Head of Risk - Digital Assets

Head of Risk - Global Payments & Digital Assets | Remote Europe. Global Fintech Talent is supporting a privately owned, international fintech in the appointment of a Head of Risk . The company operates at the intersection of payments, digital assets and regulated financial infrastructure. It has approximately 200 employees , serves more than 8 million users globally and has processed several billion euros in transaction volume. Its platform includes consumer payment and digital-asset services alongside a rapidly growing B2B infrastructure business supporting regulated financial institutions, payment providers, digital-asset platforms and other international businesses. This is a senior leadership appointment with a direct reporting line to the CEO and a seat within the company’s leadership team. The Opportunity: The company is entering its next stage of growth and regulatory maturity. As its B2B platform expands and its product and regulatory footprint becomes more complex, it is creating a permanent, dedicated risk leadership function. The Head of Risk will take ownership of the enterprise-wide risk framework and ensure that material risks are identified, quantified and escalated before they become business issues. This is not a role for someone who only reviews policies or produces risk documentation. The successful candidate will be expected to make clear recommendations, challenge commercial decisions when necessary and help the business move forward safely. The position will initially operate as an individual contributor, working closely with senior leaders across Compliance, Finance, Technology, Security, Product and Commercial. As the function matures, there will be an opportunity to build the risk organisation around the needs of the business. Essential Experience This is a senior, hands-on risk leadership role. Please apply only if you can demonstrate: Approximately 8–10 years of risk management experience within financial services, including at least 3–4 years in a senior risk leadership role. Direct experience within a regulated EMI, PI, CASP/VASP, digital bank, payments business or equivalent regulated financial institution. Experience exclusively within traditional banking is not sufficient. Personal ownership of building and implementing an Enterprise Risk Management framework, including risk taxonomy, risk appetite, measurable tolerances, KRIs, RCSA and escalation processes. Hands-on ownership of financial and prudential risk, including areas such as safeguarding, own funds/capital adequacy, liquidity, treasury, counterparty or settlement risk. Experience setting risk limits, defining escalation thresholds and assessing the effectiveness of key controls. Practical experience with scenario analysis and/or stress testing and translating the results into management actions. Direct involvement in regulatory licensing or authorisation work, including preparation of risk documentation, defining regulatory scope and engagement with regulators. Strong practical knowledge of MiCA, PSD2/EMD2, DORA or equivalent regulated financial-services requirements. Responsibility for fraud strategy, fraud risk appetite or measurable fraud-loss outcomes. The ability to operate independently in a lean environment and make clear risk decisions without relying on a large supporting team. Candidates whose experience is limited to traditional banking, compliance, advisory work or operational risk without direct ownership of broader financial and prudential risk are unlikely to be suitable. Key Responsibilities: Enterprise Risk Management Own and further develop the company’s enterprise risk management framework. Maintain the risk taxonomy, risk appetite statement, tolerance thresholds, risk register and escalation framework. Establish a structured risk-reporting cycle for the CEO, leadership team and relevant governance bodies. Translate complex risk exposures into clear business decisions and measurable recommendations. Clarify responsibilities across the first, second and third lines of defence. Operational Resilience and Technology Risk : Lead the risk work associated with DORA , PSD2 operational resilience and other applicable regulatory frameworks. Oversee ICT, cybersecurity, operational and third-party risk from a second-line perspective. Develop effective vendor-risk, concentration-risk and business-continuity frameworks. Work closely with Technology and Security leadership on resilience testing, incident management and recovery planning. Ensure critical products and services have appropriate impact tolerances and escalation processes. Financial, Liquidity and Counterparty Risk : Own the risk framework for safeguarding, own funds/capital adequacy, liquidity, treasury, settlement and counterparty exposures. Establish and monitor measurable risk limits, tolerances and escalation thresholds across relevant financial-risk areas. Develop and maintain scenario-analysis and stress-testing approaches and translate results into clear management actions. Oversee banking-partner, liquidity-provider, payment-partner