OPT Risk Compliance Analyst Jobs
Risk Compliance Analyst jobs are well-suited for F-1 OPT students, particularly those with degrees in finance, business, law, or a related field. Many financial institutions and consulting firms sponsor H-1B visas, making this a strong long-term path. Your 12-month OPT window, or 24-month STEM extension if eligible, gives you real time to build a compliance career.
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At Fried Frank, we're a community of 800 lawyers and 500 business services professionals across New York, Washington, DC, London, Frankfurt, and Brussels. We advise leading corporations, investment funds, and financial institutions on high-stakes M&A, securities, regulatory matters, real estate, and litigation. Our culture is grounded in our core values — excellence, integrity and collaboration — and is designed to foster continuous learning, meaningful mentorship, and lasting professional growth. We are firmly committed to pro bono service and social justice, building on a proud legacy in civil rights. Our inclusive talent strategy is a core part of our broader talent management efforts and we remain steadfast in fostering a workplace where everyone has the opportunity to grow, thrive, and become their best professional and personal selves. Our business services professionals are integral to the firm's success, driving innovation, operational excellence and exceptional client service across all areas of the firm. We offer competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package, including comprehensive medical coverage, retirement plans and health and wellness initiatives designed to support your personal and professional wellbeing. We welcome passionate, driven individuals to join us, and be part of a team where you'll be supported, inspired and empowered to build an exceptional career.
Position Summary:
As an Information Governance (IG), Risk, and Compliance Analyst, you will test, evidence, and report on the controls behind the firm's IG, risk, compliance, and information security programs. You will run recurring control audits, build the queries and scripts that generate the evidence, and produce the artifacts relied upon in client audits and internal assurance work.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Information Governance:
- Develop IG policies and procedures, and translate them into enforceable technical configurations and measurable controls.
- Maintain an auditable inventory of data assets across Microsoft 365 and other approved information repositories, capturing classification, ownership, location, and retention state.
Risk Management:
- Contribute to enterprise-wide risk assessments, quantifying exposure from overprovisioned access, stale data, and sensitive data sprawl from platform reporting rather than self-attestation.
- Develop risk mitigation strategies and control requirements, and track findings and remediation to verified closure.
Compliance:
- Support compliance with client contractual obligations (including outside counsel guidelines), regulations, and data protection laws by implementing and evidencing the corresponding controls.
- Serve as technical respondent for client audits, security questionnaires, and regulatory inquiries, mapping requests to implemented controls and assembling the evidence; familiarity with control frameworks (ISO, SOC 2, NIST) helps, though the emphasis is technical testing over certification work.
Audit, Control Testing, and Evidence Collection:
- Plan and execute recurring control audits across Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Active Directory, and approved information repositories, and maintain the audit calendar, evidence library, and exception record.
- Collect evidence programmatically with PowerShell, Microsoft Graph, and KQL, querying audit trails across identity, mail, file, and endpoint platforms to show a control operated over a defined period.
- Perform entitlement reviews and access recertification covering nested group membership, privileged roles, service and shared accounts, dormant objects, and broadly permissioned repositories.
- Test control effectiveness rather than assuming it, validating classification and DLP detection, retention and disposition execution, and alerting coverage.
Information Security:
- Oversee the information security program, including periodic review of security tooling configuration against approved baselines and hardening against exfiltration and insider risk.
- Perform incident response and recovery tasks, including log review, containment and scoping queries, evidence preservation, and post-incident remediation tracking.
Vendor and Third-Party Management:
- Assess third-party vendor risk in data handling, reviewing questionnaires, audit reports, and penetration test summaries against observable configuration.
- Collaborate with procurement and legal teams on contractual security, audit rights, and data handling requirements.
Reporting and Communication:
- Communicate risk, compliance, and security findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders, and maintain recurring reporting on control testing and access review results.
Education:
Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; certifications in IT audit (e.g., CISA), Microsoft security and compliance administration (e.g., SC-400, SC-200), or in risk management are a plus.
Experience:
Mid-level position; 3-5 years of hands-on experience in IG, compliance, IT audit, or information security, including demonstrable work running control tests or access reviews.
Skills & Abilities:
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with working proficiency in PowerShell and KQL and experience querying platform audit logs.
- Practical familiarity with Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Active Directory, and permissions models across approved information repositories, plus audit logging on those platforms and the ability to collaborate cross-functionally.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship as a Risk Compliance Analyst
Target regulated industries first
Banks, insurance companies, and asset managers face strict regulatory requirements and hire compliance analysts regularly. These employers have established visa sponsorship infrastructure and are far more likely to support H-1B sponsorship after your OPT period ends.
Highlight your degree field on applications
Risk compliance is a specialty occupation requiring a relevant degree, typically in finance, accounting, economics, or business. Explicitly connecting your coursework to compliance frameworks like SOX, BSA, or AML strengthens your application and supports future visa sponsorship eligibility.
Pursue relevant certifications early
Credentials like CRCM, CAMS, or CFE signal commitment to the compliance field and differentiate you from other OPT candidates. Hiring managers in regulated industries treat certifications as evidence of specialized knowledge, which also reinforces the specialty occupation argument for H-1B.
Ask about sponsorship before accepting an offer
Compliance roles at smaller firms may lack experience sponsoring international employees. Confirm the employer has sponsored H-1B workers before and is willing to do so for this role, ideally before you invest time in a lengthy interview process.
Explore STEM OPT extension eligibility
If your degree is in a STEM-designated field such as financial risk management or applied economics, you may qualify for a 24-month OPT extension. This gives you three years total to find a sponsor, significantly improving your odds in a competitive H-1B lottery environment.
Build experience with compliance technology tools
Employers increasingly value analysts who can work with GRC platforms, transaction monitoring software, or data analytics tools. Hands-on experience with these systems makes you more hireable and signals the technical depth that strengthens specialty occupation classification for sponsorship purposes.
Risk Compliance Analyst OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I work as a Risk Compliance Analyst on OPT?
Yes, as long as the role is directly related to your degree field. Risk Compliance Analyst positions typically qualify under finance, business, accounting, or economics degrees. Your employment must be in a role that uses the knowledge from your degree, which most compliance positions at regulated firms clearly satisfy.
Do Risk Compliance Analyst employers typically sponsor H-1B visas?
Many do, particularly large financial institutions, consulting firms, and fintech companies. Compliance is a recognized specialty occupation because it requires a specific bachelor's degree or higher. Employers in banking and financial services tend to have established legal teams familiar with H-1B sponsorship, making them safer bets than smaller firms with no sponsorship history. Browse OPT-friendly compliance roles on Migrate Mate to find employers with active sponsorship track records.
Does a Risk Compliance Analyst role qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
It depends on your degree, not your job title. If your degree is in a STEM-designated field, such as financial engineering, applied mathematics, or management information systems, you may qualify for the 24-month STEM OPT extension even in a compliance role. Check your degree's CIP code against the DHS STEM list to confirm eligibility before applying.
What compliance certifications help OPT students get hired?
CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist) is highly valued for AML and BSA-focused roles. CRCM (Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager) is recognized across banking compliance broadly. CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner) applies well to risk and fraud compliance positions. Pursuing any of these during your OPT period signals long-term commitment and strengthens the specialty occupation case for future H-1B sponsorship.
How should I handle gaps in OPT employment as a Risk Compliance Analyst?
OPT regulations allow up to 90 days of unemployment during standard OPT, or 150 days if you have a STEM extension. Compliance hiring can move slowly due to background check requirements, so plan your job search early. Any period between roles counts toward your unemployment limit, so staying proactive is essential to maintaining valid F-1 status.