Meet our Members: Enita Kang, Head of Enterprise Risk at ITV

The “Meet our Member” series profiles a cross-section of risk professionals within our network, revealing their day-to-day responsibilities, their company’s risk priorities for the year ahead and why they joined – and continue to value – Risk Leadership Network.

In our latest interview, we talk to Enita Kang, head of enterprise risk at ITV, the British television network. One of Risk Leadership Network’s newest members, Enita underlines why handling emerging risks is such an important area of focus for her team, and explains how she made the transition from completing a legal degree to working in the world of risk.

Name: Enita Kang

Job title: Head of Enterprise Risk, ITV

My day-to-day responsibilities at ITV

A key role of mine is to provide visibility to the Board, and the Audit & Risk Committee, of what our critical risks are across the business. This involves facilitating workshops, taking the lead on ongoing reporting, and conducting deep dives into specific topics. For example, we recently produced a deep dive report on our strategic delivery risks and change portfolio.

Another aspect of my role, where I edge between being a risk manager in the second and first line, is to act as a sounding board for management, advising on risks and associated management challenges. For instance, this might include supporting the business build a framework for the climate crisis or advising on risks associated with a new strategic project.

How I entered the field of risk management

I got my start by studying for a legal degree, during which I did several placements at different law firms. In the end, I wanted to work in a more business-facing role, rather than just advising businesses on what they should do. This led to me becoming a chartered account specialising in compliance and regulatory risk – from here, I branched out into internal audit and risk management.

What I really enjoyed about working in risk management was that it can take so many different forms and, by the same token, gives you the chance to be involved in solving lots of different challenges across a business. For me, finding solutions to problems is very exciting. This is why I eventually decided to pursue risk in earnest, leading me from consultancy into industry.

Why I joined Risk Leadership Network

Coming from a consultancy background, I’ve met lots of risk managers in a setting where I was advising them. However, more recently, I have been looking to build a network of peers and meet others working in risk management.

I was really drawn to Risk Leadership Network by the fact that all of the insight it offers is created by peers. There are no consultancies telling risk managers what to do: it’s hands-on advice from people who are at the front line of an organisation. Being able to bounce ideas off others who are in a similar position to me really attracted me to the network.

Another aspect that pushed me towards membership includes the tools you have access to as a member. I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent poring over reports, disclosures and other documents to build a list of emerging risks – having the network’s Emerging Risk Tool to help with this process really made me keen to join.

The main challenges for risk leaders in my sector

Many of the challenges I face as a risk leader fall into two buckets, one of which is quite specific to my sector, and the other not so much.

All risk managers are facing increasing expectations of what we should be doing and the insight we should be delivering to our organisations. In some ways this is a good thing, as leadership teams are starting to see the value of risk management, but it also means finding people with a different and more diverse set of skills than what risk managers have traditionally had.

Looking more closely at the broadcasting and media sector, it’s difficult to think of an industry that has evolved quite as rapidly. This means our attention has to be incredibly focused on emerging risks, which is an area where the methodologies and tools currently available are not quite as developed. Trying to overcome this, and thinking about all of the risks that could come our way, is a challenge, but an exciting one.

Our priorities and outlook for 2022

We are hoping to further develop our emerging risk framework, which is a big point of focus for 2022. In addition, we also want to build on the work we’ve done around our quantitative risk model and build on existing reporting.

If I wasn’t a risk manager, I would be…

I think I would have liked to be a kayak instructor. That’s probably not what I actually would have done, but perhaps that’s the “dream” career? It could be a retirement plan.

To see how becoming a Risk Leadership Network member could benefit you, find out more about membership today.