Head of Risk (Acquiring)

Role Overview

We are looking for a Head of Risk to build and lead the Risk function of our growing card acquiring business. This is a hands-on leadership role with ownership of merchant risk, fraud risk, card scheme compliance, and enterprise-wide risk management. You will be responsible for developing the company’s risk framework from the ground up, setting risk appetite and controls, overseeing the full e-commerce merchant risk lifecycle, and ensuring compliance with Visa and Mastercard requirements. As an early member of the leadership team, you will work closely with senior management, Compliance/AML, Operations, Product, and Engineering and play a key role in preparing the business for launch and future growth.

About the Client

Our client is an international fintech company specializing in electronic money and neobank services. They cater to a diverse clientele across various regions, offering comprehensive financial solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and lead the Risk function, developing risk policies, procedures, controls, risk appetite, and monitoring frameworks as the company launches and scales.
• Own the end-to-end merchant risk lifecycle for the card acquiring business, including underwriting, onboarding, risk classification, ongoing monitoring, and offboarding.
• Define merchant risk ratings, transaction limits, reserves, and settlement conditions, including frameworks for higher-risk merchants.
• Ensure compliance with Visa and Mastercard scheme requirements, including MCC rules, VAMP, ECP/EFM, MATCH, VMSS, and related remediation processes.
• Oversee merchant fraud, chargebacks, and transaction risk, identify emerging risk patterns and make decisions on mitigation, restrictions, holds, or merchant termination.
• Own the company’s enterprise-wide risk management framework, including EWRA, risk register, control mapping, KRIs, and regular risk reporting.
• Work closely with AML/Compliance, Operations, Product, and Engineering to ensure financial crime and operational risks are appropriately identified, escalated, and controlled.

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in risk, merchant underwriting, merchant onboarding, fraud, or payments risk within a card acquirer, Payment Institution, or EMI.
• At least 1+ year of direct hands-on experience in card acquiring, with a strong understanding of the merchant risk lifecycle.
• Strong practical knowledge of Visa and Mastercard scheme rules, MCC classifications, merchant underwriting, fraud, and chargeback monitoring.
• Hands-on experience with card scheme risk programmes and controls, including VAMP, ECP, EFM, MATCH, VMSS, and related remediation processes.
• Experience with e-commerce merchant risk, including high-risk merchants.
• Strong understanding of AML/CTF and financial crime risks.
• Languages: English C1 required; Russian C1 preferred.

Key Soft Skills

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify patterns and anomalies in transaction data.
• Good attention to detail and clear documentation skills.
• Comfort in working independently and making decisions.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with different teams.
• Strong communication skills for reporting and escalation.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary aligned with experience.
• Collaborative and transparent team culture.
• High-impact role in a scaling fintech company.
• Recognition of personal milestones and achievements.
• Social benefits.