Senior Director of Operational Risk (Framework & Governance) (Fintech)

TL;DR

Senior Director of Operational Risk (Framework & Governance) (Fintech): Building and leading a global second line of defense operational risk framework for a high-transaction payments platform with an accent on governance, risk assessments, and control environments. Focus on architecting scalable risk protocols, managing third-party dependencies, and ensuring operational resilience across US and EMEA markets.

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

Company

Airwallex is a unified payments and financial platform for global businesses, providing integrated solutions for business accounts, payments, and treasury management.

What you will do

• Architect and evolve the global Operational Risk Framework, including standards, governance, and escalation protocols.
• Lead core operational risk programs across event and loss management, recovery and resolution, and fraud risk governance.
• Serve as the senior 2LoD authority for operational risk boundary breaches, driving root cause analysis and holding first-line leaders accountable.
• Direct a controls center of excellence to supervise and challenge the control environment across Technology, Operations, and Finance.
• Implement automated, data-driven controls and embedded guardrails to keep pace with platform growth.
• Own the second-line framework for operational resilience, business continuity, and crisis triggers, including scenario testing.

Requirements

• Based in the US or EMEA.
• 12 to 15+ years of experience in operational, enterprise, or technology risk within financial services, banking, or fintech.
• 5+ years of senior leadership experience managing global risk and control teams in a second-line (2LoD) environment.
• Proven experience building and scaling end-to-end operational risk frameworks (RCSA, KRI, loss event management).
• Direct experience with third-party risk management and governance of critical outsourcing.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Technology, Engineering, Law, or a related discipline.

Nice to have

• Experience in cloud-native, API-first fintechs, neobanks, or technology-led financial institutions.
• Strong technical fluency in cloud infrastructure and software development lifecycles (SDLC).
• Experience overseeing fraud risk governance in digital payments (account takeover, merchant fraud).
• Track record of modernizing controls through automation, analytics, or GRC tooling.
• Advanced degree or certifications such as CRISC, CISA, CAMS, CFE, or BCI.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to work at a high-growth company valued at $8 billion with backing from world-leading investors.
• Culture of ownership and "founder-like energy" focused on real impact and accelerated learning.
• Environment that encourages using AI to work smarter and solve complex problems faster.
• Highly collaborative global team spanning 26 offices worldwide.