Head of Credit Risk

Sanabil Venture Studio; Riyadh Region; On-site; SAR 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Equity

Premium gear

Mentorship that matters

Accelerated learning

Job summary

Sanabil Studio in Saudi Arabia seeks a Head of Risk to build and lead TradePay's credit risk governance and portfolio risk management, reporting to the Founder. You will establish enterprise risk framework and policies across credit, collections, fraud, and operations, aligning with regulatory expectations.

You have 8+ years in Saudi credit risk or related areas, with experience in banking or fintech lending, and a proven ability to design governance frameworks, monitor delinquency,

Qualifications

• 8+ years of Saudi experience in credit risk, portfolio risk, collections, or enterprise risk management.
• Experience in banking, SME lending, fintech lending, microfinance, or regulated financial institutions.
• Understanding Saudi market dynamics and SAMA expectations.
• Experience designing and implementing credit policies and governance frameworks.
• Strong knowledge of delinquency management, provisioning, and portfolio controls.
• Experience working with regulators or operating within regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Build and own TradePay's enterprise credit risk framework and governance model
• Define and manage risk appetite, portfolio thresholds, and escalation frameworks
• Develop and maintain credit, collections, fraud, and operational risk policies
• Oversee repayment behavior monitoring, delinquency management, and collections governance
• Establish provisioning, write-off, and portfolio monitoring frameworks
• Review and approve credit override and exception management processes
• Work with Data and Product teams to ensure underwriting models align with risk policies and operational controls
• Build governance processes around merchant onboarding, fraud escalation, dispute resolution, and collections
• Develop reporting frameworks for management, investors, and future regulatory readiness
• Prepare the business for future licensing and regulatory engagement in Saudi Arabia
• Support legal and compliance teams in ensuring operational and contractual alignment
• Lead future risk committee structures and build and mentor risk operations and collections team members

Skills

Credit risk

Portfolio risk

Governance

Regulatory readiness

Stakeholder management

Job description

Sanabil Studio is a venture builder that blends industry expertise, technology, and startup know-how to turn bold ideas into real businesses. We take concepts from zero to launch, and when a venture proves its potential, we back it with seed funding and hands-on support to help it scale.

TradePay is one of those ventures building the trade finance infrastructure for FMCG in Saudi Arabia. Our mission is to replace informal supplier credit with structured, data-driven working capital that helps small merchants grow, protects suppliers from credit risk, and strengthens the FMCG supply chain. We are building a new credit system for underbanked merchants where risk is assessed through real transaction behavior and operational data across suppliers, distributors, and digital marketplaces.

We are looking for a Head of Risk to build and lead TradePay's credit risk governance and portfolio risk management function reporting directly to the Founder.

THE ROLE What you'll own here.

Build and own TradePay's enterprise credit risk framework and governance model

Define and manage risk appetite, portfolio thresholds, and escalation frameworks

Develop and maintain credit, collections, fraud, and operational risk policies

Oversee repayment behavior monitoring, delinquency management, and collections governance

Establish provisioning, write-off, and portfolio monitoring frameworks

Review and approve credit override and exception management processes

Work with Data and Product teams to ensure underwriting models align with risk policies and operational controls

Build governance processes around merchant onboarding, fraud escalation, dispute resolution, and collections

Develop reporting frameworks for management, investors, and future regulatory readiness

Prepare the business for future licensing and regulatory engagement in Saudi Arabia

Support legal and compliance teams in ensuring operational and contractual alignment

Lead future risk committee structures and build and mentor risk operations and collections team members

How Success Will Be Measured Portfolio quality and delinquency rates, provisioning accuracy, governance and policy maturity, regulatory readiness, and the strength of risk frameworks as TradePay scales.

Where This Role Can Go Head of Risk → Chief Risk Officer as TradePay scales and matures into a regulated entity.

THE PROFILE You're probably a fit if…

You have 8+ years of Saudi experience in credit risk, portfolio risk, collections, or enterprise risk management

You've worked in banking, SME lending, fintech lending, microfinance, or regulated financial institutions

You understand Saudi market dynamics and SAMA expectations

You've designed and implemented credit policies and governance frameworks from the ground up

You have a strong grasp of delinquency management, collections, provisioning, and portfolio controls

You've worked with regulators or operated within regulated environments

You're strong on stakeholder management and decision-making, and can operate in fast-moving startup environments while maintaining governance discipline

You communicate clearly in writing and in the room

Bonus: experience in B2B BNPL, supply chain finance, embedded finance, SME or merchant lending, Islamic finance and Sharia-compliant structures, or early-stage fintech environments

THE ENVIRONMENT What working here actually looks like.

• Foundational Ownership You are building the risk foundations of a next-generation fintech platform from scratch. The frameworks you design today will define how TradePay scales tomorrow.
• Direct Impact on the Business Portfolio quality, scalability, and regulatory readiness all sit with you. Your decisions directly shape the long-term health of the business.
• A Role That Grows With You This position has a clear path into Chief Risk Officer as TradePay scales across Saudi Arabia and moves toward a regulated entity structure.

What You Get From Us

• Competitive pay: A package that reflects your experience and the market, not a lowball with "equity upside" as the excuse.
• Meaningful equity: Real upside aligned with long-term value creation.
• Premium gear, day one: Everything you need to hit the ground running, set up and ready before your first morning.
• Mentorship that matters: Direct collaboration with the Founder and leadership team from people who've actually built and scaled ventures.
• An accelerated curve: You'll learn more here in 12 months than most roles offer in three years.

Hiring Process

• Introductory recruiter conversation
• Founder interview
• Case study and framework discussion
• Reference checks
• Offer