Senior Director, International Risk Management

Capital One; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension & bonus

25 days annual leave (+5)

Private medical insurance

Parental leave

Job summary

Capital One is seeking a Senior Director to lead International Risk Management for the Global Payment Network (GPN) from its London base. You will steer risk strategy, oversee global risk concentrations, and partner with executives to enable strategic market entry while maintaining risk discipline.

This role demands strong regulatory literacy, cross-functional influence, and a proven track record in financial services risk advisory.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in financial services, fintech, or payments with a risk focus.
• Ability to translate macro regulatory insights into business strategy.
• Track record advising senior executives on risk-reward trade-offs.

Responsibilities

• Drive commercial risk-reward strategy balancing growth with risk appetite.
• Oversee global risk concentrations and cross-market impact.
• Bridge risk operations with regulatory obligations across regions.
• Lead regulatory and government engagement to maintain market access.
• Advise senior executives with actionable risk insights for expansion.

Skills

Executive advisory

Cross-functional leadership

Regulatory affairs

Strategic risk management

Global market expansion

Matrix leadership

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

Job description

Our Mission

We're on a mission to be a force for good in lending. Throughout our almost 30-year history, we've consistently been recognised as a great place to work; in 2026, Capital One was officially ranked 9th in the UK's Best Workplaces list. Hear from our team about what it's like working at Capital One UK.

About the Role

We are seeking a visionary Senior Director to lead International Risk Management for the Global Payment Network (GPN). In this critical leadership role on the Network Risk Operations team, you will be responsible for managing risks & leading the strategic evolution of our international business that informs our business trajectory and fuels global expansion. Your mandate is to drive the commercial objects of the network, while being able to identify, manage, mitigate and elevate risks effectively across the executive teams. By leveraging established Capital One risk frameworks and policies, you will proactively shape markets and position GPN as a preferred partner in the global payments ecosystem.

What you’ll do

• Drive Commercial Risk-Reward Strategy: Engage in commercial conversations across product and market teams to balance growth with calculated risk, ensuring business decisions optimize profitability while staying within enterprise risk appetite.
• Oversee Aggregate Global Risk: Monitor and analyze cross-market and regional risk concentrations to understand their total impact on the overall global payments network, driving holistic visibility and strategic alignment across borders.
• Bridge Risk Operations & Obligations: Partner closely with the Global Network Risk Operations team to maintain a unified approach spanning ecosystem risk, credit settlement, and regulatory compliance obligations.
• Proactive Regulatory & Government Engagement: Lead forward-looking dialogues with international regulators and policymakers in close partnership with the International Regulatory and Government Engagement teams to shape outcomes and maintain market access.
• Serve as a Trusted Executive Advisor: Act as a strategic risk partner to the SVP of Global Acceptance and SVP of International Market Development, providing actionable risk insights to guide high-priority expansion and market development initiatives.
• Coordinate Cross-Functional Network Alignment: Collaborate seamlessly across globally distributed teams—including regional business leaders, product teams, and local associates—to ensure consistent, cohesive risk management execution at the local level.
• Enable Growth & Market Entry Strategy: Facilitate country entry, scaling, and exits in alignment with broader business strategy, translating regulatory and market conditions into enabling frameworks for commercial expansion.

What we're looking for

• Industry & Functional Background: Proven experience in financial services, fintech, or payments, with a strong background across risk management, commercial risk advisory, regulatory affairs, or strategy.
• Macro Regulatory & Payments Literacy: Broad understanding of the global payments ecosystem, market dynamics, and regulatory trends, with a demonstrated ability to translate macro insights into practical business strategies that align with client needs.
• Commercial & Executive Advisory: Proven track record as a trusted advisor to senior business executives (e.g., SVPs of Acceptance and Market Development), balancing commercial opportunities with aggregate risk exposure to achieve optimal risk-reward outcomes.
• Cross-Functional & Ecosystem Risk Integration: Experience connecting risk discipline across multi-faceted risk types—including credit, settlement, ecosystem, and general regulatory obligations—by collaborating effectively with operations and business units.
• Proactive Stakeholder & Regulatory Partnership: Demonstrated ability to engage proactively with external stakeholders, regulators, and government entities in close partnership with dedicated regulatory affairs and government relations teams.
• Market Expansion & Growth Enablement: Background in supporting strategic market entry, international scaling, and regional expansion initiatives without sacrificing risk integrity or network stability.
• Matrix Navigation & Influence: Exceptional executive presence with the ability to influence cross-functional partners (Product, Technology, Regional Leadership) and drive alignment across a complex, globally matrixed organization.
• People & Team Leadership: Strong leadership track record in managing, mentoring, and building high-performing, agile teams across diverse geographies and cultures.

Where and how you'll work

This is a permanent position based in our Hammersmith, London office. There will be some international travel expected with this role to connect with global colleagues & also client meetings. We embrace a hybrid approach to work. You'll spend two days a week in the office.

What’s in it for you

We invest in the growth of our people alongside our business. You will have extensive opportunities to learn and develop your career, including access to up to £5,000 in funding for external qualifications. In addition to career development, our comprehensive benefits package is designed to grow with you, ensuring your wellbeing is prioritised at every stage of your career:

• Wealth & Future: Competitive pension and performance-based bonus schemes
• Holidays: Start with 25 days of annual leave, increasing with tenure. Need more? You have the option to buy 5 additional days.
• Health: Access premium care through our private medical insurance
• Family Support: We champion your milestones with enhanced parental leave

A full list of our benefits is available here.

What you should know about how we recruit

We pride ourselves on hiring the best people, not the same people. Building diverse and inclusive teams is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. We want to work with top talent: whoever you are, whatever you look like, wherever you come from. We know it's about what you do, not just what you say. That's why we make our recruitment process fair and accessible. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging at our core. We empower our associates to do great work by creating an inclusive culture—one that values diverse perspectives, fosters collaboration and encourages innovative ideas—and a place where associates of all backgrounds can thrive by bringing their most authentic selves to work. We call this our Culture of Belonging, and it rests at the heart of our business. Our associate-led Business Resource Groups were created to help support our diverse population and include over 10 groups across our offices. Because each Business Resource Group is as unique as the population it serves, they offer a range of activities, networking opportunities, special events and learning programmes to associates. Capital One is committed to diversity in the workplace. If you require a reasonable adjustment, please contact [e-mail] All information will be kept confidential and will only be used for the purpose of applying a reasonable adjustment. For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to [e-mail]

At Capital One, we're building a leading information-based technology company. Still founder-led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank, Capital One is on a mission to help our customers succeed by bringing ingenuity, simplicity, and humanity to banking. We measure our efforts by the success our customers enjoy and the advocacy they exhibit.