Lead Fraud Risk Analyst

Toast creates technology to help restaurants and local businesses succeed in a digital world, helping business owners operate, increase sales, engage customers, and keep employees happy.

We are seeking a sharp, analytical Lead Fraud Risk Analyst to join our growing Risk team. This role is critical to identifying early signs of transactional risk and merchant degradation through data-driven monitoring. You'll be responsible for detecting anomalies, analyzing behavioral trends, and designing custom monitoring strategies that mitigate risk exposure. You'll work cross-functionally with Sales, Finance, and Leadership to protect business health and proactively manage high-risk counterparties.

A day in the life (Responsibilities) 

• Build and implement early warning systems to proactively detect signs of merchant risk and transaction anomalies

• Analyze internal data to identify patterns of merchant degradation or irregular transaction behavior

• Design and execute custom monitoring strategies based on unique merchant profiles and risk indicators

• Take fast, informed actions based on emerging risk signals, consulting with Leadership and Risk stakeholders as needed

• Collaborate with Sales, Account Management, fraud ops  teams to contextualize data findings with real-world merchant relationships

• Conduct research to uncover and assess counterparty debt levels or financial stress indicators 

• Develop and maintain data queries and visualizations to monitor large exposures, fraud risks, or operational anomalies

• Partner with Risk Strategy, Underwriting, and Data teams to continuously refine risk detection logic and tools

• Contribute to the design of transaction anomaly detection systems and alerting frameworks for proactive intervention

• Ability to perform fraud review independently

What you'll need to thrive (Requirements)

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Data Analytics, Economics, or a related field

• 5+ years of experience in transaction monitoring, risk analytics, fraud detection or credit risk management

• Experience in fintech, payments, lending, or transaction monitoring platforms

• Strong data analysis and investigative skills with a focus on behavioral pattern recognition

• Proficiency in SQL and analytics platforms such as Looker, Hex, Snowflake and Python

• Python and SQL Mandate

• Strong communication skills and ability to translate technical findings into business context

• Ability to work cross-functionally in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with minimal supervision

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.

• Experience in retail sector

• Understanding of merchant or SMB-related risk dynamics, including sector or geographic exposure risk

• Leveraging AI for advanced analytics & reporting

• This is a hybrid rol