Sr Merchant Risk Analyst

Location: In-office — Minneapolis (North Loop, TractorWorks)

Company: Payva

Payva is a modern Buy Now, Pay Later platform built for the creator economy and digital businesses.

We partner with creators, coaches, and online entrepreneurs to help them sell high-ticket products more effectively by offering flexible payment options to their customers. Our platform is designed to increase conversion, improve cash flow, and unlock buyers’ access to digital products and services.

We are building a category-defining company at the intersection of fintech, commerce, and the creator economy, with a focus on speed, execution, and measurable outcomes.

We are hiring a Merchant Risk Analyst to join Payva’s Risk team and take ownership of ongoing merchant risk management across our platform.

In this role, you will serve as the primary point of contact for merchant risk monitoring and resolution — identifying, investigating, and remediating risk issues before they escalate. You will monitor merchant performance across a range of indicators including customer default rates, fulfillment, fraud, disputes, and complaints, and take action when merchants fall outside acceptable thresholds.

When a merchant is flagged, you will lead the response — issuing RFIs, reviewing merchant documentation, scheduling and running risk calls, and working with merchants to implement solutions that bring their performance back in line.

You will work closely with internal operations, compliance, and product teams to ensure our merchant portfolio maintains strong risk standards while supporting merchant success on the platform.

• Monitor merchant performance metrics across the portfolio,  including customer default rates, fulfillment rates, fraud indicators, dispute volumes, and complaint trends
• Maintain and manage merchant risk dashboards and alerting systems to ensure timely identification of elevated-risk merchants
• Issue Requests for Information (RFIs) to flagged merchants, clearly articulating the nature of the concern and required response
• Review and evaluate merchant responses, supporting documentation, and relevant transaction data to determine risk disposition
• Schedule and lead merchant risk review calls, presenting findings and facilitating constructive dialogue on remediation paths
• Develop and present tailored risk mitigation plans — including reserve requirements, volume caps, enhanced monitoring, or structured action plans
• Serve as the primary risk-side point of contact for merchants under review, maintaining professional and solution-oriented communication throughout
• Educate merchants on platform risk standards, expectations, and best practices for maintaining compliance
• Collaborate with merchant success, account management, compliance, and operations teams to align on merchant status and escalation paths
• Maintain accurate documentation of all risk events, RFI outcomes, call notes, and remediation actions in the risk management system
• Prepare regular risk reports and portfolio summaries for Risk leadership, highlighting key findings and emerging trends
• Contribute to the development of merchant risk policies, escalation frameworks, RFI templates, and monitoring workflows
• Support audits, regulatory reviews, and compliance assessments as needed

• 3 years of experience in merchant risk, underwriting, fraud operations, or a related financial services or fintech risk role
• Strong understanding of payment processing, e-commerce merchant operations, and common merchant risk indicators (chargebacks, fraud, fulfillment failures)
• Experience issuing and managing RFIs or similar formal risk correspondence with merchants or partners
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage merchants in a professional, constructive, and solution-oriented manner
• Analytical mindset with experience using data to identify risk trends, support decisions, and communicate findings clearly to stakeholders
• Proficiency with Excel, Google Sheets, or similar tools for data analysis and reporting
• Comfortable working cross-functionally and managing multiple active cases simultaneously with strong attention to detail

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at a payments company, bank, BNPL platform, or similar fintech environment
• Familiarity with risk management systems, case management tools, or BI platforms (e.g., Looker, Tableau)
• Knowledge of relevant regulatory frameworks such as card network rules or consumer protection requirements
• Experience facilitating merchant-facing risk reviews or escalation calls

• A well-maintained merchant risk portfolio with clear visibility into performance across default rates, fraud, fulfillment, and complaints
• Consistent, timely issuance and resolution of RFIs with thorough documentation and clear outcomes
• Merchants exiting risk review with clearly defined mitigation plans and measurable improvements in performance
• A strong cross-functional partnership with operations, compliance, and account management resulting in coordinated, effective merchant oversight
• Regular, high-quality risk reporting that gives leadership clear insight into portfolio health and emerging risk trends
• A reputation among merchants as a fair, knowledgeable, and solution-oriented risk partner