Global Lead of Risk Assurance

What you’ll do

• As Global Lead of Risk Assurance, you will build and lead Airwallex’s global second line risk assurance capability across the US and EMEA. This is a Senior Director role for someone who can combine the rigor of an elite auditor with the technical fluency needed to validate controls in a high-velocity fintech environment. You will act as Airwallex’s independent validator, ensuring that the controls the firm describes in policies, frameworks, and regulatory commitments are operating effectively in real systems, products, and workflows. You will work closely with Risk, Product, Engineering, Operations, Regulatory Compliance, Financial Crime Compliance, Treasury, and Legal to create a scalable assurance engine that strengthens decision-making, supports remediation, and stands up to regulatory and partner scrutiny. This role is based in the US or EMEA.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead Airwallex’s Global Risk Monitoring & Testing Programme, including the methodology, annual plan, testing universe, reporting standards, and evidence requirements for independent second line assurance across the business.

• Design a risk-based assurance framework that determines how, when, and why key controls are independently validated across financial risk, operational and technology risk, and non-financial crime regulatory obligations.

• Drive the evolution from point-in-time manual testing to continuous, data-enabled control validation using system logs, automated data extracts, dashboards, and internal risk tooling, in line with market expectations for modern fintech monitoring and testing leadership roles.

• Ensure assurance coverage keeps pace with business change, including new products, new markets, new entities, infrastructure changes, and new payment or banking partner arrangements.

• Oversee independent testing of complex financial risk controls, including areas such as FX, liquidity, capital, treasury, model governance, underwriting, and limit management where relevant to the business and control environment.

• Direct deep-dive testing of operational and product controls across technology and business processes, including platform resiliency, incident governance, cloud and data controls, third-party dependencies, automated decisioning, and critical operational workflows.

• Lead testing of non-FCC regulatory and partner-related obligations, including consumer protection, licensing commitments, conduct expectations, and other controls that must be demonstrably embedded in day-to-day operations.

• Establish clear standards for finding articulation, severity calibration, root cause analysis, and evidence quality so that control deficiencies are documented credibly and translated into actionable remediation plans.

• Partner with Enterprise Risk and first line leaders across Product, Engineering, and Operations to escalate material control gaps, enforce remediation accountability, and provide independent challenge when issues are not being resolved at the required pace or standard.

• Produce thematic reporting and trend analysis for senior leadership that surfaces systemic weaknesses, recurring failures, and areas where control maturity is not keeping pace with business growth.

• Build and maintain a regulator-ready and audit-ready repository of methodologies, testing records, workpapers, evidence, and closure rationale that can withstand scrutiny from Internal Audit, regulators, and financial partners. Internal discussions at Airwallex have also highlighted the need for stronger independent validation and sustainable testing program design beyond Internal Audit-owned issues.

• Serve as a senior lead during regulatory examinations, partner bank reviews, and other external assurance exercises by coordinating responses, presenting methodology and evidence, and defending the integrity of the control environment. Airwallex’s operating model involves direct engagement with regulators across many markets, and similar roles in market commonly include end-to-end exam management and central workpaper ownership.

• Build and lead a high-performing global team of assurance professionals with the ability to operate across disciplines and partner effectively with senior stakeholders in a fast-moving, high-ownership environment.

• Who you are

• We’re looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory.

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Information Systems, Computer Science, or another relevant quantitative discipline.
• 12 to 15+ years of experience in Internal Audit, Compliance Monitoring, Risk Testing, Risk Assurance, or a related control function within fintech, payments, banking, remittance, or another highly regulated financial services environment.
• 5+ years of experience leading a global or multi-jurisdiction assurance, testing, monitoring, or control validation function at a senior level.
• Strong command of second or third line control testing methodologies, including risk-based planning, sampling, design and operating effectiveness assessment, issue writing, and remediation validation. Comparable fintech monitoring roles also emphasize sampling strategies and root cause analysis as core capabilities.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing assurance activity across multiple risk domains, including financial risk, operational risk, technology risk, and regulatory compliance obligations.
• Experience translating testing outcomes into clear, decision-useful reporting for senior executives, governance forums, regulators, auditors, or financial partners.
• Direct experience acting as a senior interface for regulatory exams, external audits, Internal Audit reviews, or partner bank assurance exercises in high-stakes environments.
• Strong executive presence, sound judgment, and the ability to challenge senior stakeholders constructively and independently.
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced environment with high standards, evolving priorities, and significant cross-functional collaboration, which is consistent with Airwallex’s broader job description guidance and company operating environment.

Preferred qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Enterprise Risk Management, Technology Risk, Business Administration, or another relevant field.
• Professional cer