Manager of New Product Risk

Relay; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

Equity program

Health benefits

Job summary

Relay is seeking a seasoned risk leader to own the strategy and operating model for new products, starting with credit and payroll. You will build and manage day-to-day risk operations, ensure timely reviews, and translate insights into scalable controls.

The role emphasizes collaboration with Product, Engineering, and Data teams to embed AI and improve risk decisions. You will mentor a team, define success metrics, and balance loss prevention with customer experience as Relay grows in

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience leading people or complex cross-functional initiatives.
• 4+ years of experience in fraud risk, credit risk, risk strategy, transaction monitoring, or risk operations, preferably in fintech, banking, or payments.
• Proficiency in SQL and Python for data analysis.
• Experience operating under a bank partnership.
• Payroll risk or ACH operations experience.
• Experience with SMB credit, commercial cards, or lending products.
• Experience in startup or scale-up environments.

Responsibilities

• Own the risk strategy and operating model for new products, beginning with credit and payroll.
• Build and manage day-to-day risk operations with timely, consistent, high-quality reviews and decisions as volumes scale.
• Lead and develop the team through clear expectations, coaching, training, and ongoing feedback.
• Analyze product, customer, and transaction data to understand performance, investigate issues, and uncover risks.
• Define and monitor metrics across losses, customer friction, decision quality, and operational efficiency.
• Evaluate external tools, vendors, and data sources to strengthen risk capabilities.
• Transition mature products into their long-term operating models and collaborate with Product, Engineering, and other teams.

Skills

SQL

Python

AI tools

Leadership

Data analysis

Fraud risk

Tools

SQL

Job description

• We’re looking for someone with real transaction monitoring experience who is curious, decisive, and excited to build with AI, not just work a queue
• Own the risk strategy and operating model for new products, beginning with credit and payroll
• Build and manage day-to-day risk operations, ensuring reviews and decisions are timely, consistent, and high quality as volumes scale
• Lead and develop the team through clear expectations, coaching, training, and ongoing feedback
• Manage staffing, capacity, service levels, and operational performance across the portfolio
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and other teams early in product development to identify risks and design appropriate controls
• Analyze product, customer, and transaction data to understand performance, investigate issues, and uncover emerging risks
• Develop, test, and optimize risk rules and strategies while balancing loss prevention, customer experience, and operational impact
• Define and monitor metrics across losses, customer friction, decision quality, review volumes, and operational efficiency
• Build scalable procedures, review workflows, tooling, quality controls, and escalation paths
• Investigate operational and control failures, identify root causes, and translate findings into lasting improvements
• Evaluate external tools, vendors, and data sources that can strengthen our risk capabilities
• Communicate strategies, decisions, and trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Transition mature products into their long-term operating models and take on new areas as Relay grows
• Use AI tools to improve analysis, investigations, documentation, and how the team works

Benefits

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity: Relay employees are Relay owners, complete with equity and a competitive salary. Since 2023, 66%+ of employees have received salary increases, with multiple new team members joining just last year.
• Social connection: We believe in celebrating our wins with two annual company-wide get-togethers, quarterly team events, happy hours, and special events and networking opportunities with industry leaders.
• Personal and professional growth: Through ongoing feedback, mentorship, and coaching, work with peers and leaders who are invested in your growth and success. Even with more than half of our team joining in the last 12 months, almost 20% have received promotions in the last year alone.
• Parental leave with top-up: We offer 12 weeks off with a 100% salary top-up for all full-time employees, regardless of location, and accessible for all parents: birthing, non-birthing, and adoptive
• Comprehensive health benefits: Enjoy full health benefits from day one: no probation period required. We offer flexible Health or Wellness Spending Accounts and medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents.
• Hybrid work environment: We value meaningful collaboration and connection at our Toronto office three days per week, with lunch, snacks, and beverages on us.
• Top-tier equipment: As a Mac-first company, our Toronto offices have everything you need to produce your best work comfortably, from multiple screens to ergonomic seating.
• Flexible vacation and time off: Every team member starts with 15 vacation days and 5 flex days to use as needed, plus an extra week of office closure during the end-of-year holidays.
• Dog-friendly space: Can dogs really make you happy and healthy? We don’t know for sure, but since we don’t want to chance it, our office is 100% floof-friendly.
• Award-winning workplace: As a winner of CB Insights’ Fintech 100, Deloitte Canada’s Technology Fast 50, Forbes Fintech 50, and the CIX Top 10 Growth Award, Relay is a recognized innovative and high-growth company.

You’re energized by complexity and ambiguity: You enjoy tackling problems that don’t come with a playbook. You’re comfortable building from scratch, iterating as you go, and collaborating to shape the best path forwardYou seek out feedback: You see directness as respect, not criticism. You actively seek input, sit with hard truths, and use feedback as fuel for improvementYou own your work: You take pride in your work, follow through on commitments, and feel a deep sense of responsibility for outcomes, not just tasksYou push relentlessly for reinvention: You’re always asking “how can this be better?” — in your work, in your craft, in yourself. Comfort is a signal to push harder, not coast. You’d rather build something better than defend something familiarYou crave autonomy: We trust our team with big challenges and the freedom to solve them. If you’re someone who takes initiative, is comfortable taking risks, and seeks input when needed, you’ll find the freedom here empoweringYou build with AI, not just use it: You’re actively embedding AI into how you work, pushing what’s possible, and bringing your team along with youYou care about impact, not noise: You care deeply about the substance of your work. You measure success by results, not recognition, and you let your work speak for itselfYou thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and are excited to continuously learn new productsWe’re looking for people who are relentless, curious, and care deeply about the work. You’re encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn’t perfectly match the job description — your perspective and drive matter moreYou’re analytical and curious, digging into the “why” and using data to make better decisionsYou have 2+ years of experience leading people or complex cross-functional initiativesYou have 4+ years of experience in fraud risk, credit risk, risk strategy, transaction monitoring, or risk operations, preferably in fintech, banking, or paymentsYou’re highly collaborative and can navigate work across Risk, Product, Engineering, Data, Compliance, and Customer ExperienceYou have meaningful credit risk experience and understand how risk decisions affect losses, growth, operations, and customer experienceYou understand transaction and money-movement risks across channels such as ACH, cards, wires, or checksYou’ve built a new product, risk program, or operating model from zero to oneYou’re proficient in SQL and can independently retrieve and analyze data using joins, aggregations, CTEs, subqueries, and window functionsYou’re actively using AI tools in how you work today and are excited to push what’s possible with themYou combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution and can turn ideas into measurable outcomesYou’re a strong communicator who can translate complex insights into clear, actionable directionYou have experience evaluating fraud, identity, or credit-risk vendorsYou’ve worked in a startup or scale-up environmentYou have payroll risk or ACH operations experienceYou’ve worked with SMB credit, commercial cards, or lending productsYou have experience operating under a bank partnershipYou’re proficient in Python for advanced analysis or automation