Fraud Strategy Specialist (Card Issuance)

About Us At Félix, we're building the financial ecosystem for Latin immigrants in the U.S., starting with a revolution in remittances. Our core product is an AI-powered chatbot built on WhatsApp, allowing our users to send money home as easily as sending a text message. We leverage cutting-edge technology like AI, blockchain, and stablecoins to make cross-border payments faster, more affordable, and more accessible than ever before. We are a hyper-growth Series B company, backed by over $100 million in funding from top-tier global investors, including QED, Castle Island, Switch Ventures, HTwenty, Monashees, and General Catalyst Customer Value Fund. This isn't just about the numbers; it's a testament to the trust our investors have in our vision and our team. Additionally, Félix was selected as an “Endeavour Entrepreneur” and was a recipient of the CrossTech Fintech Startups Award. We are a group of extremely talented and dedicated high-performers, united by our shared obsession with a single goal: empowering our customers. We are all owners of Félix, driven by a bias for action and a true experimentation spirit to get shit done with urgency and focus. Joining Félix means you will be part of a team building a legacy, a company that will outlive us all. This is a rare opportunity to apply your skills to a deeply meaningful mission—serving a community that has been underserved for too long. We are a team that is fiercely loyal to each other, where radical transparency and constructive feedback are how we grow and push for excellence. We are bold, we care less about what others are doing, and more about creating sustainable value and a product that truly makes our users' lives better. We are building the future, today. About The Role You'll join the Fraud Strategy team at Felix — the team responsible for how we detect, decide on, and prevent fraud across every product, payment rail, and country we operate in. We sit at the intersection of Data Science, Product, Operations, and Risk: we turn fraud signals into decisions, design the controls that stop bad actors, and make sure good customers move through with as little friction as possible. As Felix grows into new rails, new products and new markets across Latin America, our job is to let the business say yes to growth without letting fraud scale alongside it. Felix is building a new card issuance program, and with it, a new fraud surface: we'll own authorization decisioning end-to-end and carry direct exposure to card network fraud and dispute monitoring (Visa/Mastercard-style thresholds). This is a build role — there's no existing card fraud stack to inherit, and our infrastructure partner isn't a fraud team, so the decisioning architecture gets built by this role, from the ground up. We're looking for a Fraud Strategy Specialist to own that build: turn our vendor's area-of-responsibility split into a real decisioning architecture, keep us under network fraud and dispute thresholds from day one, and design the authorization strategy using the full toolkit — step-up authentication, velocity controls, holds, product-level friction — not rules as the default answer. Rules are a last resort here, not the first move. Responsibilities Own fraud strategy for the card issuance program end-to-end — from pre-launch risk assessment through steady-state monitoring after go‑live. Translate our infrastructure partner's area-of-responsibility split into an operating decisioning model. Card issuing infrastructure providers generally aren't fraud teams — authorization decisioning, onboarding fraud, velocity controls, and cross-account detection sit with Felix, and this role turns that into actual controls, not just a documented split. Design and own authorization decisioning for card transactions: approve/decline logic, 3DS/SCA step‑up, velocity limits, cross‑card/cross‑account linkage — biased toward product and action‑based controls over static rule sprawl. Own network-level fraud health. Monitor fraud‑to‑sales and dispute ratios against card network thresholds (Visa's VAMP, Mastercard's excessive chargeback program) and build the early‑warning system that keeps us out of penalty territory before it's a problem, not after. Build the cardholder fraud lifecycle: onboarding risk, first‑card‑use monitoring, BIN‑ and portfolio‑level pattern detection. Partner with Product and Engineering to embed controls into the card issuance and wallet funding/spend flow directly, instead of bolting rules on after the product ships. Own card dispute and chargeback strategy (network reason codes, representment approach) in partnership with Fraud Operations. Be the fraud voice in ongoing vendor conversations — our current issuing infrastructure partner and any future ones — keeping the requirements doc current as the program evolves. Use SQL/BigQuery hands‑on to size fraud exposure, backtest authorization thresholds, and monitor post‑launch indicators, iterating fast as real transaction data comes in. Build the playbook, not just the launch — so the next card product or market expansion plugs in without renegotiating fraud ownership from scratch. Requirements 4–7+ years in fraud/risk strategy, with direct, hands‑on experience in card authorization decisioning — issuer, acquirer, program manager, or processor side. Working knowledge of card network mechanics: authorization/clearing/settlement flow, 3DS/SCA, network fraud‑monitoring programs (Visa VAMP or equivalent, Mastercard excessive chargeback programs), and dispute reason codes. Experience working with or evaluating BaaS / program‑manager card issuing vendors (Stripe Issuing, Marqeta, Galileo, or similar), including fraud AoR/RACI negotiation. Advanced SQL — hard requirement, not a nice‑to‑have. This person needs to independently query and size risk, not route it to an analyst. Demonstrated bias toward product and action‑based fraud controls (step‑up auth, holds, dynamic friction) over rules as the default fix. Comfortable building in ambiguity on a 0‑to‑1 program — translating vendor documentation, legal, and compliance input into an actual operating model. Strong cross‑functional communication; this role sits at the intersection of Fraud, Product, Compliance, and an external vendor. Advanced English. Prior experience specifically with card issuing at a fintech or program manager (rather than acquiring‑side or card‑not‑present e‑commerce fraud only) (Nice to have). Familiarity with stablecoin‑backed card programs or general crypto experience (Nice to have). Spanish or Portuguese, given the LATAM corridor focus (Nice to have). Background in cross‑border remittance or LATAM‑market fraud (Nice to have). Experience negotiating or managing a BIN sponsor / issuing bank relationship (Nice to have). What We Offer Competitive salary Initial stock options grant Annual performance bonus Health, dental, and vision plans 401(k) with employer match Continuous learning opportunities Unlimited PTO Paid parental leave Empowering opportunities for growth in a dynamic entrepreneurial environment Equal Opportunity Employer At Félix, we are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants without regard to race, religion, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or disability. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, training, compensation, benefits, and termination. Want to learn more about our privacy practices? Check out our Privacy Policy. #J-18808-Ljbffr Félix