Chief Risk Officer — Payments Portfolio

The mandate

A deliberate change of pace is required to deal with a reset of enterprise risk ownership and board assurance within a multinational-owned diversified financial-services platform. The immediate arena is the payments portfolio during margin compression. For mandate 020, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Risk Officer operating perimeter covers approximately ₹4,600 crore in assets under oversight, with activity spanning several payments portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Risk Officer Financial Services remit carries direct influence over roughly 240 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Chief Risk Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the payments portfolio. The Chief Risk Officer Financial Services seat must resolve margin compression, while preserving the underlying strengths of the payments portfolio. For mandate 020, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Risk Officer’s first year on the payments portfolio is expected to end with early-warning quality, control effectiveness and regulator-ready evidence. In mandate 020, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is an urgent replacement for the Chief Risk Officer — Payments Portfolio seat following an accelerated leadership transition. Interim accountability is in place for the payments portfolio, but the board wants a permanent appointment within 6–8 weeks because margin compression cannot remain under split ownership. The predecessor’s outcome is being handled neutrally and professionally. The external search remains confidential until the preferred candidate and transition plan are agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Risk Officer value-creation thesis for the payments portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately ₹4,600 crore in assets under oversight, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Risk Officer Financial Services organisation of about 240 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the payments portfolio economics and execution constraints created by margin compression, with Chief Risk Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Risk Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the payments portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have held independent challenge authority and closed material issues with evidence accepted by board or supervisory review in mandate 020.
• Build the Chief Risk Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the payments portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Financial Services organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the payments portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a reset of enterprise risk ownership and board assurance, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Risk Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the payments portfolio, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable payments portfolio trend against early-warning quality, control effectiveness and regulator-ready evidence, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Chief Risk Officer’s agreed first-year payments portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Chief Risk Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the payments portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Chief Risk Officer mandate’s highest-priority payments portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical payments portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Chief Risk Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Risk Officer-owned improvement in the payments portfolio operating constraint behind margin compression, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 020: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a CRO, Deputy CRO or Chief Compliance and Risk Officer in a multinational-owned Financial Services or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the payments portfolio, your Chief Risk Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Chief Risk Officer brief.

As a Chief Risk Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Financial Services or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of ₹2,650 crore and led an organisation of at least 240 people.

For mandate 020, the board wants two transitions: a difficult payments portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during margin compression. As the prospective Chief Risk Officer for this payments portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 020 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Risk Officer role in Financial Services is based in Pune; relocation is expected, although a structured weekly commute may be considered during the first quarter.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of CRO, Deputy CRO or Chief Compliance and Risk Officer, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Financial Services governance forum.
• Proven Chief Risk Officer ownership of at least ₹2,650 crore and leadership of no fewer than 240 employees in a comparable payments portfolio context.
• One completed Financial Services or adjacent-sector example of a reset of enterprise risk ownership and board assurance with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks Chief Risk Officer-level payments portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Pune location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 020.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Risk Officer package is ₹2.2–3.0 crore fixed + performance variable, calibrated to the final payments portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 020 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Risk Officer appointment in Pune, centred on the payments portfolio, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 020.

Confidentiality

To protect the board, incumbent team and candidate, the organisation remains unnamed until a confidential conversation confirms mutual relevance for mandate 020. The operating facts have been rounded and blended expressly to remove identifying signals for mandate 020.