Leader - Risk and Underwriting

We are seeking a payments leader to build and lead our clients Risk and Underwriting organization. This role will be responsible for designing the strategy, building the team, and implementing the systems and processes required to manage risk across complex, high-risk merchant segments. The leader will balance business growth with compliance, develop a scalable operating model, and serve as the executive point of accountability for fraud prevention, underwriting, and portfolio performance.

The ideal candidate brings proven leadership experience in payments risk and underwriting, with a strong track record of building teams, scaling processes, and partnering with regulators, sponsor banks, and internal executives.

What You Will Do

• Define the risk operating model, establish processes, and recruit a high-performing team across underwriting, monitoring, and dispute management.
• Own risk appetite, underwriting policies, and credit decision frameworks to balance portfolio growth, compliance and loss protection.
• Oversee merchant onboarding and risk reviews, ensuring consistent application of policies across high-risk verticals.
• Design proactive monitoring and investigative practices to detect anomalies, prevent fraud, and keep loss ratios within defined thresholds.
• Partner directly with sponsor banks, regulators, and legal teams to align with evolving compliance requirements.
• Lead policies, workflows, and escalation frameworks for merchant disputes and chargebacks, ensuring fair resolution and protecting company exposure.
• Deliver portfolio risk reporting, key risk indicators, and executive briefings to inform board-level decisions.
• Partner with Product, Technology, Finance, and Customer Operations to embed risk controls into platform design and day-to-day operations.

What You Bring

• 10+ years of experience in payments risk, underwriting, fraud, or compliance, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Expertise in high-risk merchant underwriting, portfolio management, and fraud prevention.
• Track record of building and scaling risk organizations in payment or fintech organizations.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory frameworks and sponsor bank expectations.
• Proven ability to design risk policies, implement controls, and make executive-level decisions on fund holds, account closures, and risk escalations.
• Executive communication skills, with the ability to present risk strategy and portfolio performance to boards, investors, and regulators.
• Experience hiring, developing, and leading high-performing risk and underwriting teams.
• Preferred certifications (e.g., CAMS, CFE).