Risk Team Lead, User Policy Operations

Who we are

About Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies - from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups - use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone's reach while doing the most important work of your career.

About the team

This role sits within User Policy Operations. User Policy Operations assesses the risk that users pose to Stripe against our Terms of Service and related policies. Its work helps ensure that the businesses we support are aligned with those policies, and it protects Stripe, our partners, and the broader user community. We strive to deliver frictionless experiences for all of our users, whether they are an Independent Business, Startup, SMB, or Enterprise, and our mission is to provide every Stripe user with the best support experience possible.

What you’ll do

In this role, you will be a player-coach leading a team of Risk Operations associates who assess complex and unique user situations against Stripe's Terms of Service and related policies. Their assessments determine whether Stripe can continue to support these users. Many of them are among Stripe's most strategic, so the work calls for urgency, sound judgment, and a clear view of the risk each user poses to Stripe.

Your team will often work beyond the written workflow and policy. They will dig into the facts of each case, assess the risk to Stripe, and turn that into clear, well-reasoned recommendations. As their leader, you will help them move quickly through ambiguity, get up to speed fast on the situations they're handling, and work through friction when engaging across the risk ecosystem, including cross-functional partners and account teams. Through clear goals, guidance, and mentorship, you will set both individuals and the team up for success.

To be a fit, you will have a coaching mindset, proven ability to communicate at different levels, a track record of driving operational performance, and a passion for inspiring a team to deliver outstanding results.In this role, you will act in a player-coach capacity and are accountable for supporting Risk/Partner Risk Operations associates.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coach a team of associates conducting Terms of Service evaluations and risk assessments on complex and strategic users, determining whether those users remain aligned with Stripe's policies and whether Stripe can continue to support them
• Coach your team to think beyond what is written in policy: to investigate thoroughly, weigh the broader risk a user presents to Stripe, and make sound, well-documented recommendations in ambiguous or unprecedented situations
• Manage your team through complex risk situations, including those that require cross-functional engagement and close collaboration with account teams and other partners across the risk ecosystem
• Quickly understand the cases your team is working on, and help remove blockers and navigate friction points when working across teams
• Foster a sense of urgency on strategic user cases, balancing speed with quality, rigor, and consistency of decisions
• Support and coach your team in conducting thorough investigations of merchant accounts to facilitate progressive and sustainable business growth
• Ongoing management of the operational performance of your team to deliver KPIs and report to key stakeholders
• Help scale our operations and improve user experience by identifying process and policy improvements, including gaps surfaced through complex case work
• Manage capacity and scheduling, dividing and assigning work between team members, including routing complex and time-sensitive cases appropriately
• Ensure your team has all the skills and resources needed to be successful in their role
• Set clear goals and expectations for individual and team performance
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement to refine team processes and procedures
• Support recruitment and hiring initiatives
• Contribute to 20% core work on a daily basis
• Coach and mentor individuals to meet career goals via structured development conversations
• Provide continuous performance feedback and facilitate periodic formal performance reviews
• Drive and own initiatives that make the team a warm and welcoming place to work
• Keep the team engaged and motivated towards their work

Who you are

We're looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement.

Minimum requirements

• A minimum of 6+ years of experience in risk operations or policy/supportability operations
• Experience coaching/leading operations teams and managing performance
• Experience mentoring others and are able to constructively provide feedback to others
• Experience in delivering weekly and monthly business metrics and reporting
• Proven ability to be a subject matter expert in Risk Operations
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment in ambiguous situations, assessing risk beyond written policy and making clear, defensible recommendations
• Ability to work cross functionally, including with account teams and stakeholders supporting strategic users, to deliver best results and promote partnership
• Ability to work with urgency and manage competing priorities in a fast-moving environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both English and Spanish
• Exemplary planning and time management skills

Preferred qualifications

• Knowledge of risk reviews, knowledge in policy/compliance operations, and fraud detection tools
• Experience managing risk events in the system, and identify the at-risk scenario.