Risk & Fraud Prevention Team Lead

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Risk & Fraud Team Lead to lead and manage all aspects of Anti-fraud with a strong focus on non-card-not-present fraud scenarios, chargeback prevention, scheme monitoring (e.g. Visa VAMP), and proactive risk control for a fast-growing global Payment Orchestrator. You will play a key role in building and sustaining a high-performing, engaged, and motivated workforce that drives our mission to deliver exceptional One-Off and Subscription-based payment solutions through credit/debit card processing, eWallets, and Alternative Payment Methods (APMs).

This position requires a strategic thinker with strong interpersonal skills who can ensure that Anti-Fraud processes align with the company’s global operations and growth objectives.

Revup is a fintech leader in payment orchestration, providing businesses with seamless access to global payment solutions for over four years. Specializing in revenue optimization, we offer card processing and alternative payment methods enhanced by smart routing, fraud prevention, and an intuitive dashboard. Backed by a team of payment and fraud experts, our all-in-one platform is designed to maximize revenue, reduce costs, and improve the payment experience—all through a single API integration.

Your Mission

Team Leadership & Strategy

• Define and execute the company’s risk strategy, including the risk appetite by threat type  and business vertical.
• Define and implement the global chargebacks & fraud prevention strategy in alignment with the company’s risk appetite.
• Establish and track team KPIs, ensuring fraud prevention goals are aligned with overall business objectives.
• Monitor emerging fraud patterns, evolving threats, and high-risk segments by market, payment method, or merchant vertical.
• Lead, train, and mentor the fraud prevention team, ensuring high performance and continuous development.
• Ownership of chargeback monitoring programs, including Visa VAMP, Mastercard Excessive Chargeback Program, and early-warning thresholds.
• Define risk tolerance and escalation paths specifically for subscription merchants and recurring billing models.

Fraud Tools & Systems

• Manage and optimize fraud prevention platforms, including rule engines, ML models, scoring, and dynamic blacklists/whitelists.
• Lead fraud prevention operations using Sift as the primary fraud detection platform, including rule tuning, alert management, and performance optimization.
• Optimize alert-based prevention flows focused on dispute reduction rather than pure fraud blocking.
• Oversee integrations with third-party fraud & chargebacks prevention providers such as Sift, ChargebackHit, etc.
• Evaluate, prioritize, and lead the implementation of proactive chargeback prevention solutions (e.g., Ethoca, Verifi, RDR, CE 3.0) in collaboration with technical and platform teams. Define activation logic and monitor effectiveness in reducing disputes and fraud-related losses.
• Stay up to date with the latest chargebacks & fraud trends (i.e. VAMP)  prevention technologies, and analytical tools to proactively identify unusual patterns and attack vectors.
• Conduct deep-dive analyses on rule performance and emerging fraud tactics to continuously improve decision-making.

Fraud Detection & Prevention

• Oversee real-time transaction monitoring and risk scoring systems to detect and prevent fraudulent activity.
• Investigate suspicious patterns, identify fraud schemes, and design mitigation workflows accordingly.
• Coordinate manual review teams (if applicable), defining investigation guidelines and ensuring efficient alert resolution.
• Design prevention workflows that balance approval rate, false positives, and scheme ratio compliance.
• Lead alert-driven decisioning processes primarily aimed at chargeback and dispute avoidance.

Product Ownership & Improvements

• Collaborate with Product and Tech teams by providing fraud-related insights and operational feedback to help shape improvements to the orchestrator’s fraud module.
• Identify needs for new functionalities, logic flows, or third-party integrations based on field experience and internal use cases.
• Recommend and support the implementation of tools or technologies that enhance fraud detection and response capabilities.
• Provide product feedback based on real-world usage of fraud tools, chargeback alerts, and scheme monitoring requirements.

Fraud KPIs & Analytics

• Continuous monitoring of risk indicators and reporting to global management for all merchants.
• Monitor and report on scheme-specific risk programs (e.g. Visa VAMP) and proactive remediation plans.
• Distinguish between fraud-related chargebacks and non-fraud disputes in reporting.
• Build and maintain executive-level dashboards and risk & fraud reporting for senior management and board-level stakeholders.
• Use data analytics to support strategic decisions and optimize fraud prevention efforts.
• Track key fraud metrics such as fraud rate, false positives, approval rate, and fraud-related chargebacks across all sources and segments.
• Produce & provide comprehensive reports on Risk assessment for all merchants and incident responses.

Policy & Compliance Knowledge

• Lead and own merchant risk assessments for new onboardings, including business model review, payment flow analysis, and fraud risk exposure.

• Coordinate and perform basic KYC checks aligned with payment orchestration requirements (not full AML ownership).

• Define acceptance criteria and ongoing monitoring standards for the merchant risk portfolio.

• Maintain and continuously improve fraud detection policies, thresholds, and rule logic.

• Ensure compliance with all relevant card scheme rules (e.g., Visa, Mastercard), industry standards (e.g., PCI DSS), and regulatory requirements (e.g., PSD2, GDPR) related to card payments.

• Stay up-to-date on changes in regulations and scheme rules, assessing their impact and implementing necessary adjustments to policies and procedures.

• Drive automation and efficiency in fraud detection workflows while maintaining high accuracy.

• Conduct Risk Assessments for potential new merchants according to the defined standards to lead and maintain the risk portfolio at appropriate levels.

Collaboration & Communication

• Foster a strong fraud prevention culture through internal training, cross-functional documentation, and stakeholder engagement.
• Serve as a key liaison with external vendors, fraud solution providers, payment partners, and internal teams (Risk, Product, Compliance, etc.).

Experience & Education

• Experience: +5 years in fraud prevention or risk management, preferably in fintech, payments, or e-commerce, with at least 1–2 years in a leadership or team lead role.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Risk Management, Business, Finance, or a related field. Advanced degrees or certifications (e.g., CFE, CFCS) are a plus.

Skills & Competencies

• Deep understanding of fraud & chargeback patterns in online payments, including subscription billing and smart routing environments.
• Familiarity with payment methods such as credit/debit cards, APMs, and eWallets.
• Proficiency in fraud detection systems and data analysis tools.
• Strong leadership, communication, and conflict resolution skills.
• Analytical and detail-oriented, with a proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Fluent in English (additional languages are a plus).

Tools & Technology

• Experience with fraud detection tools (e.g., Sift, Riskified, Kount, or in-house systems).

• Comfortable working with data (SQL, Excel, or BI tools like Looker, Tableau or QlikSense).

• Familiarity with ticketing systems and fraud case management platforms.

• Competitive salary and bonus structure.

• The opportunity to build and lead a high-impact team in a fast-growing fintech company.

• Exposure to cutting-edge technology in the global payments space.

• Professional development opportunities and access to fraud and compliance training resources.

• A collaborative, inclusive, and mission-driven work environment.

• Availability to work Full Remote if desired