Onboarding Risk Manager

Job description

WHAT DO WE DO? Paddle offers digital product companies a completely different approach to their payment infrastructure. Instead of assembling and maintaining a complex stack of payments-related apps and services, we’re a Merchant of Record for our customers. That means we take away 100% of the pain of payment fragmentation. It’s faster, safer, cheaper, and, above all, way better. We’re backed by investors including KKR, FTV Capital, Kindred, Notion, and 83North and serve over 6000 software sellers in 245 territories globally. THE ROLE: We are looking for a highly motivated self-starter who will bring with them a solid background in leadership, process optimisation and onboarding risk management in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment. You will manage our Onboarding Risk team, with analysts and leads across 3 different regions (NA, UK/EU, APAC). The Onboarding Risk team is the first line of defence for identifying fraud and payment-related risks during account onboarding. As the Onboarding Risk Manager, you will report to and support the Head of Risk & Compliance to identify and drive improvements to ensure our risk processes are holistic, compliant, and of exceptional standards. Your key responsibilities will be: - Lead the day-to-day operations of the Onboarding Risk team, ensuring consistent, high-quality risk decisions and throughput - Manage, coach, and develop team members and team leads; set clear goals, feedback rhythms, and performance standards - Provide expert support on complex or high-risk applications, including escalations and judgement-based decision-making - Own onboarding risk procedures: document, maintain, and continuously improve processes, controls, and playbooks - Build strong relationships across Risk and with key internal and external stakeholders to enable effective decisioning and smooth execution - Oversee and strengthen onboarding risk management, ensuring policies and controls are applied effectively and proportionately In addition to your key day-to-day responsibilities you will also collaborate with the Legal, Support and Product teams in projects to help improve the Risk & Compliance function at Paddle. You will also have the opportunity to assist with recommendations or decisions on company risk-related matters with the Head of Risk & Compliance. Previous experience in line management is required as you will work to support the growth and development of the teams. Knowledge of scheme rules and legislation around acquiring would be beneficial as well as any prior experience building/updating risk related processes. This role is ideally based in the UK, but we are willing to consider applications +/- 1 GMT. WHAT YOU'LL DO: - Line manage the Onboarding Risk function across all regions, aligning priorities, coverage, and decision standards - Act as a subject-matter expert for onboarding processes (KYB, KYC, Screening, Final Reviews), risk assessment, and decisioning frameworks - Partner closely with leaders and peers beyond your immediate domain (Sales, Customer Support, Operations, and Engineering) to ensure onboarding delivers both strong risk outcomes and an excellent customer experience - Manage and influence key cross-functional relationships to unblock decisions, resolve issues, and drive process improvements - Develop, implement, and maintain onboarding processes and procedures—documenting internally and externally where needed - Demonstrate broad knowledge of cross-functional dependencies, aligning processes to optimise outcomes for the Onboarding Risk queues. - Handle complex escalations, make sound judgement calls (including with incomplete information), and ensure decisions are well-reasoned and appropriately recorded - Communicate clearly and concisely with stakeholders at all levels, including translating risk decisions into customer-appropriate narratives where required - Provide expertise on Card Scheme rules and relevant global payments legislation, and ensure processes reflect evolving requirements - Evolve the KPI structure in collaboration with the Head of Risk & Compliance, ensuring the team meets their goals while fostering a supportive and inclusive environment. WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU IF: - You have 4+ years experience in Onboarding or Credit Risk spaces - You have 2+ years experience working in Merchant Acquiring, E-Commerce, or a similar role at a FinTech - You have 3+ years experience in team management - You are comfortable working with teams in multiple time zones - You have a positive attitude and enjoy supporting and nurturing others - You bring solutions to the table and you aren’t afraid to point out where we’re going wrong - You have excellent communication skills, and are a fluent English speaker/writer - You love reading and learning about new ways of doing things. There’s always a better way - You’re comfortable with a little chaos and uncertainty. We move fast and sometimes decisions are made quickly and without all of the information - You have experience and understanding of scheme requirements (desired, but not required) - You’re comfortable with using Artificial Intelligence in everyday processes Everyone is welcome at Paddle At Paddle, we’re committed to removing invisible barriers, both for our customers and within our own teams. We recognise and celebrate that every Paddler is unique and we welcome every individual perspective. As an inclusive employer we don’t care if, or where, you studied, what you look like or where you’re from. We’re more interested in your craft, curiosity, passion for learning and what you’ll add to our culture. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t match every part of the job ad, especially if you’re part of an underrepresented group. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to better support you through the application process and in the workplace. We will do everything we can to support any accommodations needed. We’re committed to building a diverse team where everyone feels safe to be their authentic self. Let’s grow together. Our Values - Paddle Together - “None of us, is as smart as all of us” - Paddle Simply - “Simple can be harder than complex: you have to get your thinking clean to make it simple” - Paddle for others - “We can realise our wildest dreams, so long as we help enough other people to realise theirs” Why you’ll love working at Paddle We are a diverse, growing group of Paddlers across the globe who pride ourselves on our transparent, collaborative and respectful culture. We are a ‘digital-first’ company, which means you can work remotely, from one of our stylish hubs, or even a bit of both! We offer all team members generous holiday leave and 4 months paid family leave regardless of gender. We invest in learning and will help you with your personal development via constant exposure to new challenges, an annual learning fund, and regular internal and external training.