Head of Risk & Fraud

Overview

This is a senior leadership opportunity with a partner company in the United Kingdom. The role is responsible for protecting trust across a large-scale digital marketplace with millions of active users. You will set and run the full fraud and risk strategy, ensuring the business can grow while staying protected from financial misuse and behavioral abuse.

The position brings together data, product, operations, and compliance. It requires strong judgment, full accountability for fraud-related business results, and the ability to influence decisions at the highest level. You will oversee a specialist team handling both immediate fraud defense and longer-term risk planning, including model development and partner management.

Your work will have direct impact on core metrics such as chargeback levels, approval rates, payout rates, false positives, and overall fraud losses across several products. You will partner closely with senior leaders in Product, Engineering, Finance, and Legal to make sure risk considerations are built into new initiatives from the start.

This is a high-impact role for a strategic operator who performs well in fast-moving, data-led environments.

Accountabilities

• Take full ownership of the fraud and risk P&L, including chargeback performance, payout rates, approval rates, and false-positive measures across the business.
• Set and drive the global fraud and risk strategy so it supports growth, product expansion, and marketplace trust.
• Lead, coach, and grow the Risk & Fraud team, creating strong second-line leadership and a high-performance, data-focused culture.
• Build and execute the fraud prevention roadmap, covering buy-versus-build choices, platform improvements, and the evolution of detection models.
• Manage key external fraud-prevention partnerships, including SLAs, RFPs, testing approaches, and commercial discussions.
• Work as the main cross-functional partner to Product, Engineering, Finance, and Legal to embed risk into new features and initiatives from day one.
• Oversee regulatory and compliance requirements tied to KYC, PSP obligations, and law-enforcement requests across multiple markets.
• Act as the final escalation point for complex fraud and risk matters and represent the function in executive and leadership settings.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of experience in fraud, risk management, financial crime, or a closely related area within high-growth digital businesses.
• Demonstrated leadership background, including building or managing strong teams with end-to-end ownership of risk outcomes.
• Proven success in reducing fraud, chargebacks, or losses through structural and data-backed interventions.
• Strong commercial judgment, with experience handling vendors, negotiating SLAs, and owning external relationships.
• A highly analytical approach, with the ability to read dashboards, identify root causes, and act independently; SQL or Databricks exposure is advantageous.
• Background in marketplaces, fintech, payments, e-commerce, or gaming environments with high transaction volume and fraud risk.
• Good understanding of fraud patterns such as account takeover, promo abuse, and reseller fraud.
• Solid knowledge of compliance frameworks, including KYC, PSP regulations, and risk governance standards.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence senior stakeholders and lead cross-functional discussions in English.
• A strong coaching mindset with a focus on team development and building scalable organizational structures.

Benefits

• Employee stock option program.
• Performance-linked bonuses and referral incentives.
• Extra paid leave options.
• Personal learning and development budget.
• Paid volunteering opportunities.
• Flexible work setup, with remote, office, or hybrid options and travel opportunities.
• Strong career growth within a fast-scaling global marketplace environment.
• Structured feedback and promotion processes to support rapid professional development.

Additional Information

This opening is shared by a partner company, and that company will handle all applications and the next steps in the process.

Data Privacy Notice

By applying, you agree that the hiring partner may process your personal data to assess your candidacy and share relevant details with the employer. This is done under legitimate interest and pre-contractual grounds in line with applicable data protection laws, including GDPR. You can request access, correction, deletion, or objection to processing at any time.

Recruitment Technology Notice

Artificial intelligence tools may be used to support parts of the hiring workflow, such as reviewing applications, screening resumes, checking responses, or identifying possible inconsistencies in application materials based on available information. These tools assist the recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are made by people. You can contact the hiring team for more information about how your data is handled.