Senior Director, Enterprise Risk Management (Fintech)

TL;DR

Senior Director, Enterprise Risk Management (Fintech): Shaping and scaling the enterprise risk management capability across the US and EMEA with an accent on risk appetite, governance, and regulatory alignment. Focus on translating complex risk data into strategic decision-making and building a resilient crisis management framework for a global payments platform.

Location: Must be based in the US or EMEA (specifically mentioning Amsterdam and London)

Company

Airwallex is a unified payments and financial platform for global businesses, empowering over 200,000 companies worldwide with integrated treasury and spend management solutions.

What you will do

• Lead the evolution of enterprise risk architecture, including risk appetite, taxonomy, governance standards, and escalation protocols.
• Translate complex risk data and trends into decision-useful reporting for the C-suite, Board committees, and external stakeholders.
• Oversee risk-informed change governance for new products, markets, and major system or structural changes.
• Strengthen the enterprise crisis management framework and executive response mechanisms for operational and regulatory events.
• Drive a unified, risk-aware culture by reinforcing first-line ownership and championing risk standards.
• Build and lead a high-performing global second-line team to support the company's next phase of scale.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Law, STEM, or a quantitative field.
• 10-15+ years of experience in risk management, operational risk, or compliance within financial services, fintech, or banking.
• 5+ years of experience leading ERM or governance programs in a complex, multi-jurisdiction organization.
• Proven experience designing second-line of defense frameworks, risk appetite statements, and risk taxonomies.
• Familiarity with regulatory environments and exposure to regulators such as the FCA, DNB, Bank of Lithuania, MAS, and FinCEN.
• Strong experience communicating risk papers to senior executives, Board members, or auditors.

Nice to have

• Advanced degree (MBA, Master's, JD) or professional certifications (FRM, PRM, CRMA, CAMS, CFE).
• Deep fintech experience in cross-border payments, merchant acquiring, or card scheme environments.
• Strong data literacy and comfort using dashboards and technology-enabled tools for risk oversight.
• Bias toward automation and AI to improve issue management and second-line efficiency.

Culture & Benefits

• High-impact role with an emphasis on ownership, accelerated learning, and founder-like energy.
• Opportunity to solve complex, high-visibility problems within a high-growth global fintech.
• Collaborative environment that values humility and the ability to turn zero-to-one ideas into real products.
• Culture of working smarter by leveraging AI to solve problems faster.