About the Role: We are seeking a Card Fraud & Chargeback Risk Strategist to own the risk performance of our bank card issuing program. You will be accountable for keeping the portfolio inside Mastercard's fraud and chargeback program thresholds, designing pre-authorization screening and authentication strategies, and managing the dispute/representment lifecycle from start to finish. Collaboration with the BIN sponsor, card scheme, and internal product, compliance, and data science teams will be essential to your success.
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What You’ll Do:
- Own portfolio-level fraud rate, chargeback rate, and chargeback ratio against Mastercard program thresholds; build monitoring, alerting, and early-warning layers that flag drift before it leads to a scheme program breach.
- Design and refine real-time pre-authorization screening strategies, including rule sets and risk scores based on acquiring-side data, 3DS outcomes, and issuing-side signals; manage approve/decline/challenge trade-offs and the associated false-decline costs.
- Manage the authentication strategy: EMV 3DS usage and exemption logic, MFA at application, step-up verification (liveness, GPS-verification, face verification) for suspicious card activity, and card freeze/unfreeze controls.
- Administer the chargeback lifecycle through reason-code level analysis, representment evidence design, win-rate improvement, first-chargeback and fraud-report reconciliation, and root-cause feedback into rules and product design.
- Develop merchant and MCC-level controls, including velocity limits per MCC, targeted controls for frequently attacked merchants (e.g., app-store and digital-goods merchants), and temporary merchant whitelisting via verified MFA.
- Collaborate with the BIN sponsor and Mastercard on scheme rule changes, program reviews, and audits; interpret new scheme requirements into concrete strategies and process changes.
- Quantify risk impact and control costs for prioritization and management reporting; collaboratively define the KPI set with the card business unit.
What We’re Looking For:
- Hands-on card issuing or acquiring fraud experience at a bank, card issuer, PSP, payment processor, or BIN sponsor; you have directly managed fraud and chargeback rates as critical metrics.
- Familiarity with Mastercard rules and dispute mechanics, including chargeback reason codes, the dispute/representment lifecycle and timelines, fraud reporting flows, and the scheme monitoring programs that constrain an issuer.
- Strong data analysis skills: SQL required, Python preferred; competent in independently building and validating detection logic on transaction-level and chargeback-level datasets.
- Ability to understand the attacker's perspective: knowledge of how card fraud rings source cards and accounts, methods used for testing and cashing out, and the unique vulnerabilities of debit-style products tied to exchange balances.
- Experience working collaboratively across risk, product, compliance, and external partners (including schemes, BIN sponsors, and processors).
Why Join Us
- Shape the future of finance.
- Collaborate with world-class talent in a user-centric global organization with a flat structure.
- Tackle challenging projects in a fast-paced and innovative environment with a high degree of autonomy.
- Thrive in a results-driven workplace with opportunities for career growth and continuous learning.
- Competitive salary and comprehensive company benefits.
- Remote-first, work-from-home arrangements (may vary depending on the role and team).
Our organization is committed to being an equal opportunity employer. We believe that a diverse workforce is fundamental to our success.
