Head of Risk & Fraud

Role overview

This is a senior leadership opportunity for an experienced risk and fraud professional in Australia. The role is focused on protecting trust across a large digital marketplace with millions of active users, while still supporting business growth.

You will be accountable for setting and executing the full fraud and risk strategy, with responsibility for reducing financial and behavioral abuse without slowing down the customer experience. The position combines data, product, operations, and compliance, and requires confident judgment along with clear ownership of fraud-related business outcomes.

You will lead a specialist team covering real-time fraud controls as well as longer-term risk planning, including model development and partner oversight. Your work will have a direct effect on major business measures such as chargeback rates, approval rates, and fraud-related 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.

Key accountabilities

• Take ownership of the full fraud and risk P&L, including chargeback, payout, approval, and false-positive performance across the business.
• Set and deliver the global fraud and risk strategy in line with growth goals, product expansion, and marketplace trust.
• Lead and grow the Risk & Fraud team, developing strong second-line leadership and a high-performing, analytics-led culture.
• Build and roll out the fraud prevention roadmap, covering make-versus-buy choices, systems enhancements, and the evolution of detection models.
• Own key external fraud-prevention partnerships, including service levels, vendor selection processes, testing approaches, and commercial negotiations.
• Work as the main cross-functional contact for Product, Engineering, Finance, and Legal so risk is considered in new features and major initiatives from day one.
• Manage regulatory and compliance responsibilities linked to KYC, PSP requirements, 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 discussions.

Experience and requirements

• At least 8 years of experience in fraud, risk management, financial crime, or a closely related area within high-growth digital businesses.
• Proven people leadership experience, including building or managing teams with full responsibility for risk outcomes.
• A track record of lowering fraud, chargebacks, or losses through structured, data-based interventions.
• Strong commercial judgment with experience handling vendors, negotiating SLAs, and managing outside partnerships.
• A highly analytical approach with the ability to read dashboards, identify root causes, and act independently; SQL or Databricks experience is an advantage.
• Background in marketplaces, fintech, payments, e-commerce, or gaming environments with high transaction volumes and meaningful fraud exposure.
• Strong understanding of fraud patterns such as account takeover, promo abuse, and reseller fraud.
• Good working knowledge of compliance frameworks, including KYC, PSP regulations, and risk governance standards.
• Excellent English communication skills and the ability to influence senior stakeholders and lead cross-functional conversations.
• Leadership style centered on coaching, team growth, and building scalable organizational structures.

Benefits

• Employee stock option program.
• Performance-linked bonuses and referral rewards.
• Extra paid leave options.
• Dedicated learning and development budget.
• Paid volunteering opportunities.
• Flexible work arrangement, with remote, office, or hybrid options and travel opportunities.
• Strong career growth in a fast-expanding global marketplace setting.
• Structured feedback and promotion processes to support rapid professional development.

Application and hiring process

This role is published on behalf of a partner company, which handles all applications and the next stages of the process. The hiring company’s internal team manages interviews and assessments after shortlist selection.

Privacy and recruitment notice

Applications are reviewed through an AI-supported matching process designed to assess candidates quickly, consistently, and fairly against the role’s core criteria. The shortlist is then shared with the hiring employer.

By applying, you consent to the processing of your personal data for candidate evaluation and sharing relevant information with the employer, based on legitimate interest and pre-contractual measures under applicable data protection laws, including GDPR. You may request access, correction, deletion, or objection to processing at any time.

AI tools may be used to support parts of the recruitment workflow, such as screening applications, reviewing resumes, analyzing responses, or flagging possible inconsistencies or verification signals. These tools assist the recruitment team and do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are made by people.