Head of Risk

The role

You will lead the risk function as a member of the leadership team reporting to the CEO. You will build and manage the enterprise risk framework, DORA compliance, licensing, and operational resilience.

What you will do

• Manage enterprise risk framework including taxonomy, appetite, and three-lines-of-defence model
• Provide regular risk dashboards for the CEO, leadership, and board
• Manage DORA ICT risk, incident classification, and third-party ICT risk
• Handle licensing for new e-money authorisations including operational risk and capital adequacy
• Manage B2B partner and counterparty risk including onboarding and monitoring
• Manage financial and market risk regarding crypto price exposure and liquidity
• Oversee operational resilience, business continuity, and disaster recovery
• Define fraud risk appetite across channels, products, and geographies
• Perform risk assessment and launch gating for new products and markets
• Run the risk committee and build risk ownership across business units

Required qualifications

• 8-10+ years in financial services or fintech risk
• At least 3–4 years at a senior risk leadership level
• Direct experience in a regulated fintech, payment institution, EMI, PSP, or crypto business
• Hands-on experience with at least one of: DORA ICT risk, MiCA (CASP) risk requirements, or PSD2 payment institution operational and security risk
• Track record of owning risk outcomes
• Ability to give a clear risk position and recommendation under incomplete information
• Ability to communicate risk in business language
• Fluent professional English
• Russian language

Nice to have

• Previous Head of Risk / CRO role at a regulated fintech, EMI, PSP or crypto company
• Experience building a risk function from scratch in a scaling business
• Experience with crypto custody risk, MiCA capital requirements, or Travel Rule implementation
• Third-party / vendor risk management at scale
• Experience chairing a risk committee or reporting to a board
• FRM, PRM, or a comparable qualification

Benefits

• A seat on the leadership team and direct access to the founders
• Real ownership
• Remote-first setup
• Long-term B2B contract with performance- and OKR-linked bonus
• 20 paid working days off per year
• Paid sick leave
• Health insurance
• Professional development budget
• Team events

About the company

The client is an established, profitable fintech operating at the intersection of crypto and traditional payments. The company is authorised under MiCA and PSD2 in the EU.