(Associate) Director, Commercial Risk Strategy

Airwallex Pty Ltd.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex Pty Ltd. is seeking a leader for our Commercial Risk Control team based in San Francisco. You will establish the first line of defense, defining strategies for commercial risk management and guiding teams through complex decision-making processes.

The ideal candidate will have over a decade of experience in risk management within financial services, with strong analytical skills and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly. This role directly reports to the Chief Revenue Officer.

Qualifications

• 10-12 years of risk management experience in financial services, interfacing with Sales teams.
• Deep expertise in credit, payments, operational, or enterprise risk.

Responsibilities

• Define and manage the 1st LoD commercial risk strategy.
• Translate 2nd line risk appetite into commercial playbooks.
• Lead incident management and governance.

Skills

Risk management expertise

Analytical data literacy

Exceptional communication skills

Job description

About the team

The Commercial Risk Control team sits in the first line of defence within the Commercial organisation and partners directly with Sales, Partnerships, Account Management, Revenue Strategy & Operations and other Legal, Risk and Compliance teams across Airwallex. Our mandate is to embed risk discipline into how we originate, structure and grow our commercial book so that revenue is sustainable and commensurate with the risk we take. We help the business win the right customers faster, avoid the wrong ones earlier, and build a culture where every commercial leader thinks like an owner of our risk profile. You will join at a moment where we are formalising our first line commercial risk function globally, with strong sponsorship from our Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer and senior commercial leadership.

What you’ll do

Reporting directly to the Chief Revenue Officer, you will build and lead the first line commercial risk function for Airwallex. You will define the commercial risk strategy, own the supportability frameworks that govern which customers and use cases we back, and be the primary interface between the commercial organisation, the CRO and second and third line risk teams. You will combine strategic design with hands‑on deal support, portfolio monitoring and incident management so that risk becomes a core commercial capability, not an afterthought. This role is based in Singapore or San Francisco.

Key Responsibilities

• Pre-Deal Risk & Supportability: Define and manage the 1st LoD commercial risk strategy and supportability frameworks. Serve as the primary checkpoint and provide structured high quality guidance for complex or high-risk merchant use cases to unlock new revenue streams, reviewing and signing off on deal documentation before 2nd line escalation
• Commercial Guardrails & Culture: Translate complex 2nd line risk appetite and policies into clear, actionable commercial playbooks. Embed risk ownership into daily operations by actively participating in major deal reviews, pipeline calls, and quarterly business reviews.
• Capability Building & Conduct: Partner with enablement teams to design practical training and tools for front-office staff. Act as the primary point of accountability for commercial conduct risk, identifying misaligned sales practices or incentive structures and partnering with Revenue Operations to redesign them.
• Always-On Portfolio Monitoring: Design and execute a continuous portfolio monitoring framework alongside Data and Regional RevOps teams. Proactively track metrics like GP-to-risk ratios, customer risk tiers, fraud/loss rates, and revenue concentration to mitigate emerging risks.
• Incident Management & Governance: Lead structured post-mortems on commercial-induced incidents, driving root-cause analysis and 1st LoD remediation. Enforce 2nd line decisions (such as offboarding or enhanced monitoring) and represent the commercial risk perspective in internal governance forums, regulatory engagements, and audits.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Act as the strategic interface between GTM teams, the CRO, and 2nd/3rd line compliance functions. Over time, recruit and develop a high-impact team to scale coverage globally.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• 10–12 years of risk management experience within financial services, with significant time spent in 1st line or business‑aligned roles directly interfacing with front‑office or Sales teams.
• Deep expertise in at least two of the following areas: credit and portfolio risk, payments or merchant risk, operational and conduct risk, or enterprise risk.
• Proven track record of designing and implementing practical risk frameworks that materially influence commercial strategy within a Three Lines of Defense model.
• Strong analytical data literacy with the ability to define KPIs, interrogate dashboards, and balance quantitative metrics with qualitative business judgment.
• Exceptional communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to translate complex risk concepts into clear commercial language and navigate tough “risk vs. revenue” discussions with senior stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in high‑growth, product‑led fintech environments (e.g., payments, issuing, FX, or modern banking).
• Familiarity with global regulatory and scheme frameworks relevant to B2B fintech, including KYC/AML, sanctions, card network rules, and data privacy.
• Experience designing portfolio early‑warning indicators, concentration limits, and stress testing.

Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.