Director, Payments & Risk Operations

About the role

Boulevard is redefining how salons and spas run their businesses, and payments are core to that mission. This role owns the operating system behind the payments engine: merchant onboarding, underwriting, transaction monitoring, disputes, and payments operations.

Responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle: onboarding, pricing, underwriting, monitoring, disputes, and support
• Define and operate against core metrics: approval rates, loss rates, false positives, time-to-decision
• Build a highly instrumented, scalable system with clear feedback loops — including monitoring for decision quality, and failure modes — and drive continuous improvement
• Reimagine the payments operations stack as an AI-native system, where humans manage exceptions, not volume
• Build and deploy agent-based workflows, LLM-assisted investigation tools, and real-time decisioning at scale
• Continuously raise the bar for what AI-forward operations looks like in a PayFac context
• Partner with Product and Engineering to ship internal AI tooling that compounds over time, as well as select external vendors
• Own portfolio-level losses, balancing growth, protection, and customer experience
• Thoughtfully evolve Boulevard's risk appetite and control frameworks in partnership with the GM Fintech
• Design and refine underwriting and monitoring strategies; proactively identify and address emerging risks
• Ensure adherence to applicable regulations, card network rules, and PayFac requirements
• Partner with Legal and Compliance to maintain strong control frameworks, audits, and reporting
• Manage relationships with acquirers, processors, and banking partners; represent Boulevard credibly in external risk discussions
• Serve as the central accountability point for Payments Operations across Product, Engineering, CX, Sales, and Finance
• Translate operational insights into product and policy improvements
• Lead a high-performing team across underwriting, risk, and compliance ops — evolving from manual processing to system oversight and exception handling

Requirements

• 10+ years in operations, with 7+ years in payments, fintech, and/or risk; significant PayFac experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated success building AI-native decisioning systems — agent workflows, rules engines, ML-assisted approaches — that improved outcomes
• Experience deploying AI or ML tools in an operational context(fraud detection, investigation workflows, decisioning automation)
• Has built or managed LLM-assisted workflows, agent-based tools, or automated investigation pipelines
• Comfortable operating as a builder, not just a buyer — identifies where AI can replace manual steps and executes on it
• Deep expertise in payments, acquiring, and/or risk underwriting, fraud, chargebacks, and transaction monitoring
• Proven track record of owning portfolio-level performance with clear accountability for loss rates, approval rates, and operational efficiency
• Proven ability to lead operational evolution — moving teams from manual workflows to system oversight
• Senior-level experience engaging with external partners (acquirers, processors) and cross-functional partnerships across Product, Engineering, Legal, and Compliance

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Finance, Economics, or related field
• Strong analytical skills and ability to interpret data
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Passion for payments and fintech

Skills

• Strong understanding of financial services and regulatory environments
• Experience with AI and machine learning
• Knowledge of payment processing and risk management
• Ability to manage complex projects and prioritize tasks
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills

Benefits

• 401(k) match
• Dental, medical, vision, and life insurance
• Fully remote work option
• Family planning resources and specialized support programs
• Equity
• Learning and development program
• Official LinkedIn page updates

Pay

The anticipated base salary range for this role is $180,000 - $200,000 per year. In addition to this base compensation, this role may be eligible to participate in a variable compensation program. Final compensation will vary based on a variety of factors, which include but are not limited to applicable experience, location, and final leveling.

Schedule

Fully remote