Company Description:
Trust Payments is an MFSA-regulated in Malta; and an FCA-regulated company in the UK. We provide a range of payments and commerce solutions, with market-leading technology and data insights.
We offer innovative payment methods and cutting-edge technologies, with a truly global presence. Our global offices cater to the most demanding business sectors, including retail, travel, hospitality, forex, and financial services.
Driving value for our clients and demonstrating genuine care for their success, is a core value of ours. We also believe in striving to build a better, more sustainable tomorrow and believe in conducting our business ethically, driving social and environmental change.
We have a passionate, collaborative, and diverse culture that recognizes that every employee contributes to our business success.
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Trust Payments has an exciting opportunity for a
Group Chief Risk Officer to join their team.
Location: Hybrid, Bromley/ Bournemouth
Salary: Competitive + Benefits
How will you make an impact in this role?
The Role:
The Chief Risk Officer (CRO) is a senior executive accountable for defining, implementing and overseeing the company's risk management framework across its gateway and acquiring businesses. Operating across UK and European markets, the CRO is responsible for the end-to-end risk lifecycle — from credit underwriting and fraud strategy through to operational resilience — ensuring that risk appetite is properly calibrated to support commercial growth whilst protecting the company, its merchant partners, and the payment ecosystem from financial loss.
The role does not carry responsibility for regulatory compliance or financial crime/AML, which sit within a separate function.
What We Expect of You, Day To Day:
1. Risk Strategy & Governance
- Define and be responsible for the company's overall risk appetite framework, translating Board-level tolerance statements into measurable limits, thresholds and escalation triggers across credit, fraud and operational risk.
- Develop and maintain a comprehensive risk management framework aligned with card scheme rules and mandates (Visa, Mastercard), PSP industry standards, and the commercial objectives of the business.
- Chair the Group Risk Committee, setting the agenda, facilitating decision-making, and ensuring that risk matters are escalated appropriately to the Board Risk Committee and ExCo.
- Prepare and present risk reporting to the Board Risk Committee, ExCo and relevant management committees, including monthly risk dashboards, exception reports and forward-looking assessments.
- Lead the development and periodic review of risk policies, procedures and risk appetite statements, ensuring they remain fit for purpose as the business evolves.
- Act as the primary risk escalation point for material risk events, collaborating with legal, finance and operations as appropriate.
- Contribute to strategic planning processes, providing risk perspective on new products, geographies, distribution channels and merchant segments.
2. Credit Risk & Underwriting
- Lead and maintain the company's credit risk appetite, defining acceptable merchant risk profiles across all sectors, geographies and business models served by the acquiring and gateway businesses.
- Design, implement and continuously improve underwriting policies and procedures for new merchant onboarding, covering financial due diligence, business model assessment, chargeback risk scoring, and reserve/rolling reserve requirements.
- Oversee the credit decision-making process for higher-risk or out-of-appetite applications, including participation in credit committees and sign-off on exceptions.
- Manage portfolio credit risk on an ongoing basis, including periodic merchant reviews, limit management, early warning indicator monitoring, and exposure concentration analysis.
- Oversee the management of merchant liabilities, including the sizing and release of security deposits, deferred settlement arrangements, and the recovery of chargeback losses.
- Develop stress-testing and scenario analysis capabilities for credit risk, including assessment of tail-risk events such as large merchant failures or sector-wide distress.
- Work closely with Sales, Onboarding and Account Management to ensure risk appetite is understood commercially and that risk decisions are communicated clearly and consistently.
3. Fraud Risk Management
- Be responsible for the fraud risk strategy across the acquiring and gateway portfolios, covering card-present, card-not-present, account takeover, refund abuse, and emerging fraud typologies.
- Set fraud risk appetite and performance thresholds, including targets by merchant segment and channel, with reference to card scheme fraud and dispute monitoring programme requirements.
- Ensure ongoing compliance with card scheme rules and mandates governing fraud management, including Visa's Fraud Monitoring Programme (VFMP), Mastercard's Excessive Fraud Merchant (EFM) programme, and associated dispute monitoring programmes. Lead remediation plans where programme thresholds are at risk of breach or have been breached.
- Oversee the fraud operations team, including transaction monitoring, alert investigation, case management, and liaison with card schemes on dispute and fraud reporting.
- Guide the selection, implementation and optimisation of fraud detection tooling and machine learning models, working with technology and data science partners to improve precision and recall.
- Establish and maintain a fraud intelligence capability, including horizon scanning for new attack vectors, participation in industry bodies and information-sharing networks, and engagement with acquiring bank partners.
- Monitor and manage chargeback ratios at portfolio and merchant level, ensuring compliance with applicable card scheme chargeback monitoring programme thresholds and taking prompt action where remediation is required.
4. Operational Risk
- Define the operational risk framework for the business, covering process failures, system outages, third-party dependencies, data integrity issues, and human error.
