---
title: 'Global Lead, Business Control (Commercial Function) at Airwallex'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/global-lead-business-control-commercial-function-airwallex-united-states-san-g8a1pgn6a6jb'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Global Lead, Business Control (Commercial Function) at Airwallex

- **Company:** [Airwallex](https://feeny.ai/companies/airwallex)
- **Location:** United States / San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $200k–$300k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-06-26
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/airwallex/dc5a8ba1-b3d7-4532-82c3-145e8ff1011b/application

**Skills:** Credit risk, Portfolio risk, Payments risk, Merchant risk, Operational risk, Conduct risk, Enterprise risk, Three Lines of Defense (3LoD) model, Data literacy, KPI definition, Dashboard interrogation, KYC/AML, Sanctions, Card network rules, Data privacy, Portfolio early-warning indicators, Concentration limits, Stress testing

> Lead the first-line commercial risk function for Airwallex, defining risk strategy and supportability frameworks. Partner with sales and compliance teams to embed risk discipline into commercial operations, manage portfolio monitoring, and drive incident governance.

## Job description

## ABOUT AIRWALLEX

Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale.

Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us.

## ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE

We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.

You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next.

## About the team

The Commercial Risk Control team sits in the first line of defence within the Commercial organisation and partners directly with Sales, Partnerships, Account Management, Revenue Strategy & Operations and other Legal, Risk and Compliance teams across Airwallex. Our mandate is to embed risk discipline into how we originate, structure and grow our commercial book so that revenue is sustainable and commensurate with the risk we take. We help the business win the right customers faster, avoid the wrong ones earlier, and build a culture where every commercial leader thinks like an owner of our risk profile. You will join at a moment where we are formalising our first line commercial risk function globally, with strong sponsorship from our Chief Revenue Officer (“CRO”), Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer (“CRCO”) and senior commercial leadership.

## What you'll do

Reporting directly to the Chief Revenue Officer, you will build and lead the first line commercial risk function for Airwallex. You will define the commercial risk strategy, own the supportability frameworks that govern which customers and use cases we back, and be the primary interface between the commercial organisation, the CRO and second and third line risk teams. You will combine strategic design with hands‑on deal support, portfolio monitoring and incident management so that risk becomes a core commercial capability, not an afterthought. This role is based in Singapore or San Francisco.

## KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

- Pre-Deal Risk & Supportability: Define and manage the 1st LoD commercial risk strategy and supportability frameworks. Serve as the primary checkpoint and provide structured high quality guidance for complex or high-risk merchant use cases to unlock new revenue streams, reviewing and signing off on deal documentation before 2nd line escalation
- Commercial Guardrails & Culture: Translate complex 2nd line risk appetite and policies into clear, actionable commercial playbooks. Embed risk ownership into daily operations by actively participating in major deal reviews, pipeline calls, and quarterly business reviews.
- Capability Building & Conduct: Partner with enablement teams to design practical training and tools for front-office staff. Act as the primary point of accountability for commercial conduct risk, identifying misaligned sales practices or incentive structures and partnering with Revenue Operations to redesign them.
- Always-On Portfolio Monitoring: Design and execute a continuous portfolio monitoring framework alongside Data and Regional RevOps teams. Proactively track metrics like GP-to-risk ratios, customer risk tiers, fraud/loss rates, and revenue concentration to mitigate emerging risks.
- Incident Management & Governance: Lead structured post-mortems on commercial-induced incidents, driving root-cause analysis and 1st LoD remediation. Enforce 2nd line decisions (such as offboarding or enhanced monitoring) and represent the commercial risk perspective in internal governance forums, regulatory engagements, and audits.
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Act as the strategic interface between GTM teams, the CRO, and 2nd/3rd line compliance functions. Over time, recruit and develop a high-impact team to scale coverage globally.

## REQUIREMENTS

## Minimum Qualifications

- 10–12 years of risk management experience within financial services, with significant time spent in 1st line or business-aligned roles directly interfacing with front-office or Sales teams.
- Deep expertise in at least two of the following areas: credit and portfolio risk, payments or merchant risk, operational and conduct risk, or enterprise risk.
- Proven track record of designing and implementing practical risk frameworks that materially influence commercial strategy within a Three Lines of Defense (3LoD) model.
- Strong analytical data literacy with the ability to define KPIs, interrogate dashboards, and balance quantitative metrics with qualitative business judgment.
- Exceptional communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to translate complex risk concepts into clear commercial language and navigate tough "risk vs. revenue" discussions with senior stakeholders.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience in high-growth, product-led fintech environments (e.g., payments, issuing, FX, or modern banking).
- Familiarity with global regulatory and scheme frameworks relevant to B2B fintech, including KYC/AML, sanctions, card network rules, and data privacy.
- Experience designing portfolio early-warning indicators, concentration limits, and stress testing.

