Associate Director Risk Operations Payments NA

• Define and own the North American Risk Operations Strategyaligned with global risk frameworks and regional growth priorities
• Translate strategy into clear OKRs roadmaps and operating plans across payment fraud disputes and credit risk operations
• Build lead and develop a diverse high-performing leadership bench (managers and senior ICs) in US
• Create a culture of ownership craftsmanship and continuous improvement anchored in Airwallex's Operating Principles

• Own end-to-end operational performance for North America payments risk operations including SLAs quality loss metrics and customer impact
• Oversee design and execution of merchant underwriting monitoring investigation reserve management and escalation workflows across North Americas
• Partner with global legal risk and compliance team to implement new policies and control changes efficiently into operations

• Work with Product and Engineering to evolve risk tooling (rules engines case management AI/LLM-based workflows analytics surfaces) for higher accuracy and efficiency
• Champion automation and AI to reduce manual work speed up decisions and improve reviewer effectiveness while maintaining strong control standards

• Serve as the primary North Americas Risk Operations counterpart to:
  
  • Risk Management Financial Crime and LRC
  • Product & Engineering (Onboarding Payments Issuing Risk Platform)
  • Commercial and Customer-facing teams (Sales Account Management Customer Success Merchant Service)
• Represent Airwallex Risk Operations in key commercial deals complex escalations and audits with payment partners regulators and strategic merchants
• Influence decisions on product launches GTM initiatives and new business models by clearly articulating risk implications and mitigation options

• Scale and structure the North America Risk Operations organisation to support high growth and new product lines

• 10+ years of experience in payments / fintech / acquiringwith at least 3+ years people management experiences
• Deep expertise in one or more of:
  
  • Consumer fraud / transaction risk (real-time controls rules models)
  • Merchant risk / credit risk (underwriting reserves exposure management)
• Proven track record managing senior ICs in multi-location teams
• Demonstrated ability to operate in ambiguity set clear priorities and drive outcomes in a fast-moving high-growth environment
• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills including with senior executives external partners and non-risk audiences
• Experience balancing risk appetite with commercial objectives and articulating trade-offs with clarity and conviction
• A strong desire to learn about new payment trends and technologies.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience

• Strong analytical and data skills - comfortable using dashboards and data tools to diagnose issues design experiments and measure impact
• Experience building or scaling risk operations in a global fintech or top-tier payments company
• Familiarity with North America regulatory environments and payment scheme expectations around fraud and merchant risk
• Hands-on experience partnering with Product/Engineering to design risk tooling or automation including use of AI/ML/LLMs in operations
• Prior exposure to board or regulator-facing discussions on risk posture incidents or portfolio performance

What We Do

Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software we empower over 200000 businesses worldwide – including Brex Rippling Navan Qantas SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts payments spend management and treasury to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne we have a team of over 2000 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$8 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price Visa Mastercard Robinhood Ventures Sequoia Salesforce Ventures DST Global and Lone Pine Capital Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career join us.

Why Work With Us

Airwallex was founded by people told their idea was unreasonable and we've hired that way ever since. We move fast think globally and give you ownership from day one. If you want to pioneer global finance at scale alongside the ambitious let's talk.

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