# Risk Investigator

**Company:** [Mercury](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/mercury)
**Location:** Remote
**Role:** Other
**Salary:** $110k – $152k/yr
**Experience:** 3+ years
**Skills:** account takeover investigation, Fraud Detection, authentication systems, identity verification, account recovery, wire fraud, ach fraud, check fraud, identity theft, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Risk Assessment, playbook development
**Posted:** 2026-07-22

> Investigate and respond to account takeover (ATO) and third-party fraud incidents at a fintech company. Lead complex investigations, coordinate cross-functional recovery efforts, communicate empathetically with affected customers, and drive improvements to detection systems and processes. Requires 3+ years of financial services fraud investigation experience.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Lead complex investigations into suspected account takeover (ATO) incidents, exercising sound judgment to determine risk, containment, and recovery strategies.
- Own end-to-end response for high-impact and executive-visible ATO cases, serving as a primary coordinator across Fraud, Customer Support, Product, Engineering, Compliance, Legal, and Leadership.
- Communicate directly with customers during sensitive account security incidents, providing timely, empathetic guidance throughout the investigation and recovery process.
- Help develop and continuously improve ATO investigation policies, playbooks, and operational workflows to increase consistency, quality, and speed to response.
- Partner with Product, Engineering, and Risk teams to identify detection gaps and recommend improvements to authentication controls, fraud detection systems, and customer security features.
- Escalate emerging account takeover trends, attacker behaviors, and fraud vectors, working with leadership and partner teams to turn findings into actionable operational and product improvements.
- Provide subject matter expertise during critical incidents and help guide investigation strategy for the team's most complex and high-risk cases.
- Identify opportunities to automate repetitive investigative tasks and improve tooling, operational efficiency, and customer experience.
- Maintain clear, defensible investigative documentation that supports internal decision-making, regulatory requirements, and cross-functional collaboration.
- Mentor teammates by sharing investigative best practices, reviewing complex cases, and contributing to onboarding and training materials.

## Requirements
- 3+ years of direct experience investigating and responding to account takeover (ATO) fraud incidents within a bank, fintech, payments company, or other financial services organization.
- Deep expertise in account takeover methodologies, attacker tactics, authentication systems, identity verification, and account recovery processes.
- Experience identifying common bank fraud typologies, such as wire fraud, ACH fraud, check fraud, mule accounts, and identity theft.
- Comfortable leading complex, ambiguous investigations that require balancing customer experience, fraud risk, and operational efficiency.
- Exceptional customer-facing communication skills and experience managing high-impact or executive-visible customer incidents with professionalism, empathy, and confidence.
- Excellent judgment when making time-sensitive decisions that affect customer access, account security, and financial risk.
- Skilled at influencing cross-functional partners and collaborating effectively with Product, Engineering, Compliance, Customer Support, and Leadership.
- Communicate complex investigative findings clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing, to audiences ranging from customers to senior leadership.
- Track record of identifying operational inefficiencies and driving meaningful improvements through better processes, tooling, or automation.
- Highly organized and capable of managing multiple critical investigations while maintaining exceptional attention to detail.
- Enjoy mentoring teammates, raising the quality bar for investigations, and helping build a strong investigative culture.
- Strong product mindset and curiosity about evolving fraud threats, authentication technologies, and customer security.
- Motivated by protecting customers and continuously improving Mercury's ability to detect, investigate, and respond to account takeover threats.

## Compensation
**Base Salary**
- US employees in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: $121,700 - $152,100
- US employees outside of New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: $109,500 - $136,900

Total rewards package includes base salary, equity (stock options), and benefits. Salary and equity ranges are competitive within the SaaS and fintech industry.

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