Role Overview

Our client is seeking an experienced Head of Payments, Risk & Fraud to lead the day-to-day operations and strategic development of their Payments, Fraud, and transaction risk function. This role is critical in ensuring secure, compliant, and efficient payment processing, strengthening fraud prevention and chargeback management, and driving consistent SLA/KPI delivery across the function.

Reporting to the Director of Internal Operations, you will own operational performance across payment processing, fraud controls, high-risk escalations, third-party/provider management, and team leadership—ensuring robust governance and excellent customer outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

1) Payments Operations & Performance

• Own end-to-end payment operations, ensuring fast, accurate processing of deposits/withdrawals and a strong customer experience.
• Monitor and improve turnaround times, approval rates, and failure/decline trends; drive fixes and preventative actions.
• Partner with key stakeholders to ensure workflows are scalable, documented, and consistently applied.
• Support new payment method rollouts and operational readiness for new territories (controls, SLAs, customer journeys).

2) Fraud, Risk & Chargebacks

• Lead and continuously enhance the fraud prevention strategy across channels, products, and markets.
• Own the chargeback and disputes framework: prevention, workflows, evidence quality, win rates, training, and reporting.
• Manage high-risk/critical escalations (payments, fraud, AML-related operational cases), ensuring timely decisions and actions.
• Evaluate fraud and AML exposure linked to new products, territories, funding methods, and changes to existing processes.

3) AML/CTF Operational Collaboration (with MLRO & Compliance)

• Act as the operational lead supporting risk mitigation, maintaining close alignment with the MLRO and Compliance on high-risk accounts, patterns, and mitigations.
• Coordinate internal case handling for serious incidents (e.g., suspected money laundering/terrorist financing), ensuring robust documentation and escalation.
• Ensure operational execution aligns with AML/CTF policies and regulatory expectations (without duplicating MLRO statutory responsibilities).

4) Policies, Procedures & Continuous Improvement

• Implement and embed operational policies and controls across Payments, Risk & Fraud efficiently and consistently.
• Own and maintain SOPs, routines, and training materials; ensure they remain current as risks and products evolve.
• Drive continuous improvement through root-cause analysis, process optimisation, automation opportunities, and control enhancements.

5) Third-Party & Payment Provider Management

• Own day-to-day operational management of third parties (PSPs, banks, acquirers, fraud/verification tools), alongside the Payments Setup/Implementation function.
• Monitor provider performance, risk exposure, and service quality; lead remediation and improvement plans.
• Support negotiations and commercial discussions from an operational, risk, and performance perspective.

6) Leadership, People Management & Cost Control

• Lead, coach, and develop the Payments, Fraud and operational risk team; build capability and accountability.
• Identify skills gaps and implement training plans for the department and wider teams where needed.
• Manage resourcing and staffing costs in collaboration with HR, ensuring efficient and sustainable coverage.

7) Reporting & Stakeholder Management

• Deliver clear reporting across KPIs, SLAs, trends, incidents, and operational risks.
• Produce leadership and Board-level insights on performance, emerging risks, and operational improvements.
• Build strong working relationships across Operations, Compliance, Product, Finance, Tech, and Customer Support.

What Success Looks Like (First 3–6 Months)

• Improved payment performance (approval rates, withdrawal turnaround, reduced failures).
• Stronger fraud and dispute outcomes (lower fraud loss, improved chargeback ratios/win rates).
• Clear operating cadence (weekly reporting, escalation paths, monthly provider reviews, structured training).
• Updated SOPs and controls aligned to evolving risks, products, and markets.

Requirements

Essential

• Proven leadership experience in Payments Operations, Fraud, Risk, or a combined function (ideally within iGaming, fintech, PSP/EMI, or high-volume e-commerce).
• Strong knowledge of card schemes/chargebacks, payment workflows, and fraud typologies.
• Experience managing high-risk escalations, operational investigations, and cross-functional incident response.
• Strong analytical capability—able to translate trends and metrics into actions and outcomes.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including executive-level reporting.

Nice to Have

• Experience with fraud tooling/rules engines, verification vendors, device intelligence, or transaction monitoring workflows.
• Familiarity working closely with Compliance/MLRO functions in AML/CTF environments.
• Experience supporting new market launches or payment method expansions at scale.

Candidate Profile

• Calm under pressure, with strong judgement and decisive leadership.
• Process-driven, detail-focused, and proactive in risk/control design.
• Commercially aware, able to balance customer experience, risk, and operational efficiency.