- Maintain and oversee the operational risk register, working collaboratively with department heads to identify, assess, mitigate and monitor key operational risks across the business.
- Be responsible for the business continuity and disaster recovery risk oversight function, ensuring risk assessments of BCP/DR arrangements are conducted regularly and that residual risks are within appetite.
- Oversee third-party and vendor risk management, including risk assessments of critical suppliers, payment processors, technology providers and banking partners.
- Establish and maintain a risk event and near-miss reporting culture, including root cause analysis processes and tracking of risk remediation actions.
- Oversee insurance programme management from a risk identification and adequacy perspective.
- Work with IT and product teams to embed risk management into change management and new product development processes.
5. People & Function Leadership
- Lead, support and develop a risk team spanning credit underwriting, fraud operations, and operational risk disciplines.
- Foster a risk-aware culture across the business, providing training, guidance and clear communication of risk standards to commercial and operational teams.
- Establish and maintain clear RACI frameworks for risk ownership and accountability across the organisation.
- Support and develop direct reports, setting clear objectives, providing regular feedback, and encouraging career development.
- Manage the risk function budget effectively and advocate for appropriate resourcing.
Qualifications
Essential Experience & Knowledge
- Significant senior risk management experience within payments, acquiring, card issuing, or a closely adjacent financial services sector.
- Solid technical expertise in merchant acquiring credit risk, including underwriting, portfolio management, chargeback liability, and reserve structures.
- Good working knowledge of card scheme rules and mandates (Visa / Mastercard), including fraud and dispute monitoring programmes, operating regulations, and scheme compliance obligations.
- A track record of designing and implementing risk frameworks, policies and appetite statements in a regulated or scheme-governed environment.
- Experience overseeing fraud operations, including transaction monitoring tooling, investigation workflows, and fraud analytics.
- Demonstrable commercial awareness — able to engage credibly with Sales and Product stakeholders and balance risk management with business growth objectives.
- Experience chairing or contributing to risk governance committees at a senior level.
- Experience managing and developing specialist risk teams.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex risk matters clearly to Board and ExCo audiences.
- Sound analytical capability with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and draw well-reasoned conclusions.
Desirable Experience & Knowledge
- Experience operating in a European acquiring or cross-border payments context, with familiarity with the regulatory and scheme landscape across multiple EU/EEA markets.
- Exposure to open banking, alternative payment methods, or embedded finance risk considerations.
- Experience with risk data infrastructure, model governance, and the use of machine learning in fraud or credit risk decisioning.
- Prior experience as a CRO, Deputy CRO, or equivalent Head of Risk in a payments or fintech business.
Skills & Personal Attributes
- Excellent organisational skills and personal effectiveness.
- Good time management skills and the ability to prioritise competing demands.
- Excellent communication and influencing skills.
- Demonstrable commercial awareness.
- Collaborative and pragmatic, with a focus on balanced risk and commercial outcomes.
- Coaching and mentoring capability.
- Ability to build trust and positive working relationships across many levels, including with the Risk team, wider business and ExCo/Board.
- Evidence of continuous professional development.
Qualifications
- Relevant professional qualifications desirable (e.g. IRM, CFA, ACCA or equivalent).
Additional Information:
Trust Payments is an Equal Opportunities Employer
We are a growing business with an aspiration to create a truly inclusive working environment, where each employee can reach their full potential. We celebrate the differences that exist within our teams. We encourage our people to bring their own opinions and thoughts to work, to be authentic and help us to innovate. We do this by embracing people as individuals, and appreciating that what works for one person, doesn’t work for everyone. We are committed to equal employment opportunity for all, regardless of race, heritage, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or any other protected characteristic.
If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to enable you to apply for a role with us, or wish to provide feedback about the accessibility of this website, please contact the Talent Acquisition Team.
Next Steps:
Ready to revolutionize fintech? If you're excited about this opportunity, we'd love to hear from you!
To submit your resume for this opportunity, please complete the application form and click 'Submit Application' now.
Our Talent Acquisition Team will review your application promptly. We'll contact successful candidates via email and phone to discuss the next steps, including our inclusive interview process.
We offer comprehensive benefits to support our team members and their families' well-being.
Our robust benefits package includes (subject to local office benefits policy):
- Be part of a dynamic, market-leading Fintech experiencing rapid growth
- Flexible work arrangements tailored to role requirements and business needs
- Comprehensive wellness initiatives, including mental health resources supported by internally qualified mental health first aiders
- Extensive leave provisions, encompassing annual, volunteering, and birthday allowances
- Progressive family-oriented policies and benefits, including Maternity, Paternity and Adoption leave
- Robust compensation package, including pension scheme, healthcare plans, and life assurance
- Regular corporate events fostering team cohesion and company culture
- Diverse company culture and global working environment
- Continuous professional development and career advancement opportunities
Offer of employment with Trust Payment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a background verification check, subject to applicable laws and regulations.
