Risk Strategist

Relay is scaling rapidly, and we're expanding our Risk Strategy team to help safeguard our platform and the millions of small businesses that rely on it. We're looking for a data-driven, customer-obsessed problem solver who is excited to define risk strategy and drive meaningful impact - not just maintain existing processes.

As a Risk Strategist, you'll own projects end-to-end, analyzing fraud trends, backtesting and optimizing fraud rules, and collaborating closely with Risk Operations, Customer Experience, Product, Engineering, and Data to strengthen our defenses. You'll turn insights into rules, processes, and systems that protect our customers and directly influence how we detect and prevent fraud while ensuring a seamless, trusted experience.

At Relay, your work has real reach - helping millions of SMBs operate safely and confidently. If you're passionate about using data to solve meaningful problems, shaping risk strategy, and making a tangible impact, this is the role for you.

What You'll Be Doing

• Risk Strategy: Own the design and optimization of rules and strategies that balance fraud prevention, operational efficiency, and a seamless customer experience
• Data-Driven: Analyze onboarding, account, and transaction data to uncover emerging fraud patterns, vulnerabilities, and growth opportunities
• Design & Optimization: Develop, test, and tune fraud rules across customer touchpoints (onboarding, payments, account usage) to protect customers and reduce false positives
• Impact Measurement: Backtest rule changes to assess effects on fraud rates, customer experience, and operational workload
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with Product and Engineering to embed fraud controls in new features and products
• Risk Operations Partnership: Work closely with Risk Ops to ensure risk decisions are actionable, efficient, and scalable
• Tooling & Vendor Management: Implement automation, fraud tools, and external data sources to strengthen the risk engine
• Continuous Improvement: Monitor performance post-deployment, iterating rules and strategies to drive ongoing optimization
• Stakeholder Communication: Translate insights into clear recommendations for technical and non-technical stakeholders, aligning risk decisions with business objectives

Who You Are

• You have 2+ years of experience in fraud, risk strategy, or data analysis, preferably in fintech, banking, or payments
• You're proficient in SQL (joins, aggregations, window functions, subqueries) and can write efficient queries with minimal supervision
• You're analytical and curious, digging into trends to understand the "why" and using data to shape smarter fraud rules
• You own projects from start to finish, defining the problem, diving into data, and driving solutions to completion
• You're a strong communicator, translating complex insights into clear, actionable recommendations for technical and non-technical stakeholders
• You're collaborative and know how to navigate cross-functional work with Risk Operations, Customer Experience, Product, Engineering, and Data
• You're developing risk intuition, understanding not just what works, but why each decision drives downstream impact
• You thrive in fast-paced environments, tackling challenges, optimizing processes, and raising the bar across the team
• You're actively using AI tools in how you work today and you're excited to push what's possible with them

Bonus Points

• You have credit risk experience - comfortable with portfolio analysis, decisioning logic, and/or underwriting models
• You're proficient in Python for advanced analysis or automation
• You have worked in a startup or scale-up environment

The Interview Process

• Stage 1: A 45-minute Google Meet video call with a member of the Talent team
• Stage 2: A 45-minute Google Meet video call with the Manager, Risk Strategy
• Stage 3: A take-home case study followed by a 60-minute Google Meet video call with our team
• Stage 4: A 45-minute in-person interview with a member of the Leadership team

Our Compensation Approach

We believe Relayers should feel rewarded for the impact they have on our mission and growth. Compensation follows impact. As impact increases, compensation grows, and we do not limit compensation changes to a once-a-year review cycle.

The annual salary range for this role is $112,500 CAD to $137,500 CAD

For candidates who demonstrate full readiness for the defined scope of the role, the typical starting salary is $125,000 CAD. Offers below this point reflect candidates we believe can grow into the full scope of the role with support and development. Offers above this point reflect impact that meaningfully exceeds the role's defined expectations or an expanded scope from day one.

We encourage you to have a conversation with your recruiter and ask questions about compensation throughout the hiring process. For more information on our compensation philosophy and perks and benefits, visit our Candidate Hub.

Why Relay Might Be the Perfect Fit For You

• You push relentlessly for reinvention: You're always asking "how can this be better?" -- in your work, in your craft, in yourself. Comfort is a signal to push harder, not coast. You'd rather build something better than defend something familiar.
• You crave autonomy: We trust our team with big challenges and the freedom to solve them. If you're someone who takes initiative, is comfortable taking risks, and seeks input when needed, you'll find the freedom here empowering.
• You own your work: You take pride in your work, follow through on commitments, and feel a deep sense of responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks.
• You build with AI, not just use it: You're actively embedding AI into how you work, pushing what's possible, and bringing your team along with you.
• You care about impact, not noise: You care deeply about the substance of your work. You measure success by results, not recognition, and you let your work speak for itself.
• You're energized by complexity and ambiguity: You enjoy tackling problems that don't come with a playbook. You're comfortable building from scratch, iterating as you go, and collaborating to shape the best path forward.
• You seek out feedback: You see directness as respect, not criticism. You actively seek input, sit with hard truths, and use feedback as fuel for improvement.
• Small businesses are why we're here: Relay exists to help them thrive -- and that mission has to resonate with you.

Join Us

We're looking for people who are relentless, curious, and care deeply about the work. You're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't perfectly match the job description -- your perspective and drive matter more. We welcome diverse backgrounds and people who think critically, challenge the status quo, and want to help small businesses thrive.