Merchant Risk Officer

About Alma

Alma is the French leader in Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), operating in 10 European countries. Our mission is to put finance back at the service of merchants and consumers, not the other way around.

Today:

• 23,000+ active merchants
• 9 million consumers served
• 4.8/5 on Trustpilot
• A fast-growing team ensuring every transaction is secure, fair, and smooth

You will join a dynamic Merchant Risk Team, protecting Alma against fraud while helping merchants and consumers have a reliable experience.

About the role

As a Merchant Risk Officer, you will become Alma’s first line of defense against merchant risk.

Every day, you will analyze our merchants’ activity and behavior to identify risky situations as early as possible. Your role will be to understand early warning signs, investigate unusual situations, and make the right decisions to protect Alma, its partners, and its consumers.

More specifically, you will seek to answer three questions:

• Is this merchant using Alma in compliance with our terms and conditions?
• Does their activity present a financial, fraudulent, or regulatory risk?
• What actions should we take to mitigate this risk?

Key responsibilities

🔍 Monitor and assess merchant risk

• Monitor key indicators such as sales volumes, default rates, fraud rates, chargebacks, and changes in merchant activity.
• Identify unusual patterns, including sudden sales spikes, significant changes in activity, or inconsistencies in merchant operations.
• Assess merchant compliance and risk levels based on account information, activity, and available documentation.

🕵️ Investigate and manage alerts

• Conduct in-depth reviews of merchants suspected of fraud, non-compliance, financial difficulty, or insolvency.
• Analyze information about the company, its business activity, website, and commercial environment, using both internal data and public sources.
• Investigate alerts related to suspicious payments, unusual behavior, sales spikes, or the cessation of business activity.
• Make well-reasoned decisions, even when information is incomplete or contradictory, and recommend appropriate risk mitigation actions.
• Apply AML and CTF procedures whenever required.

📊 Report and improve risk processes

• Document investigations, identify emerging fraud patterns, and share key learnings with relevant teams.
• Contribute to the improvement of monitoring rules, control tools, and operational processes.
• Identify opportunities for automation and increased efficiency.

🤝 Collaborate across teams

• Communicate clearly with merchants regarding information requests, reviews, and risk decisions.
• Act as a risk point of contact for Customer Operations, Merchant Operations, Customer Success, and Sales.
• Collaborate with Risk, Fraud, Compliance, Legal, and Finance teams to foster a shared risk culture.

About you

You would be a great fit if you:

• Are thorough and enjoy investigating: you take the time to understand a case and do not stop at the first piece of information you find,
• Have a keen eye for detail: you can spot inconsistencies, early warning signs, and information that warrants further investigation,
• Are autonomous in your decision-making: you can move forward and make decisions even when not all the information is available,
• See things through: you follow up on your cases and do not leave situations unresolved,
• Have an analytical mindset: you are comfortable interpreting data and drawing actionable conclusions,
• Are interested in e-commerce, fintech, and fraud prevention,
• Are comfortable with uncertainty and change: risks evolve, and so do our processes,
• Communicate clearly, both in writing and verbally, in French and English,
• Are comfortable using digital tools. Knowledge of SQL is a strong plus.

Experience in operations, risk, fraud, compliance, e-commerce, fintech, or analytics would be an advantage. However, we will be particularly attentive to your ability to think critically, investigate, and learn quickly.

Why join Alma

• Offices in Paris (10th arrondissement) and Lille – Euratechnologies
• Health insurance fully covered for you and your family
• Meal vouchers (Swile)
• Sustainable mobility package
• Regular team events and internal talks

Recruitment process

The process includes:

1. Introductory interview with Talent Acquisition
2. Online test
3. Interview with Team Leads
4. Case Study
5. Case study Debrief with Experts and Team Leads
6. Team fit interview with Merchant Risk team members