---
title: 'Director, Merchant Risk & Onboarding at Bilt'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-merchant-risk-onboarding-bilt-new-york-3mxwhw9w8h8p'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-31'
---

# Director, Merchant Risk & Onboarding at Bilt

- **Company:** Bilt
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-31
- **Apply:** https://jobs.gem.com/bilt/am9icG9zdDpmomLAmvbdhmI68eEGBltk

## Job description

What’s the role? Bilt is building a payment facilitator business, which means we carry the merchant risk a processor would otherwise carry for us. Every restaurant, property management partner and retailer we sign is a decision about identity, ownership, business legitimacy and credit exposure. As our Director, Merchant Risk & Onboarding, you will own that decision end to end: the onboarding flow, KYB and beneficial owner KYC, underwriting, the vendor stack, policy and reporting. Our v1 onboarding flow will be live when you join. Your job is to make it fast and seamless for legitimate merchants, keep bad actors out, and make sure it holds up under sponsor bank, card network and regulatory review as we scale to thousands of merchants.

This is a hands-on individual contributor role. As the program grows and the need is clear, there may be room to add to the team down the line. You will spend most of your week designing and improving onboarding flows with Product and Engineering, and you will also review applications and transactions yourself and handle the edge cases. You will work closely with Legal, Compliance, Local Merchants, Payments, Fraud and Data Science, and with our sponsor bank and processing partners.

In this role, you will own…

- Own the end-to-end merchant onboarding flow for restaurants, property management partners and retailers, from application to first processed transaction, balancing conversion against risk.
- Partner with Product and Engineering to refine and extend the v1 flow, automating approval for low-risk applications and routing the rest to a clear manual review path.
- Run KYB: entity validity, registration and good standing, EIN match, address, MCC and business model validation, website and menu review, and licensing such as liquor licenses where relevant.
- Lead beneficial owner and control person KYC under the CDD rule (the federal rule on verifying business owners): ownership thresholds, document and selfie checks, sanctions, PEP and adverse media screening, plus enhanced due diligence for complex ownership, shell entities and nominee owners.
- Review applications and merchant transactions yourself, work the hardest cases, and write the manual review playbook and turnaround standards.
- Build the underwriting framework for each vertical: expected volume and ticket size, chargeback exposure, deposit and delayed-delivery risk, reserves, rolling holds, limits, and triggers for monitoring and re-underwriting.
- Select, configure and tune orchestration, KYB and fraud vendors against measured false positives, false negatives and cost.
- Partner with Fraud and Data Science on merchant fraud patterns such as bust-out, transaction laundering, collusive merchants and application fraud rings.
- Write and maintain policy and procedures that satisfy our sponsor bank, Visa and Mastercard payment facilitator rules and BSA/AML obligations, working with Compliance and Legal on CIP, risk assessments and exam readiness.
- Report on funnel and portfolio health — approval rate, time to approve, manual review rate, early-life loss and chargebacks — to executive leadership and to bank and network partners.

In terms of qualifications, we’re seeking:

- 7+ years in merchant onboarding, merchant risk, underwriting or KYB/KYC at a payment facilitator, acquirer, processor, merchant-facing fintech or sponsor bank.
- A track record of building onboarding or merchant risk programs hands-on, ideally at a high-volume SMB payfac (Square or Toast style) or a smaller company where you built it yourself.
- Hands-on experience running KYB and beneficial owner verification at scale, with working knowledge of the FinCEN CDD rule, CIP requirements and BSA/AML fundamentals.
- Experience underwriting small and mid-sized merchants, with real exposure to chargebacks, reserves and merchant losses.
- Working knowledge of card network registration and monitoring requirements for payment facilitators and their sub-merchants, and direct experience working with sponsor banks.
- Experience with orchestration tools (e.g. Alloy, Taktile, Footprint, Oscilar), KYB vendors (e.g. Middesk, Baselayer, LexisNexis) and identity and fraud vendors (e.g. SentiLink, Socure, Ekata), including contract, configuration and performance tuning.
- Fluency in SQL and portfolio analytics: you can pull your own cohorts, read approval and loss curves, and design rules and thresholds with analysts and data scientists.
- Clear writing, sound judgment, and a strong preference for building things yourself. Nice to Have:
- Background in restaurant, POS, property management or retail merchant onboarding, including multi-location and franchise structures.
- Experience taking a payfac program through initial sponsor bank and network approval.
- Experience with fraud decision engines such as Sardine or SEON.
- Experience with processors such as Adyen, Stripe, [Checkout.com](http://Checkout.com) or Fiserv.
- Familiarity with merchant transaction monitoring and transaction laundering detection.
- Experience with ML-based or rules-based application risk scoring.

Benefits:

- Compensation - We offer a competitive salary with a meaningful stake in the company via equity and our performance bonus program.
- Medical Insurance (for you and your loved one) - We offer a variety of different subsidized medical plans (with dental and vision), including a free HDHP with a company-sponsored HSA contribution. We have you covered from Day 1.
- Wellness Benefits - Enjoy a One Medical Membership, Wellhub (Gympass) Access, family planning programs and more, on us.
- 401k plan with a match - Retirement may feel more like a pipe dream than a reality but we’re here to help you get there.
- Commuter FSAs - We believe the best ideas come from being together in one place. We just don’t think getting there should be so expensive.
- UNLIMITED PTO - Because we believe that working hard shouldn’t mean always working. Take time for yourself as often as you need it.
- Exclusive Employee only Bilt Points - We give our employees unique opportunities to earn points throughout their time at Bilt.
- Team Events - We believe in human connection so we hold events to help our employees break from the monotony of the typical work week.

