Operations Risk Lead

Summary

Join Affirm's Operations team as a strategic and action-oriented Operations Risk Lead to strengthen our risk management foundation. You will partner with various teams, owning incident and issue management and building risk frameworks. Champion the customer, merchant, and agent experience while navigating regulatory and operational complexity. Manage urgent incidents, evaluate control gaps, and influence partners to prioritize fixes. Bring clarity, calm, and a solutions mindset to this role, thriving in ambiguity and excelling at cross-functional influence. This position requires a passion for operational rigor.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Risk Management, Business, Finance, or a related field
• 5–7+ years of experience in operational or technical risk management, ideally within financial services or highly regulated industries
• Deep familiarity with risk and controls frameworks, issue management lifecycle, and cross-functional risk mitigation
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, high-stakes projects across technical and non-technical teams
• Strong written and verbal communication, analytical thinking, and stakeholder engagement
• Experience navigating regulatory requirements and supporting compliance readiness
• Flexibility to support incident response and critical operations outside of standard business hours, including on-call rotations during peak periods

Responsibilities

• Lead incident and issue management processes, ensuring rapid triage, root cause analysis, customer harm mitigation, and timely cross-functional remediation
• Represent Operations in incidents of varying severity, offering both immediate response coordination and long-term control design recommendations
• Build and maintain a scalable risk framework that prioritizes high-risk areas and drives control improvements in partnership with Product, Engineering, Legal, Compliance, and other teams
• Collaborate with Legal and Compliance to support regulatory reporting and ensure all incidents meet applicable requirements
• Establish and run control testing and risk assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of operational and technical controls
• Develop tools and strategies to improve risk visibility, data normalization, and process automation
• Provide concise risk reporting and status updates to senior leadership
• Assess risk in technical systems, third-party vendors, and internal processes; define mitigation strategies and ensure timely execution
• Foster a risk-aware culture and serve as a subject matter expert on operational and technical risk across the organization
• Partner with your Manager and team members to support team morale, development, and shared purpose through active coaching and engagement
• Lead and contribute to risk-related initiatives across cross-functional programs, audits, and regulatory reviews

Preferred Qualifications

• Certifications in risk management (CRMA, CIA, or equivalent)
• Experience in the servicing space (e.g., customer support, fraud ops, dispute resolution)

Benefits

• Health care coverage - Affirm covers all premiums for all levels of coverage for you and your dependents
• Flexible Spending Wallets - generous stipends for spending on Technology, Food, various Lifestyle needs, and family forming expenses
• Time off - competitive vacation and holiday schedules allowing you to take time off to rest and recharge
• ESPP - An employee stock purchase plan enabling you to buy shares of Affirm at a discount