About the Role
We are looking for an experienced Operational Risk & Outsourcing Risk Management professional to lead and strengthen the organization's enterprise risk framework. This role will be responsible for identifying, assessing, monitoring, and mitigating operational and third-party risks across payment products, merchant acquiring, cross-border payments, and outsourced business operations.
The incumbent will partner closely with Business, Operations, Compliance, Technology, Information Security, Audit, and Leadership teams to ensure robust governance, regulatory compliance, and effective risk controls in line with RBI regulations and payment network requirements.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Risk Management
Lead the design, implementation, and continuous enhancement of the Operational Risk Management (ORM) framework.
Drive Risk & Control Self-Assessments (RCSAs) across business functions and ensure timely closure of identified control gaps.
Identify, assess, monitor, and mitigate operational risks across merchant onboarding, transaction processing, payment operations, and customer servicing.
Define and monitor Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), operational loss events, incidents, and control effectiveness.
Conduct root cause analysis for operational risk events and oversee remediation initiatives.
Own the lifecycle management of operational risk policies, SOPs, and governance documentation, including drafting, version control, and periodic reviews.
Outsourcing & Third-Party Risk Management
Manage the end-to-end outsourcing risk governance framework for critical third-party service providers.
Perform vendor due diligence, inherent risk assessments, onboarding reviews, periodic risk evaluations, and performance assessments.
Maintain a vendor categorization framework (IT/Non-IT, Critical/Non-Critical) and align risk assessment methodology with vendor criticality.
Monitor SLA adherence, vendor control effectiveness, and overall third-party risk exposure.
Partner with the Information Security team to conduct vendor security assessments and technology risk reviews.
Lead outsourcing governance during regulatory inspections, internal audits, and external audits while ensuring compliance with RBI Outsourcing Guidelines and PA Master Directions 2025.
Payments Risk & Network Compliance
Strengthen risk controls across merchant onboarding and merchant portfolio management.
Ensure compliance with RBI Payment Aggregator regulations, card network rules, and payment ecosystem control requirements.
Review Merchant Category Code (MCC) classifications and associated risk governance.
Assess and monitor risks related to cross-border payment operations and merchant activities.
Oversee transaction monitoring, risk thresholds, exception management, and payment risk controls.
Governance & Risk Program Management
Drive enterprise-wide risk initiatives in collaboration with senior leadership and executive office teams.
Prepare board-level risk dashboards, management reports, and regulatory submissions.
Partner with Compliance, Legal, Product, Technology, Operations, and Business teams to implement robust governance mechanisms.
Lead and coordinate regulatory inspections, internal audits, and external audit engagements.
Desired Candidate Profile
Experience
10+ years of experience in Operational Risk, Outsourcing Risk, Enterprise Risk, Risk Governance, or Internal Audit.
Experience within Banks, Payment Aggregators, Payment Gateways, Fintechs, or Digital Payments organizations is essential.
Domain Expertise
Strong understanding of RBI Outsourcing Guidelines and PA Master Directions 2025.
Hands-on experience in KYC, merchant onboarding, PAN validation, and third-party risk management.
Knowledge of Merchant Category Codes (MCC), transaction risk controls, payment network compliance, and cross-border payments.
Familiarity with operational risk frameworks including RCSA, KRIs, operational loss management, and control testing.
Technical & Leadership Skills
Working knowledge of SQL and/or Python for risk analytics and reporting is preferred.
Excellent stakeholder management with experience collaborating across cross-functional leadership teams.
Strong analytical, governance, communication, and program management capabilities.
