Director of Risk

We are hiring a Director of Risk to lead the underwriting, risk, and compliance functions for a high-growth payment technology organization serving small businesses. This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for building and managing the core risk infrastructure, including team oversight, policy development, and cross-functional collaboration to support scalable growth.

What You Will Do

• Create, maintain, and update policies and procedures across compliance, underwriting, and risk
• Align internal processes with card brand, banking, and government regulations, as well as company goals (revenue, customer experience, values)
• Manage, coach, and develop team members across the compliance, underwriting, and risk functions
• Oversee and participate in daily analysis of merchant activity, outgoing communications to merchants/partners, and periodic portfolio analysis
• Act as the primary reviewer for high-ticket merchant transactions and escalated risk cases
• Respond to recommendations from the risk team related to fund holds, releases, and other escalated items
• Lead periodic portfolio reviews and design reporting frameworks to track merchant behavior, portfolio risk, and compliance adherence
• Oversee and participate in underwriting application reviews, data entry, and approval decisions
• Act as the primary underwriter for high-volume or high-risk merchant accounts
• Shadow and coach the risk and underwriting teams to promote consistency, accuracy, and strong decision-making
• Monitor changes in card brand rules, government regulations, and payments industry standards
• Recommend changes to risk management and underwriting policies and procedures in response to the evolving regulatory landscape
• Review and ensure compliance standards are properly accounted for in the policies of other departments within the company
• Lead company-wide compliance training and coach managers on how to perform daily responsibilities compliantly
• Manage external compliance audits and third-party reviews
• Collaborate with Sales and Customer Operations teams to implement risk feedback loops and ensure continuous improvement in merchant experience

What You Bring

• 10+ years in risk and/or compliance within PayFac, merchant acquiring, or ISO environments
• Advanced knowledge of card brand, banking, and regulatory requirements, including PayFac-specific program rules
• Proven experience designing and improving underwriting and risk procedures in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
• Strong understanding of small business merchant verticals and payment types (card-present and card-not-present)
• Experience managing sponsor bank relationships and working with their risk teams
• Leadership experience managing teams, setting performance standards, and developing talent
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
• Strong analytical, organizational, and time management skills
• Sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple priorities
• Comfortable working in technology-driven companies and collaborating across remote teams
• Resourceful and process-oriented, with a bias for action and results