Head of Risk

Job description

Summary The Head of Risk is a leadership role responsible for designing, executing, and continuously improving the organisation’s end-to-end risk management framework. This includes oversight of risk strategy, portfolio risk assessment, merchant and transactional monitoring, fraud prevention, and financial crime mitigation. The role ensures that all risks—financial, operational, fraud, credit, regulatory, reputational, and business—are identified, assessed, monitored, and effectively managed in alignment with the company’s risk appetite. The Head of Risk combines strategic vision with hands-on execution, leveraging data insights, advanced analytics, and sound judgment to support business growth while safeguarding the organisation from losses. This role collaborates closely with senior leadership, first- and second-line teams, and cross-functional departments to ensure the risk agenda is deeply embedded into day-to-day operations, commercial decisions, and long-term business strategy. Key Responsibilities Risk Strategy & Portfolio Oversight Develop, maintain, and enhance a robust risk management framework Identify and assess risks at portfolio and merchant levels, ensuring ongoing relevance of controls and policies. Monitor overall risk exposure and ensure risk levels remain within approved thresholds and appetite. Provide data-driven insights and forecasting to executive leadership on emerging risks, portfolio health, and potential future challenges. Onboarding, Risk Monitoring & Fraud Prevention Responsible for onboarding new customers, ensuring risk assessments, financial reviews and application evaluations are aligned with the company’s reisk appetite and the portfolio strategy. Provide guidance on appropriate risk-based pricing, reserve structures, monitoring intensity and mitigation strategies for new merchants. Oversee daily and ongoing monitoring of merchant activity to identify unusual patterns, fraud indicators, potential money laundering risks, and other forms of financial crime. Lead the design and continuous improvement of monitoring tools, processes, and controls to minimise losses while enabling business growth. Conduct and supervise investigations, enhanced due diligence, escalations, case reviews, and suspicious activity reporting (SAR). Ensure prompt remediation of monitoring alerts and effective documentation of case outcomes. Controls, Compliance & Regulatory Risk Management Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of existing risk controls and recommend improvements to strengthen the risk environment. Ensure adherence to industry regulations, card scheme requirements, and evolving legal obligations. Leadership & Collaboration Build, mentor, and lead high-performing teams across risk strategy, risk monitoring, and fraud functions. Foster a culture of analytical thinking, curiosity, continuous improvement, and operational excellence. Partner with internal stakeholders at all levels to balance growth objectives with prudent risk management. Skills & Competencies Technical Expertise Strong analytical and data modelling skills, with deep experience in transactional analysis and predictive analytics. Extensive knowledge of acquiring, payment processing, and associated risks (fraud, ML/TF, credit, operational, and regulatory). Proficiency in conducting investigations, EDD reviews, alert handling, case disposition, and SAR writing. Risk Management Demonstrated expertise in portfolio risk assessment, control design, risk remediation, and building monitoring frameworks. Experience interpreting ambiguous scenarios and making decisions under pressure. Leadership & Communication Proven track record in managing, developing, and mentoring teams. Excellent communication skills, with the ability to produce high-quality written analysis and articulate complex risk topics clearly. Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to build trust across the organisation. Operational Strength Ability to structure, implement, and refine policies, procedures, and risk processes. Highly organised, detail-oriented, and capable of prioritising multiple competing tasks. Naturally inquisitive, innovative, and proactive in identifying and mitigating emerging risks.