Head of Fraud

Cleo

About The Position

We're hiring a Head of Fraud to lead Cleo’s fraud strategy across debit, credit, identity, and operational risk - starting in the US and expanding globally. You’ll set the direction and lead hands-on execution, partnering with Credit, Product, Engineering, and Operations to build scalable controls that reduce loss while protecting customer experience.

Requirements

First-line-of-defense fraud experience - you've done the thing, not just overseen it
Experience across both debit and credit transaction fraud
Identity fraud expertise: ATO, synthetic identities, KYC platform management
Operational fraud experience: chargeback investigation and management
Strong analytical and quantitative skills - comfortable defending a guardrail or threshold with data, not just intuition
Track record of working closely with credit risk teams and aligning on shared metrics, definitions, and trade-offs
US market fraud experience - familiar with US card regulations, CFPB, and the regulatory differences vs. UK
Background in fintech with lending or credit products (not just pure payments)
Vendor evaluation experience - you know the fraud tooling landscape and can make strong buy vs. build decisions
Track record of shaping fraud strategy and frameworks at scale
Senior gravitas and consensus-building ability - you can align product, ops, credit, and compliance teams
8+ years in fraud or financial crime

Nice To Haves

UK fraud and FCA regulatory knowledge
disputes and chargeback management experience in a card-oriented business
relevant certifications (CFE, CAMS, CFCS)

Responsibilities

Own Cleo’s end-to-end fraud strategy across transaction, identity, and operational fraud.
Set fraud risk frameworks, guardrails, and performance targets, balancing loss, approval rates, and customer friction.
Partner across teams to design, measure, and continuously improve fraud controls and workflows.
Lead fraud investigations, incident reviews, chargeback operations, and dispute management.
Evaluate and manage fraud and KYC vendors, informing buy-vs-build decisions.
Ensure compliance with relevant US card, KYC, and financial-crime requirements, with UK scope to follow.
Report fraud performance and risk posture to senior leadership and contribute to board-level risk discussions.