Head of Risk and Money Services

Gusto•Denver, CO

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Gusto is seeking a seasoned financial services operator and regulated-domain leader to own one of Gusto's most consequential customer-facing functions: Risk & Money Services. This role sits within CX and Gusto's Financial Services organization and reports directly to the Head of Financial Services. Every dollar that moves through Gusto's platform carries real financial and regulatory weight. Risk & Money Services is the team that protects this trust at the most critical edges of money movement: fraud and payment risk decisioning, Reg E dispute operations, collections, and the consumer money products that sit at the intersection of Gusto's mission. This function spans three interconnected practices: Risk Operations, Dispute Operations, and Money Services and Banking. You will lead this organization through a senior leadership team, who carry full ownership for their function's outcomes. Partner deeply with Compliance, Legal, Engineering, and Product across Gusto's products, and serve as the operational owner of the functions that sit at the regulated edge of Gusto's financial platform. This is a builder's role. Risk & Money Services is being stood up as a defined function within a new domain — you will set the SLAs, design the controls, build the metrics framework, establish the governance, and create the playbook that lets Gusto move money with confidence and scale.

Requirements

12+ years of industry experience leading financial services operations in banking, payments, money movement, fraud and risk, or related regulated domains.
Demonstrated depth in the mechanics of how money moves, where it fails, and how regulated institutions respond.
7+ years as a departmental leader running large, multi-disciplinary financial services operations teams, with experience managing through senior direct reports across distinct operational functions.
Deep expertise in banking and money movement operations, including Reg E dispute processing, BSA/AML operational response, ACH and real-time payments risk, sponsor bank operational requirements, and the controls infrastructure that makes regulated money movement auditable.
Hands-on background in fraud and payment risk, including experience building or leading fraud operations that make real-time decisioning calls with material financial consequences.
Experience in consumer financial products, including operational background in consumer banking, digital wallet, cash advance, or similar products.
Track record of standing up or formalizing regulated financial functions, building SLAs, controls documentation, governance, and reporting infrastructure.
Demonstrated experience navigating sponsor bank and regulatory relationships.
Track record of leading through high-stakes, real-time financial decisions where individual calls carry material financial cost.
Experience building reliable, scalable, AI-native operations in regulated domains.
Strong cross-functional muscle with Product, Engineering, Compliance, Legal, and Risk, particularly in fintech, banking, or financial product environments.
Track record of delivering on the diverse needs of multiple senior partners across overlapping financial product lines.
Demonstrated ability to lead through significant organizational change.
Empathetic and employee-focused leadership style.
Track record of building diverse and inclusive teams.

Nice To Haves

AI experience requirements vary by role and will be assessed during the interview process.

Responsibilities

Own Risk & Money Services end to end, including fraud and payment risk decisioning, BSA/AML compliance, Reg E dispute operations, collections, and the operational backbone of Gusto's money products.
Own the customer experience, the regulatory posture, and the financial outcomes across this entire function.
Lead a multi-disciplinary regulated financial services organization through leaders who lead.
Direct an organization spanning risk operations, dispute and fraud operations, and consumer money — through leaders who own their function end to end, whom you'll continue to develop, hire, and scale.
Be the keeper of quality, speed, and regulatory integrity across all three practices.
Stand up Risk & Money Services as a defined operational function, defining governance, metrics framework, SLAs, and reporting infrastructure.
Build the operating muscle — controls documentation, audit readiness, workforce management, and escalation frameworks — that makes this domain run with the reliability a regulated function requires.
Own the highest-stakes real-time financial decisions in Gusto's customer operations, including decisions on payroll, provisional credit, fraud signals, and fund recovery.
Own Gusto's Reg E compliance posture at the operational level, leading the operational program for dispute obligations.
Lead BSA/AML operational response, owning customer-facing operational work triggered by BSA/AML alert activity.
Build Consumer Money for growth, owning the operational infrastructure for Gusto Wallet, Cash Advance, and other consumer financial products.
Drive AI-native transformation in a regulated financial domain, partnering with AI tools and automation capabilities.
Be the operational counterpart to Product, Engineering, and Risk partners, translating operational and regulatory realities into product priorities.
Represent Risk & Money Services externally to sponsor bank partners, regulators, and auditors.
Build the playbook for new financial products, establishing Risk & Money Services as the operational home for new product risk and money movement functions.
Bring out the best in your people, helping them achieve their personal and professional goals and feel proud of their work.