Risk & Compliance Specialist

Job description

WHY POLAR? It's never been easier to build, ship and scale software. But it's never been harder to monetize it. Modern startups look fundamentally different than prior generations: - Smaller teams - Exponential revenue growth relative to headcount - Higher variability in costs (LLMs) requiring more frequent pricing iterations - Laser focused on product development and distribution - Delegating and automating everything that is boilerplate – be it in their codebase or business operations. Exceptional billing primitives, APIs and SDKs are essential, but delightful integration is not enough. Startups need a billing platform designed for their speed of iteration. Combining billing and analytics in one platform to offer customer- and feature unit economics in real-time. Offering built-in pricing and cost insights, simulations and optimizations while simultaneously handling international compliance, tax management, fraud prevention and more. That's Polar. We're building the next standard for applied AI startups. Join our small, talented and engineering-led team across Europe as we build the infrastructure powering the next generation of software companies. We focus on shipping at high velocity to serve startup founders scale their businesses. Everything else is secondary. ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES: WHAT YOU WILL DO As a Risk & Compliance Specialist, you'll help protect the integrity of the Polar platform by reviewing merchants, identifying potential risks, and ensuring compliance with our policies and payment partner requirements. You'll partner closely with Merchant Support, Product, and Operations to balance a seamless merchant experience with effective risk management. We're a small team, so you'll have the opportunity to do more than review accounts. You'll help improve our processes, identify emerging risk trends, and shape how Risk Operations scales as Polar grows. YOU'LL WORK WITH THE TEAM TO: - Review new merchant applications and assess eligibility to sell on the Polar platform. - Conduct ongoing account reviews to identify changes in merchant activity or risk profile. - Evaluate merchants for compliance with Polar's Acceptable Use Policy and other platform requirements. - Investigate fraud, payment risk signals, disputes, chargebacks, and other suspicious activity. - Manage merchant offboarding, payout holds, and other risk-mitigation actions as needed. - Partner with payment providers and internal teams to resolve compliance and account-related issues. - Document review decisions and maintain clear, consistent internal processes. - Identify opportunities to improve risk workflows, tooling, and operational efficiency. - Monitor emerging abuse trends and escalate complex or high-risk cases to leadership. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR We're looking for someone who enjoys solving complex problems, making thoughtful decisions, and protecting the platform's integrity. You're analytical, detail-oriented, and comfortable working with ambiguity while balancing merchant experience with compliance requirements. You have excellent judgment, communicate clearly, and can explain difficult decisions with empathy and professionalism. SKILLS & EXPERIENCE - 2+ years of experience in Risk Operations, Trust & Safety, Compliance, Fraud Operations, Payments, or Merchant Operations. - Strong analytical and investigative skills with exceptional attention to detail. - Excellent written communication skills and the ability to explain complex decisions clearly and professionally. - Experience reviewing accounts, investigating fraud, or evaluating merchant risk. - Ability to prioritize competing priorities and make consistent, well-reasoned decisions. - Comfortable working cross-functionally with Support, Product, and external payment partners. - Familiarity with SQL for investigating data, validating risk signals, and answering operational questions is a plus. 90-DAY PLAN & MILESTONES First 30 Days - Learning → Learn Polar's products, merchant onboarding flow, and Merchant of Record model. → Become familiar with the Acceptable Use Policy, internal review guidelines, and risk workflows. → Shadow merchant reviews, investigations, and offboarding processes. → Begin reviewing low-risk merchant applications with guidance. First 60 Days - Implementing → Independently review new merchant applications and ongoing account reviews. → Investigate fraud signals, disputes, and payment risk cases. → Manage standard offboarding cases and payout holds. → Start contributing to improvements in documentation and review processes. First 90 Days - Contributing → Own merchant reviews from initial assessment through final decision, ensuring every case is well documented and consistently applied. → Handle more complex risk and compliance cases. → Identify trends and recommend operational improvements. → Partner with Product, Support, and Operations to improve workflows and the merchant experience.