Global Lead, Commercial Risk Strategy (Fintech)

TL;DR

Global Lead, Commercial Risk Strategy (Fintech): Building and leading the first-line commercial risk function to ensure sustainable revenue growth with an accent on supportability frameworks and pre-deal risk assessment. Focus on designing risk guardrails, executing continuous portfolio monitoring, and aligning commercial incentives with the overall risk appetite.

Location: Must be based in Singapore or San Francisco

Company

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

What you will do

• Define and lead the 1st line commercial risk strategy and supportability frameworks globally.
• Provide structured guidance for complex or high-risk merchant use cases to unlock new revenue streams.
• Translate 2nd line risk appetite and policies into actionable commercial playbooks for daily operations.
• Partner with enablement teams to design risk training and tools for front-office staff.
• Design and execute a continuous portfolio monitoring framework to track risk metrics and mitigate emerging threats.
• Lead structured post-mortems on commercial-induced incidents and enforce remediation actions.

Requirements

• 10–12 years of risk management experience within financial services, specifically in 1st line or business-aligned roles.
• Deep expertise in at least two areas: credit/portfolio risk, payments/merchant risk, operational/conduct risk, or enterprise risk.
• Proven track record of implementing risk frameworks within a Three Lines of Defense (3LoD) model.
• Strong analytical data literacy to define KPIs and interrogate dashboards.
• Exceptional communication skills to navigate risk vs. revenue discussions with senior stakeholders.
• Must be based in Singapore or San Francisco.

Nice to have

• Experience in high-growth, product-led fintech environments (payments, issuing, FX, or modern banking).
• Familiarity with global regulatory frameworks including KYC/AML, sanctions, and card network rules.
• Experience designing portfolio early-warning indicators, concentration limits, and stress testing.

Culture & Benefits

• Environment for successful builders with founder-like energy, offering real impact and true ownership.
• Culture of first-principles thinking, speed, and rigor in decision-making.
• Collaborative and humble team focused on turning zero-to-one ideas into real products.
• Opportunity to solve complex, high-visibility problems within a global banking scale.