Head of Risk

About the role

This role involves building and overseeing the entire risk function for Ondo Finance, focusing on institutional-grade standards across all products and protocols. The Head of Risk will define and implement a holistic enterprise risk management (ERM) framework covering protocol, financial, and operational risks. This includes setting risk parameters like collateral requirements and liquidity buffers, and designing controls for treasury management and onchain liquidity.

A key part of the work is evaluating smart contract architectures for vulnerabilities and systemic risks, as well as managing counterparty due diligence for all partners including exchanges and custodians. The Head of Risk will integrate risk considerations into the development lifecycle by partnering with engineering and product teams, and will architect monitoring systems for real-time exposure tracking and alerts.

Success in this position means leading scenario analysis and stress testing across various market conditions and protocol failures. The role also requires establishing clear governance processes for risk decisions, including escalation frameworks, and providing strategic advice to leadership on the balance between growth, capital efficiency, and overall risk tolerance for the firm.

The salary for this role ranges from $200,000 to $400,000 USD.

Skills that matter here

• risk management: This role requires defining and implementing a holistic enterprise risk management framework across all company operations.
• quantitative roles: The position demands proficiency with quantitative tooling for risk modeling and simulation, and strong quantitative intuition to evaluate various types of risk.
• traditional finance: Candidates should have experience spanning both traditional finance and crypto, with a deep understanding of equities markets and derivatives.
• crypto markets: Familiarity with crypto markets, smart contract systems, and common DeFi risk vectors is essential for evaluating protocol designs and managing onchain risks.
• smart contract systems: The role involves evaluating smart contract architectures for vulnerabilities and systemic risks, and understanding DeFi risk vectors.
• margining, liquidation engines, auto-deleveraging, and liquidity controls: Experience defining and managing these specific risk parameters is crucial for ensuring financial stability and preventing systemic issues.

Who this role suits

• You have a background in both traditional finance and crypto, with at least 8 years of experience in risk management or quantitative roles.
• You are adept at operating at both strategic and highly technical levels, capable of defining frameworks and implementing detailed controls.
• You possess strong quantitative intuition and a proven track record of making critical risk decisions in fast-paced, high-stakes environments.
• You are comfortable advising leadership on complex tradeoffs between business growth and risk tolerance.

From the employer

Responsibilities

• Define and implement Ondo s holistic ERM framework across protocol, financial, and operational domains
• Own risk parameterization including collateral requirements, leverage limits, liquidation thresholds, and liquidity buffers
• Evaluate smart contract architectures and protocol designs for potential vulnerabilities and systemic risks
• Design and enforce risk controls around treasury management, stablecoin exposure, and onchain liquidity
• Assess and manage due diligence process for all counterparty risk across exchanges, market makers, custodians, and other partners
• Partner with engineering and product teams to embed risk considerations into all stages of the development lifecycle
• Architect monitoring systems and dashboards to track real-time exposures and trigger risk alerts
• Lead scenario analysis and stress testing across market conditions, liquidity shocks, and protocol failures
• Establish governance processes for risk decisions, including escalation frameworks and cross-functional alignment
• Advise leadership on tradeoffs between growth, capital efficiency, and risk tolerance

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in risk management, trading, or related quantitative roles, spanning both traditional finance and crypto
• Deep understanding of equities markets, derivatives (including perpetual futures), crypto markets, collateralized lending, and exchange mechanics across both CeFi and DeFi
• Proficiency with quantitative tooling for risk modeling and simulation
• Strong familiarity with smart contract systems and common DeFi risk vectors
• Experience defining and managing risk parameters such as margining, liquidation engines, auto-deleveraging, and liquidity controls
• Demonstrated ability to operate at both strategic and highly technical levels
• Strong quantitative intuition with ability to model and evaluate market, liquidity, credit, and counterparty risk
• Proven track record of owning risk decisions in high-stakes, fast-moving environments with material capital at risk

What we offer

• Competitive compensation including but not limited to salary, future token rights, and/or equity (according to your preferences) — We are well-funded and believe that great talent deserves great compensation.
• Full benefits (medical, vision, and dental) and flexible vacation policy (PTO).
• Remote-first team across many countries — You will be an early team member helping shape our vision, culture, and design practices.
• A+ colleagues — Our team includes alumni from: Goldman Sachs, Blackrock, Two Sigma, Bridgewater, SpaceX, AWS, Meta, Google, McKinsey, Circle, Uniswap.
• Best-in-class investors — We are proud to be backed by leading crypto experts and VCs, including Pantera Capital, Founders Fund and Coinbase Ventures.