Sr. Director, Risk Management

Today, through BHN’s single global platform, businesses of all kinds can tap into the world’s largest network of branded payment solutions. BHN helps businesses grow revenue, increase loyalty, motivate and reward their teams, disburse funds and engage consumers. Branded payment solutions include the issuance and distribution of gift cards, egifts, corporate payouts and rewards, along with the technology to deliver these products in seamless, integrated ways. BHN’s network spans the globe with more than 400,000 consumer touchpoints. Learn more at BHN.com.

The role reports to the Vice President of Risk Management. The role will be a key player in Blackhawk Network’s continued growth and global expansion. The company is looking for this leader to centralize the Risk function and build out a proactive, robust, best practices function centered around payments and fraud risk. S/he will be entrusted with a broad portfolio of risk management responsibilities, including risk governance, fraud payments risk, cyber risk, investigations, and operational risk. The Director of Risk will develop operational frameworks to support fraud and payment risk payment strategies, policies and programs to enhance risk management, prevent and mitigate losses. S/he will drive a differentiated approach to risk management using data, ML, AI and other decision science to prevent and mitigate fraud payment losses while ensuring customer experiences are minimally impacted. 

The Director of Risk Management will collaborate with technology, product and customer service teams to ensure the integrity of the payments ecosystem by preventing and mitigating fraud losses, overseeing fraud investigations, and preventing the misuse of payments systems for unlawful or abusive purposes and protecting against overall financial loss. Developing and managing a world class team will also be a key aspect of this role. 

• Risk Management Operational Strategy: Design a holistic approach to manage company-wide risk from an operational and enterprise perspective. Create operational strategies and reporting processes to achieve tactical and strategic objectives to detect and prevent losses associated with fraudulent and high-risk transactions.
• Risk policies: Support and enhance the enterprise risk management policy and risk policies for all key risk categories (regulatory, legal, compliance, cyber risk, investigations, and operational risk).
• Risk processes: Ensure that effective processes are in place for the identification, measurement, management, monitoring and reporting of significant current and emerging risks, both at an aggregated and disaggregated level.
• Risk governance: Update the operating model with a clear delineation of responsibilities across the organization regarding the operation of the enterprise risk management framework. Provide advice to the VP of Risk Management on risk governance matters.
• Risk infrastructure: Evaluate the current risk systems, centralize and build the appropriate risk systems required to support the execution of risk processes, as well as equip the global risk function with adequate resources.
• Risk culture: Share applicable best practices and create a consistent awareness of risk at all levels of the Blackhawk organization.
• Team: Build a world class risk management team. This individual will be responsible for evaluating, coaching, driving and hiring top talent to make his/her vision a reality.

The successful candidate will have a distinguished record of leading and developing a risk management function, having worked at a respected financial institution (where s/he has had exposure to payments and technology platforms), a fintech company, and/or a best-in-class, technology-driven e-commerce platform. S/he will have implemented and operationalized an enterprise risk management function to world-class standards. S/he will be able to identify critical risk management issues and opportunities, and ensure the necessary experience, specialized technical capability, access to resources, and independent authority are in place to advance Blackhawk’s risk management agenda – in support of the company’s business plans, performance, and reputation. 

In particular, s/he will have: 

• A comprehensive understanding of the payments landscape as it relates to regulatory, legal, compliance, risk governance, cyber risk, audit, investigations, and operational risk
• Strong commercial and technology orientation
• An operational and growth-oriented approach with a strong bias for action
• A balanced and pragmatic risk-reward perspective that allows for effective partnership with senior management in achieving business goals
• An ability to implement risk management strategies on a complex global scale
• Hands-on leadership style
• A reputation for the highest integrity and degree of professionalism.

In terms of the performance and personal competencies required for the position, we would highlight the following: 

• Strategy and judgment: S/he is recognized as a risk management leader who can provide key input to the VP of Risk Management and top management, including the Senior Leadership Team in assessing various enterprise risks and performance, and strategic issues and options. S/he will draw on industry benchmarks and best-in-class risk management operational frameworks, policies and practices. Her/his judgment is derived from a mixture of analysis, experience and intuition – integrating quantitative and qualitative assessments in considering risk-reward tradeoffs.  

• Conceptual and analytical skills: S/he has exceptional intellectual horsepower – quickly identifying, absorbing and synthesizing new information, understanding complex situations, grasping essential elements, and seeing their implications. S/he has outstanding analytical skills and with the ability to oversee complex risk measurement and analysis, and conceptualize practical solutions.  

• Leading teams: S/he leads high-performing, collaborative teams with specialized skills that will provide the business with a broad scope of risk management knowledge and expertise. Recruiting, developing and leveraging the talents of others are core strengths. S/he is able to provide clear and concise direction, delegate effectively, and hold others accountable. S/he builds trusted relationships across the business and delegates effectively, where appropriate, in order to focus on strategic issues and develop future leaders.  

• Communication, relationship building and persuasion: Being articulate, straightforward, succinct, and direct is critical in this role. S/he is respected for being transparent and objective as the leading risk management mind at the company. S/he is resilient and maintains composure in the face of significant challenges. Persuasive and effective presentation skills are essential. S/he builds, maintains, and leverages a strong network of relationships within and outside the company. Skillful at negotiating tough situations and making her/his voice heard, s/he persuades others to act on information or recommendations based on compelling logic or common best interests to build effective coalitions to move the agenda forward. Adjusting her/his negotiating style as required, s/he is diplomatic and wins concessions without damaging internal and external relationships. 

Education & Experience 

• An undergraduate degree is essential.
• A law degree/undergrad degree with criminal justice major is a plus.
• An MBA or other relevant advanced degree is preferred.

Salary Range for California Residents Only:$194,280.00 to $272,000.00

Salary Range for Illinois Residents Only: $158,560.00 to $222,000.00

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, Blackhawk Network offers benefits including 401k with employer match, medical, dental, vision, 12 paid holidays in the year 2025, 1 hour of sick pay accrual for every 30 hours worked, parental leave, life insurance, disability insurance, accident and illness insurance, health and dependent care flexible spending accounts, wellness benefits, and flexible time off for all full-time employees. 

Blackhawk Network provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.  Blackhawk Network believes that diversity leads to strength. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Blackhawk Network encourages applicants with previous criminal records to apply to all positions and, pursuant to the San Francisco and Los Angeles Fair Chance Acts (and other “Fair Chance” laws), Blackhawk Network will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.  For Philadelphia applicants or jobs, please see a copy of Philadelphia’s ordinance on this topic by clicking this link: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/philadelphia/latest/philadelphia_pa/0-0-0-280104.