[Remote] Director, Payments & Risk Operations

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Boulevard is redefining how salons and spas run their businesses, and payments are core to that mission. This senior position is responsible for operational payments performance and scalability, focusing on building an AI-native payments operation while driving revenue growth and margin.

Responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle: onboarding, pricing, underwriting, monitoring, disputes, and support
• Define and operate against core metrics: approval rates, loss rates, false positives, time-to-decision
• Build a highly instrumented, scalable system with clear feedback loops — including monitoring for decision quality, and failure modes — and drive continuous improvement
• Reimagine the payments operations stack as an AI-native system, where humans manage exceptions, not volume
• Build and deploy agent-based workflows, LLM-assisted investigation tools, and real-time decisioning at scale
• Continuously raise the bar for what AI-forward operations looks like in a PayFac context
• Partner with Product and Engineering to ship internal AI tooling that compounds over time, as well as select external vendors
• Own portfolio-level losses, balancing growth, protection, and customer experience
• Thoughtfully evolve Boulevard's risk appetite and control frameworks in partnership with the GM Fintech
• Design and refine underwriting and monitoring strategies; proactively identify and address emerging risks
• Ensure adherence to applicable regulations, card network rules, and PayFac requirements
• Partner with Legal and Compliance to maintain strong control frameworks, audits, and reporting
• Manage relationships with acquirers, processors, and banking partners; represent Boulevard credibly in external risk discussions
• Serve as the central accountability point for Payments Operations across Product, Engineering, CX, Sales, and Finance
• Translate operational insights into product and policy improvements
• Lead a high-performing team across underwriting, risk, and compliance ops — evolving from manual processing to system oversight and exception handling

Skills

• 10+ years in operations, with 7+ years in payments, fintech, and/or risk
• Demonstrated success building AI-native decisioning systems — agent workflows, rules engines, ML-assisted approaches — that improved outcomes
• Experience deploying AI or ML tools in an operational context(fraud detection, investigation workflows, decisioning automation)
• Has built or managed LLM-assisted workflows, agent-based tools, or automated investigation pipelines
• Comfortable operating as a builder, not just a buyer — identifies where AI can replace manual steps and executes on it
• Deep expertise in payments, acquiring, and/or risk underwriting, fraud, chargebacks, and transaction monitoring
• Proven track record of owning portfolio-level performance with clear accountability for loss rates, approval rates, and operational efficiency
• Proven ability to lead operational evolution — moving teams from manual workflows to system oversight
• Senior-level experience engaging with external partners (acquirers, processors) and cross-functional partnerships across Product, Engineering, Legal, and Compliance
• Significant PayFac experience strongly preferred

Benefits

• 401(k) match plus dental, medical, vision, and life insurance.
• Flexible vacation day policy.
• Fully remote so you can choose where you want to work.
• Work from home stipend every month.
• Family planning resources and specialized support programs.
• Equity: get ahead on the ground floor and grow with Boulevard.
• Boulevard Bucks Learning and Development program allows employees to explore businesses in the market we serve.

Company Overview

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