Head of Risk

About Airwallex Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 676,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own. We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full. About the team The Global Risk team at Airwallex plays a critical role in enabling the company’s growth by building a strong, scalable, and globally consistent approach to risk management. The team works across the business to define risk appetite, develop frameworks and policies, support strategic decision-making, and provide oversight of key risks as Airwallex expands across products, markets, and regulatory environments. You’ll be part of a highly collaborative group that partners closely with Product, Engineering, Operations, Commercial, Financial Crime Compliance, Regulatory Compliance, and Legal teams to help Airwallex grow responsibly and with confidence. This is a team where you’ll tackle complex, high-impact challenges, shape how risk is managed at a global fintech, and help build the foundations for long-term scale. What you'll do As Head of Risk, you will lead and scale Airwallex’s global second line risk management function across our worldwide operations. This is a senior leadership role for someone who can turn risk management into a business enabler by building robust frameworks, clear governance, effective monitoring, and a strong risk culture across a fast-growing fintech. You will work closely with the Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer and senior executives across the company to shape Airwallex’s risk strategy, strengthen enterprise oversight, and ensure our products, markets, and entities operate within approved risk appetite and tolerance levels. This role is based in UK/Netherlands. Responsibilities: Develop and lead Airwallex’s global risk management function and framework, spanning risk monitoring, detection, policy development, governance, escalation, and assurance activities across the Group’s worldwide operations. Create and execute risk strategies, guidelines, performance metrics, and monitoring mechanisms that identify and mitigate vulnerabilities across Airwallex’s existing and future products, while keeping risk management aligned to business priorities and approved risk appetite. Partner closely with Risk Product, Risk Operations, Engineering, Product, Data Science, Commercial, Operations, Compliance, and other stakeholders to manage risk at the product, portfolio, market, merchant, and entity levels. Communicate Airwallex’s risk appetite clearly and effectively across the company, helping teams make sound decisions and strengthening consistent adoption of risk standards and accountability. Collaborate with business, operations, technology, and product leaders to deliver measurable business outcomes while minimising exposure to financial crime, fraud, counterparty, liability, and broader enterprise risks. Monitor, enhance, and embed the Risk Management Framework so that all global entities operate within acceptable risk tolerance levels and in line with Airwallex’s governance expectations. Work closely with the Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer, the CEO, and other senior executives on risk, control, governance, and strategic decisi