Fraud Strategist

About Tala At Tala, we’re applying advanced technology and human creativity to solve what legacy institutions can’t or won't. We are a global financial infrastructure company on a mission to unleash the economic power of the global majority, recognizing that today’s financial infrastructure doesn’t work for most of the world’s population. We’re the first and only platform to combine the intelligence of a credit bureau, the payments execution of a fintech, and the relationship expertise of a bank into one vertically integrated solution. Our platform is powered by an expansive moat of proprietary data and AI/ML decisioning technology, enabling us to deliver instant, reliable liquidity personalized to every customer's needs. Through our flagship credit app, we’ve disbursed over $7 billion in credit to more than 12 million customers across Latin America, Southeast Asia, and East Africa. These customers have leveraged Tala products to start and expand small businesses, manage day-to-day needs, and pursue their financial goals. Our pioneering work and proven impact have earned us consistent recognition, including being named to: CNBC’s Disruptor 50 for five years. CNBC’s World's Top Fintech Companies for two consecutive years. Forbes’ Fintech 50 list for nine consecutive years. Visionary investors, persuaded by the economic power of the global majority, have committed half a billion dollars in equity and debt to Tala's success. Given the global nature of our team, we operate on a remote-first approach with office hubs in Santa Monica, CA (HQ); Nairobi, Kenya; Mexico City, Mexico; Manila, the Philippines; and Bangalore, India. Most Talazens join us because they connect with our mission. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Tala, we’d love to hear from you! We are seeking a proactive and skilled Fraud Strategist to join our dynamic team. In this critical role, you will be responsible for leading data-driven fraud investigation and mitigation efforts within your designated markets. You will play a key part in driving SQL-based investigations to mitigate fraud losses, while also acting as the primary point of escalation for all fraud data related concerns. Success in this position requires a strong, collaborative spirit, as you will work daily with cross-functional teams, including Product, Analysts, Operators, Engineers, Customer Care, and Compliance, to protect our company and customers from financial fraud. What You'll Do

Fraud Investigation & Mitigation

Proactive Detection: Monitor and analyze transaction data to identify emerging fraud patterns and anomalies within the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indian markets.

Incident Management: Lead the end-to-end response to fraud attacks, from initial identification and quantification to the recommendation of mitigation logic.

Risk Modeling: Design and implement robust fraud rules and logic to minimize false positives while maximizing the detection of illicit activity.

Analytic Excellence

Data Synthesis: Leverage SQL and Python to conduct deep-dive analyses on large-scale datasets, transforming concerning data trends into actionable business intelligence.

Performance Monitoring: Develop and maintain automated dashboards to track real-time fraud exposure and health metrics.

Ad-Hoc Support: Serve as a subject matter expert for fraud data, fulfilling complex data requests for the KYC and Identity Product squads.

Timely Fraud Loss Mitigation

Rapid Response: Execute high-velocity interventions to mitigate ongoing fraud incidents, directly protecting company revenue and user trust.

Continuous Improvement: Regularly audit and refine existing fraud rules to adapt to the evolving threat landscape in high-growth markets.

Proactive Detection: Build fraud rules to detect abuse in new markets and products, balancing good user impact. 

Stakeholder Alignment: Act as a strategic partner to Product, Engineering, and Operations teams to integrate fraud mitigations into the product lifecycle.

Data Storytelling: Present weekly and monthly fraud loss performance and incident updates to Market and Product leadership.

Global Integration: Maintain consistent communication with a globally distributed team, ensuring alignment on mitigation strategies across different time zones.

Must be able and willing to work at least two hours during East Coast US business hours to ensure effective communication and collaboration with global teams.

What You'll Need

2+ years experience as a Fraud or Risk Analyst or Investigator in financial services or a related field within the fintech or digital lending industry. 

Advanced proficiency in SQL and Python for querying large-scale datasets, performing complex data transformations, and automating fraud detection workflows.

Experience identifying issues, analyzing root causes, and implementing effective solutions to improve global team efficiency and reduce fraud losses. 

Proven track record of recognizing fraud trends and properly escalating material fraud trends to leaders and peers in a timely manner. Ability to analyze data using existing tools to confirm fraud, identify trends, and measure the effectiveness of fraud controls

Deep understanding of financial fraud typologies specific to fintech and small loan lending, such as identity theft, scam, account takeover, synthetic identity fraud, and other first-party fraud methods.

Familiarity with the fraud lifecycle, from prevention and detection to investigation and recovery. 

Working hours must overlap during North American East Coast hours for at least 2 hours daily to work directly with globally disbursed colleagues. This role may require on-call scheduling during rare times of incidents.