Job Posting: VP of Operations, Risk & Underwriting

Position Title::
VP of Operations, Risk & Underwriting

Hiring Company::
Davis Talent

Contact::
jenna@davistalent.com / www.davistalent.com

Job Description:

Role
VP of Operations, Risk & Underwriting

Location
Prefer candidates in Nashville, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles.
Open to remote candidates (in the US). Remote employees expected to travel to an office 4–5 times per year.

Reports to
Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Employment Type
Full-Time, W2, Direct Hire

Benefits
• Medical (BC/BS), Dental (Delta Dental), Vision (BC/BS)

• Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity, Accident Insurance

• Basic Life & AD&D, Voluntary Life Insurance

• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability (STD/LTD)

• 401(k) with 4% company match

• Norton/LifeLock Identity Theft Protection

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Flexible PTO

• 10 paid holidays + 1 floating holiday

• Professional development, mentorship, leadership programs, and ongoing training

The Company
This private equity–backed payments and fintech organization was founded in 2018 and has grown to approximately 293 full-time employees. The company provides payment processing services to small and medium-sized businesses across the United States, serving more than 55,000 customers.

The organization partners with over 175 financial institutions and ranks among the largest non-bank payment processors in the U.S., combining advanced payment technology with a strong, relationship-driven service model.

The Opportunity

The VP of Operations, Risk & Underwriting is responsible for leading underwriting and merchant risk functions and setting the strategic direction for how risk is evaluated, approved, and managed across the merchant lifecycle. This role establishes underwriting frameworks, defines risk appetite, and implements portfolio oversight practices that support sustainable growth while protecting the business, sponsor banks, and partners.

This is a senior leadership role overseeing approximately 15 team members across multiple locations and operating at a leadership level. The position plays a critical role in stabilizing the risk organization following recent leadership gaps and portfolio losses, strengthening underwriting discipline, improving team capacity, and building a proactive, scalable risk function.

The portfolio spans hundreds of small to mid-sized business industries, primarily low-risk merchants, with limited exposure to higher-risk verticals. While underwriting processes are generally strong, the role will focus on enhancing risk controls, particularly for agent-originated deals, and improving portfolio performance.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain underwriting frameworks, risk appetite, and approval standards.

• Establish policies and guidelines that balance growth with effective risk management across merchant segments.

• Assess risk implications for new products, verticals, and sales strategies.

• Ensure underwriting practices align with card brand rules, sponsor bank requirements, and internal standards.

• Provide senior-level oversight of portfolio health, including fraud, chargebacks, reserves, exposure trends, and processing limits.

• Identify emerging risk patterns and implement proactive mitigation strategies.

• Design and approve structured risk solutions such as rolling reserves, funding conditions, and settlement controls.

• Review and escalate elevated or non-standard risk scenarios.

• Lead the underwriting and risk organization through direct management of senior leaders.

• Set expectations for consistency, sound judgment, accountability, and decision quality.

• Support talent development, mentorship, succession planning, and organizational scalability.

• Serve as the escalation point for complex or high-impact underwriting decisions.

• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Data teams to enhance underwriting tools, automation, and risk monitoring.

• Leverage analytics and reporting to improve decision-making and portfolio visibility.

• Drive continuous improvement in underwriting workflows and early warning risk indicators.

• Collaborate with Sales, Compliance, Operations, and Legal to align underwriting practices with business objectives.

• Provide risk guidance to support responsible growth and informed decision-making.

• Act as a senior point of contact for sponsor banks and card networks on underwriting and portfolio risk matters.

• Support audits, reviews, and partner inquiries related to underwriting and risk.

Qualifications, skills, and experience

Required

• 7 to 10 plus years of experience in payments underwriting, risk management, or fintech.

• Experience leading underwriting or risk teams within merchant acquiring or payments.

• Strong knowledge of merchant risk, fraud trends, chargebacks, and portfolio management.

• Understanding of sponsor bank and card network requirements.

• Strategic thinker with strong judgment and the ability to balance growth and risk.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functionally.

Miscellaneous

• Limited travel required based on location.

• Remote employees expected to travel to an office 4 to 5 times per year.

• Must be able to maintain confidentiality and operate with professionalism.

• Must be comfortable working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

• The company cannot sponsor a visa.