At Bilt Rewards, we believe in transparency and we do our best to make sure the company and our candidates are on the same page as it relates to compensation. In addition to posting salary ranges for our open roles, candidates should expect to be asked about compensation expectations and requirements early on in their interview process. Our goal is to highlight when expectations and Bilt’s salary range may be out of sync, and work with the candidate to determine whether it makes sense to continue conversations.

We are considering candidates with differing levels of expertise for this position. Leveling will be based upon your experience and performance in the interview process.

Where a new hire falls within a range will be based on their individual skills and experience, and how these competencies compare across other employees in the same role. Bilt's bands are designed to allow for individual compensation growth within the role. As such, new hires typically start at the lower end of the range. Bilt rewards performance and outcomes - should you join the company, you will have the opportunity to grow your salary over time.

The salary range for a Director, Merchant Risk & Onboarding is $150,000 - 180,000 and will be eligible for equity and an annual performance-based bonus.

## About Bilt

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Bilt Rewards is the first loyalty program that lets renters earn points on their largest monthly expense—rent—and redeem them for travel, fitness, rent credits, and even a future home.
- **Entity Type**: Private (valued at $10.75 billion as of the latest round)
- **Headquarters**: New York, New York, United States
- **Founded**: 2021 (launched in 2020)
- **Founders**: Not publicly available in the search results

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Financial Services, Loyalty Programs, Property Technology
- **Target customers**: B2C (renters) and B2B (multifamily property owners/operators)
- **Mission**: To turn the single largest monthly expense into rewards and benefits that make living in your neighborhood better.

## Products & Services
- **[Bilt Rewards Loyalty Program]**: A points-based rewards program that allows members to earn on rent payments, condo/co-op fees, and spending at neighborhood merchants (restaurants, fitness, rideshare, etc.). Points can be transferred 1:1 to major airline and hotel programs or used for rent credits, shopping, fitness, and even a down payment on a home.
- **[Bilt Mastercard]**: A co-branded credit card issued by Wells Fargo in partnership with Mastercard. It is the first and only credit card that lets users pay rent and earn points without a transaction fee.
- **[Bilt Payment Center]**: A platform that processes rent payments directly for residents living in properties within the Bilt Alliance network, enabling additional earn opportunities on leases and renewals.
- **[Bilt Alliance]**: A network of over 4.5 million apartments and homes across the U.S. that have partnered with Bilt to offer rewards to their residents.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: $10.75 billion (latest, per company careers page)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $813.3 million across 7 rounds (LinkedIn). Annual revenue estimated at $38.2 million (LinkedIn estimate).
- **Notable Investors**: General Catalyst, Left Lane Capital (lead investors); also includes Mastercard, Wells Fargo as strategic partners.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 73.3% year-over-year to approximately 317 employees (LinkedIn). The Bilt Alliance network expanded to 4.5M+ units. Ranked the highest-value point currency by top publications.

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-mover in rental rewards**: No other major loyalty program focuses exclusively on rent, the largest monthly expense for most Americans.
- **No-fee rent payments on credit card**: The Bilt Mastercard is the only card that allows rent payments without incurring a transaction fee.
- **High-value transfer partners**: Points transfer 1:1 to major airline and hotel programs, giving them exceptional flexibility and value.
- **Large network (Bilt Alliance)**: 4.5M+ apartments create a strong network effect; the more properties join, the more valuable the program becomes for both renters and owners.

## Strategic Focus
- **Ecosystem expansion**: Bilt is actively growing its neighborhood rewards (restaurants, fitness, rideshare) and exploring new use cases for points (e.g., down payments on homes).
- **Deepening property partnerships**: Continuing to onboard multifamily owners and operators to expand the Bilt Alliance.
- **Product innovation**: Enhancing the payment center, credit-building features, and elite status program to increase member engagement and retention.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as “ownership culture” where anyone can bring ideas to the table, no hierarchy on ideas. Attracts ambitious, unconventional thinkers seeking career-making opportunities.
- **Work model**: In-person company – most employees work from the New York office 4-5 days a week (as per Built In).
- **Compensation & Benefits**: Fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance (with buy-up options); company equity; 401k with company match; unlimited PTO; paid parental leave; Carrot Fertility support; One Medical membership; fitness & wellness contributions; pet insurance; HSA dollars; Obsidian Status (employee-only loyalty tier); unique team events.
- **Growth trajectory**: One of NYC’s fastest-growing startups, valued at $10.75B with strong headcount growth, offering ample career advancement opportunities.

## Sources
1. [biltrewards.com/careers](https://www.biltrewards.com/careers)
2. [builtin.com/company/bilt-rewards](https://builtin.com/company/bilt-rewards)
3. [linkedin.com/company/biltrewards](https://linkedin.com/company/biltrewards)
4. [jobs.gem.com/bilt](https://jobs.gem.com/bilt)

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