Head of Global Merchant Risk

Adyen; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Adyen, a global payments platform, seeks a Head of Credit Risk who will lead a high-performing team across Amsterdam, Singapore and Chicago. You will own day-to-day exposure management of MPL and Credit Risk portfolios, influence risk models and policies, and chair governance forums to ensure prudent growth of financial products.

You will collaborate with Product and Second Line Risk to align risk tools with corporate governance, driving a proactive risk culture across the organization.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in a credit risk leadership role within Fintech, high-volume payments or banking.
• Deep understanding of credit risk management for financial products (capital lending, commercial loans, charge cards).
• Experience managing global multi-region teams is preferred but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Global Leadership: Lead and scale a high-performing global team across Amsterdam, Singapore and Chicago.
• Operational Risk Ownership: Oversee daily monitoring and manual review of high-exposure merchants within MPL and Credit Risk frameworks.
• High-Stakes Decisioning: Act as final escalation point for edge-case approvals and present proposals to MRC.
• Strategic Influence: Provide feedback on Credit Models, Risk Policies, and Risk Appetite using operational data.
• Collections Strategy: Direct global Collections to ensure swift, professional recovery when risks materialize.
• Stakeholder Navigation: Partner with Product and Second Line Risk to align tools and governance.

Skills

Global leadership

Operational risk ownership

High-stakes decisioning

Strategic influence

Collections strategy

stakeholder navigation

Job description

Adyen provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Meta, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft - making us the financial technology platform of choice. At Adyen, everything we do is engineered for ambition.

For our teams, we create an environment with opportunities for our people to succeed, backed by the culture and support to ensure they are enabled to truly own their careers. We are motivated individuals who tackle unique technical challenges at scale and solve them as a team. Together, we deliver innovative and ethical solutions that help businesses achieve their ambitions faster.

The role

The Head of Credit Risk is a pivotal global leadership position within Adyen’s Operations function. This is not a new department, but rather an evolving and growing pillar of our business. As Adyen continues to aggressively build out and scale its suite of financial products, our risk management strategies must grow alongside them.

While our Second Line defines the boundaries and Product builds the tools, the Credit Risk department owns the execution. The department’s focus is centered around managing our counterparty risk across both our acquiring business (chargeback risk) and our issuing/financial products (such as capital lending). In this role, you will be responsible for the day-to-day management of these exposures. As the chair of the Merchant Risk Committee (MRC) and a member of the Risk Committee (RC), you will serve as the operational voice that bridges the gap between commercial ambition and financial prudence, ensuring we safely scale our next generation of financial services.

What you’ll do

• Global Leadership: Lead and scale a high-performing global team across Amsterdam, Singapore and Chicago. You will ensure consistency in decision-making while accounting for regional market differences.
• Operational Risk Ownership: Oversee the daily monitoring and manual review of high-exposure merchants within the MPL (Merchant Potential Liability) and Credit Risk (Adyen Capital/Charge Cards) frameworks.
• High-Stakes Decisioning: Act as the final operational escalation point for "edge case" approvals. You will ensure your teams are prepared and ready to present formal proposals for high-risk merchant decisions to the Merchant Risk Committee (MRC).
• Strategic Influence: While Product owns the models and Second Line owns the appetite, you are the primary feedback loop. You will use operational data to influence and propose changes to Credit Models, Risk Policies, and Risk Appetite.
• Collections Strategy: Direct the global Collections function, ensuring that when risks materialize, recovery efforts are swift, professional, and effective.
• Stakeholder Navigation: Maintain a tight partnership with Product to ensure risk tools are fit-for-purpose and with Second Line Risk to ensure operational alignment with corporate governance.

Who you are

• Credit Risk Leader: 8+ years of experience in a credit risk leadership role within Fintech, high-volume payments, or banking.
• Financial Product Expertise: You possess a deep, practical understanding of credit risk management specifically tailored to financial products; direct experience with products like capital lending, commercial loans, and charge cards is highly preferred.
• Domain Knowledge: A strong grasp of the merchant lifecycle, bankruptcy risk, and the unique mechanics of lending and underwriting
• Global Perspective: Experience managing global, multi-region teams is preferred but not essential.
• Excellent Communicator: The ability to translate complex credit risks into clear, concise, and actionable proposals for executive committees.
• Proactive Problem Solver: You don't just follow a policy—you identify

Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments

Our unique approach is a product of our diverse perspectives. This diversity of backgrounds and cultures is essential in helping us maintain our momentum. Our business and technical challenges are unique, and we need as many different voices as possible to join us in solving them - voices like yours. No matter who you are or where you’re from, we welcome you to be your true self at Adyen.

What’s next?

Ensuring a smooth and enjoyable candidate experience is critical for us. We aim to get back to you regarding your application within 5 business days. Our interview process tends to take about 4 weeks to complete, but may fluctuate depending on the role. Learn more about our hiring process here . Don’t be afraid to let us know if you need more flexibility.

Adyen is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Additional Information

This role is based out of our Amsterdam office. We are an office-first company and value in-person collaboration; we do not offer remote-only roles.

The way we work is guided by the eight principles of the Adyen Formula. Learn more here.

To build the world's most customer-focused financial technology platform, we need as many different perspectives as possible. We’re looking for people from all sorts of backgrounds to contribute.