## APPLICANT SAFETY POLICY: FRAUD AND THIRD-PARTY RECRUITERS

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com http://airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com http://careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page.

Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.

## EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

## About Airwallex

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Airwallex is a financial technology company building a unified global payments and banking platform that helps businesses manage cross-border payments, treasury, spend, and financial operations through proprietary infrastructure, software, and AI.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series G)
- **Headquarters**: Dual headquarters in Singapore and San Francisco, USA; founded in Melbourne, Australia
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Jack Zhang (CEO), Lucy Liu, Max Li, Xijing Dai, and Ron Li

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Financial Services / Payments / Fintech Infrastructure
- Target customers: B2B, primarily serving SMBs, scaling enterprises, digital platforms, and marketplaces globally
- Mission or purpose statement: "Build the future of global banking" — they aim to replace legacy, fragmented banking systems with a borderless, intelligent, real-time financial operating system for modern businesses.

## Products & Services
- **[Business Accounts]**: Multi-currency global accounts to receive, hold, and manage funds in 20+ currencies, with local account details for key markets.
- **[Payments]**: Global payment acceptance via 160+ local payment methods, low-code checkout, and programmatic payout capabilities to 200+ countries.
- **[Spend / Corporate Cards]**: Multi-currency corporate and employee cards with customisable spend controls, designed for global teams.
- **[Expense Management]**: A platform to track, control, and reconcile global business expenses, including employee reimbursements.
- **[Billing & Subscription Management]**: A billing platform for usage-based and subscription pricing models, supporting AI companies and complex revenue workflows.
- **[Platform APIs]**: API-first infrastructure enabling businesses to embed financial services (accounts, payments, FX, card issuing) into their own products.
- **[FX & Treasury]**: Interbank foreign exchange rates and tools to intelligently manage currency risk across markets.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: US$11 billion (latest valuation in 2025, following a fresh investment round).
- **Key Metric**: US$1.8 billion in total funding raised; Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) surpassed US$1 billion by 2025.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Series G investors include prominent global venture capital firms (specific names not listed in source but backed by top-tier VCs); serves over 200,000 businesses including TikTok, Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, and SHEIN.
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - US$287 billion in global payments processed (USD).
  - 92% of transfers settled same-day, 50% processed instantly.
  - Over 85 financial licenses and registrations globally.
  - Team of ~2,300 people across 27 offices internationally.
  - Dual-headquarters model (Singapore + San Francisco) adopted in 2025 to support next phase of growth.

## Competitive Advantages
- Proprietary, API-first infrastructure built from scratch (not riding legacy banking rails), enabling faster, cheaper, and more transparent cross-border transactions.
- Unified platform combining banking, payments, spend management, billing, and FX — reducing the need for multiple vendors.
- Deep AI integration across the platform to automate financial operations and provide intelligent insights.
- Extensive regulatory licensing (85+ licenses) across major markets, creating a high barrier to entry.
- Strong network effects: serves both direct businesses and platforms/marketplaces that embed Airwallex into their offerings.

## Strategic Focus
- Continue scaling the platform to support the rapid growth of AI-native companies and usage-based business models (highlighted by the launch of their global billing platform).
- Expand the dual-headquarters presence to tap into the largest tech talent markets (San Francisco and Singapore).
- Invest heavily in AI to build "interconnected, intelligent financial systems where money, data, and decisions move together."
- Deepen product capabilities to automate financial operations end-to-end for global businesses.

## Why Work Here
- High-growth, ambitious environment: described as "the most ambitious work of your career" by the company; founded in 2015 and already processing $287B in payments.
- Global impact and scale: work on infrastructure used by 200,000+ businesses, from startups to enterprises like TikTok and SHEIN.
- Hybrid/office culture: 27 offices globally (Melbourne, Singapore, San Francisco, London, Shanghai, Amsterdam, and more) offering opportunities to work across teams and locations.
- Engineering-driven culture: heavy emphasis on building proprietary technology, AI, and developer-first products.
- Notable perks: opportunity to work on a modern financial stack, exposure to cutting-edge AI/Fintech intersection, and a diverse, international team of "2,200 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech."

## Sources
1. [airwallex.com - Who We Are](https://www.airwallex.com/en-eu/who-we-are)
2. [airwallex.com - Global Platform](https://www.airwallex.com/global)
3. [careers.airwallex.com](https://careers.airwallex.com/)
4. [LinkedIn - Airwallex](https://www.linkedin.com/company/airwallex)
5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com - Airwallex](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/airwallex)

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