Head of Risk (Fintech)

Location: Based in the UK or Netherlands; locations listed are London and Amsterdam.

Company

Airwallex provides regulated financial infrastructure and global payment services for businesses and financial product builders.

What you will do

• Lead and scale the global second-line risk management function across worldwide operations.
• Develop risk strategies, policies, governance frameworks, metrics, monitoring, escalation, and assurance processes.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Risk Operations, Data Science, Commercial, Compliance, Legal, and other stakeholders to manage product, portfolio, market, merchant, and entity-level risks.
• Advise the Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer, CEO, and senior executives on risk appetite, governance, controls, regulatory requirements, and strategic decisions.
• Strengthen risk culture and ensure global entities operate within approved risk tolerance levels.
• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing international team of risk professionals.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Risk Management, Law, or a related field.
• 15+ years of experience in risk management, compliance, control, or audit within fintech, payments, remittance, banking, or financial services.
• Experience building or leading risk frameworks, governance models, and oversight programmes in complex, multi-jurisdiction environments.
• Ability to define and operationalise risk appetite, policies, metrics, and escalation processes while supporting business growth.
• Experience working with senior management and cross-functional teams, with strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience leading international teams in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.

Nice to have

• Experience in payments, consumer finance, remittance, or global money movement businesses.
• Experience working with regulators, auditors, boards, or executive risk committees.
• Broad experience across enterprise, fraud, counterparty, operational, and regulatory risk.
• Advisory and hands-on risk management experience in a regulated financial institution.

Culture & Benefits

• Work within a global fintech operating across multiple products, markets, and regulatory environments.
• Collaborate with teams across more than 27 offices and a worldwide operating footprint.
• Operate in a high-ownership environment focused on sound judgment, curiosity, and first-principles decision-making.
• Risk is treated as a shared responsibility and a competitive advantage across the organisation.