Head of Underwriting - High Risk

Breeze • New York, NY

3d

About The Position

Are you passionate about solving complex challenges in the fintech space? We’re looking for talented individuals to join our dynamic startup, backed by Sequoia Capital. We’re building the universal payment layer to unify all currencies—fiat and crypto—so businesses and consumers can transact seamlessly. If you're passionate about creating innovative solutions in a dynamic, fast-paced environment, we want to talk to you.
We are hiring a Head of Underwriting!
As the Head of Underwriting at Breeze, you will own the strategy, execution, and evolution of our merchant underwriting function across high-risk and innovative business models. You’ll be responsible for enabling Breeze to support complex, fast-moving merchant categories—such as gaming, social gaming, mobile apps, subscription businesses, and emerging markets—while maintaining strong risk controls and partner trust.
This role sits at the intersection of risk, product, and growth. You’ll work closely with Sales, Product, Legal, Compliance, and Operations, and serve as a senior point of contact for bank partners and strategic merchants. We’re looking for a leader who understands how to underwrite non-traditional, high-growth models and can build scalable frameworks that balance speed, innovation, and risk.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in Merchant Underwriting, Payment Risk Management, or Transaction Fraud, with deep exposure to high-risk and innovative merchant categories.
• Demonstrated experience underwriting businesses in areas such as gaming, social gaming, mobile apps, subscriptions, digital goods, or emerging markets.
• Strong background in payments, merchant acquiring, fintech, or e-commerce.
• Deep understanding of payment networks, chargebacks, merchant credit risk, fraud patterns, and recurring billing models.
• Proven ability to make principled risk decisions in ambiguous, fast-changing environments.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly explain complex risk decisions to executives, bank partners, merchants, and internal teams.
• Strong analytical, investigative, and judgment-based decision-making skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience leading or scaling underwriting or risk teams in a high-growth fintech or payments startup.
• Exposure to global or cross-border merchant models and newer markets.
• Experience building underwriting playbooks, risk tooling, or automated decision systems.
• Familiarity with app store ecosystems, digital wallets, or alternative payment methods.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead Breeze’s merchant underwriting strategy across high-risk and innovative domains, including gaming, social gaming, mobile apps, subscription-based businesses, and emerging market models.
• Design and implement underwriting frameworks tailored to non-traditional revenue models, digital goods, recurring billing, and global consumer bases.
• Conduct and oversee comprehensive underwriting assessments, including merchant credit risk, business viability, transaction risk exposure, and fraud vectors.
• Define financial risk exposure calculations and appropriate mitigation strategies for complex merchant profiles.
• Establish underwriting policies, risk thresholds, and escalation processes aligned with partner requirements and business growth.
• Communicate underwriting decisions and merchant risk profiles to bank partners and internal stakeholders to support smooth onboarding and long-term relationships.
• Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Legal, Compliance, and Operations to support new product launches and market expansion.
• Act as the escalation owner for complex or high-impact underwriting decisions.
• Analyze merchant transaction behavior, lifecycle metrics, and business models to identify emerging risks and opportunities.
• Own underwriting documentation, reporting, and key performance metrics to drive continuous improvement.
• Build, mentor, and scale the underwriting team, while improving tooling, automation, and decision frameworks.

Benefits

• Competitive salary + equity plan
• 21 days PTO
• Flexible benefits: annual medical allowance, productivity allowance, gym membership/personal well-being subsidy
• Annual team retreat trip
• Work alongside a team backed by Sequoia Capital with a healthy runway

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed