standard F-1 OPT rules.
Does a compliance or risk management degree qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
It depends on how your specific degree is classified. Pure finance and accounting degrees do not typically qualify, but degrees in management information systems, financial engineering, data analytics, or quantitative risk management often appear on the DHS STEM designated degree list. Check your degree's CIP code against the official DHS STEM list and confirm with your DSO before assuming you qualify for the 24-month extension.
What should I do if my OPT expires before my employer files an H-1B petition?
If you are in cap-gap status because your employer filed an H-1B petition before your OPT expired, you are authorized to continue working until October 1 of that fiscal year. If no petition was filed in time, your employment authorization ends when OPT expires. In that scenario, options include changing to another nonimmigrant status, transferring to a cap-exempt employer, or departing the U.S. and returning on a different visa category if one applies to your situation.