Head of Risk Operations

Airwallex-; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 203,000 - 285,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex is hiring a Senior Director/Head of Risk Operations to lead a global team shaping onboarding, ongoing reviews and in-life behavior. You’ll drive high standards for integrity, judgement and documentation across risk operations.

The role focuses on scalable risk processes, cross-functional collaboration with Risk Product and Engineering, and optimizing cost efficiency while maintaining customer experience. London or Singapore based.

Qualifications

• Proven experience, including senior leadership in large-scale, multi-jurisdiction operations in a rapidly growing regulated financial-services or payments/fintech business.
• Proven track record of scaling Risk Operations across multiple geographies, and of building globally consistent performance.
• Background in Fraud Ops and ATO risk control.
• Strong commercial and analytical judgement — comfortable framing decisions in unit economics, scalability and ROI.
• Delivery of automation/AI-led transformation in an ops setting.
• Demonstrated big data/analytics experience (SQL, DBX and BI tooling).

Responsibilities

• Own the vision, strategy and execution for Risk Operations.
• Build, lead and develop a globally distributed team.
• Own location and resourcing strategy for 24/7 coverage, customer experience and cost efficiency.
• Create a repeatable and scalable operating rhythm with clear OKRs.
• Take a data-driven approach to performance management.
• Balance risk, customer experience and commercial impact in decisions and communications.
• Drive continuous improvement in procedures, playbooks and control frameworks aligned to policies.
• Lead AI transformation of the Risk Operations team.
• Collaborate with Risk Product and Engineering to improve documentation and controls.

Skills

Senior leadership

Scale risk ops

Fraud & ATO

Commercial/Analytical

Ops-Prod-Risk liaison

Automation/AI

Data analytics (SQL/BI)

Job description

About Airwallex

Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale.

Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us.

Attributes We Value

We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.

You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next.

About the team:

Risk Operations is a global 1LOD team responsible for the Acquiring, Issuing and Credit Risk domains. The team handles cases and investigations across product domains, working closely with 2LOD and Commercial teams to ensure that Airwallex operates within its risk appetite. The team is passionate about operational excellence and delivering an exceptional end-to-end customer experience.

What you’ll do:

As the Senior Director/Head of Risk Operations, you will lead a global team responsible for defining procedures and delivering operational excellence across new client onboarding, periodic review and in-life behaviour. You will ensure that Airwallex champions high standards for integrity, judgement and documentation in all aspects of risk operations.

Responsibilities:

• Own the vision, strategy and execution for Risk Operations
• Build, lead and develop high-performing a globally distributed team
• Own the location and resourcing strategy of the team, solving for 24/7 coverage, quality of customer experience and cost efficiency
• Create a repeatable & scalable operating rhythm, including clear OKRs
• Take a data-driven approach to performance management
• Strike the right balance between risk, customer experience and commercial impact, ensuring timely, high-quality decision making and communications
• Drive continuous improvement in the quality of procedures, playbooks and control frameworks, aligned to Airwallex financial crime and fraud policies defined by 2LOD and partnering closely with Risk Product and Engineering
• Ensure that Airwallex continues to improve the quality and consistency of documentation
• Lead AI transformation of the Risk Operations team

This role will be based in either London or Singapore.

Who are you:

We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory.

Minimum qualifications:

• Proven experience, including senior leadership in large-scale, multi-jurisdiction operations in a rapidly growing regulated financial-services or payments/fintech business
• Proven track record of scaling Risk Operations (at least 2 of Payments, Issuing and Credit) across multiple geographies, and of building globally consistent performance
• Background in Fraud Ops and ATO risk control
• Strong commercial and analytical judgement — comfortable framing decisions in unit economics, scalability and return on investment
• Track record of operating at the Operations–Product–Risk intersection and driving cross-functional outcomes without full reporting-line authority
• Demonstrated delivery of automation/AI-led transformation in an operations setting
• Evidence of big data/analytics (including SQL, DBX and BI tooling)

Preferred experience:

• Cross-border payments; multi-entity, multi-licence environments
• Experience across Payments, Issuing and Credit Risk
• Comfort with a highly technical, API-first product
• Exposure to IPO readiness / public-company control environments
• Top-tier consulting or operator-investor background (structured thinking under ambiguity)

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address.

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.