and B2B counterparty exposures. Ensure financial-risk controls are effective, evidenced and appropriate for regulatory scrutiny. Support licensing and supervisory work by preparing and defending the financial- and prudential-risk framework with relevant regulators. Fraud Risk : Own the company-wide fraud risk framework across both consumer and B2B products. Define acceptable fraud-loss thresholds by product, channel, market and customer segment. Bring together risk ownership across fraud prevention, trust and safety, security and compliance. Work with Product, Data and Engineering teams to improve automated fraud controls and decisioning. Ensure fraud strategy is commercially realistic while protecting customers, partners and the company. B2B Partner and Product Risk : Build a consistent framework for assessing and monitoring B2B clients and strategic partners. Define which industries, geographies and business models sit within the company’s risk appetite. Provide timely and commercially credible risk sign-off on material partnerships. Introduce risk-based approval thresholds and escalation routes. Embed risk assessments earlier within product development and market expansion decisions. Governance and Risk Culture : Establish effective risk governance and committee structures without creating unnecessary bureaucracy. Build stronger risk ownership across the wider organisation. Present material risks clearly to senior leadership and relevant external stakeholders. Support regulatory examinations and risk-related information requests. Develop a culture in which risk enables informed growth rather than simply slowing decisions down. Your Background: We are looking for a senior risk professional with: Approximately 8–10 years of risk management experience within financial services, payments or fintech. At least 3–4 years in a senior risk leadership position , such as Head of Risk, Risk Director, VP Risk or an equivalent role. Direct experience within a regulated fintech, payment institution, EMI, PSP, acquiring business, digital bank or digital-asset company. Previous ownership of an enterprise risk framework within a regulated environment. Strong practical knowledge of operational, financial, counterparty and third-party risk. Experience setting fraud strategy or fraud risk appetite and taking accountability for measurable fraud outcomes. Exposure to at least one of DORA, PSD2, MiCA or the UK operational-resilience framework . The ability to communicate effectively with CEOs, boards, regulators and senior commercial stakeholders. Fluent professional English. Experience within a MiCA-regulated or otherwise authorised CASP/VASP is highly valuable. Candidates from regulated EMI, PI or digital-bank environments will also be considered where they can demonstrate strong hands-on prudential and financial-risk ownership. A formal risk qualification such as FRM, PRM or CFA may be helpful but is not required. Demonstrable ownership and sound judgment are more important than qualifications alone. The ideal profile: The environment is entrepreneurial, international and owner-led. The successful candidate will therefore need to be: Commercially minded: able to protect the company without treating Risk as a veto function. Decisive: comfortable giving a clear recommendation when information is incomplete. Hands-on: willing to build frameworks, investigate issues and work directly with operational teams. Proactive: capable of identifying and escalating risks before they are raised by the CEO. Credible under pressure: confident enough to maintain an evidence-based position when challenged. Pragmatic: able to create appropriate governance without introducing unnecessary layers. A strong communicator: capable of translating technical risk topics into financial and commercial consequences. What will success look like: During the first six months, the Head of Risk will be expected to: Complete a structured handover of the existing risk framework and priorities. Establish regular, decision-oriented risk reporting for the CEO and leadership team. Take ownership of the company’s key operational-resilience and regulatory risk workstreams. Assess the current fraud landscape and introduce a unified fraud risk appetite. Improve the speed and consistency of B2B partner-risk decisions. Clarify ownership across Risk, Compliance, Finance, Security, Technology and Product. Over time, the successful candidate will build a mature but commercially effective risk function that supports the company’s continued international expansion. Location and working model: This is a remote position for candidates based within a practical European time zone. Periodic travel to the company’s European headquarters and other business locations will be required. The role is expected to be structured through a B2B engagement. Apply: This search is being managed confidentially by Global Fintech Talent. To be considered, please apply with an up-to-date CV outlining your experience in enterprise risk, payments or fintech, fraud risk, operational resilience and regulated financial services.