Head of Risk

About the role

The Head of Risk will be responsible for defining and implementing Ondo's enterprise risk management (ERM) framework, covering protocol, financial, and operational risks. This includes setting risk parameters like collateral requirements and liquidation thresholds, and designing controls for treasury management and onchain liquidity. The role requires evaluating smart contract architectures for vulnerabilities and systemic risks, ensuring that risk considerations are integrated into product development.

A key part of this role involves assessing and managing counterparty risk for all partners, including exchanges, market makers, and custodians. The Head of Risk will also architect monitoring systems and dashboards for real-time exposure tracking and alerts, and lead scenario analysis and stress testing. This position requires establishing governance processes for risk decisions and advising leadership on the balance between growth, capital efficiency, and risk tolerance.

Success in this role means operating at both strategic and technical levels, demonstrating strong quantitative intuition to model and evaluate various risk types. The individual will have a proven track record of making critical risk decisions in dynamic environments where significant capital is at stake. This role is crucial for maintaining institutional-grade standards as Ondo Finance scales its blockchain-enabled investment products and services.

The listed salary range for this Head of Risk position is between $200,000 and $400,000 USD.

Skills that matter here

• risk management: The role requires 8+ years of experience in this field, spanning both traditional finance and crypto, to build and manage the company's risk function.
• equities markets: A deep understanding of these markets is necessary to inform risk parameterization and overall risk strategy.
• derivatives (including perpetual futures): Proficiency with derivatives is essential for evaluating financial products and setting appropriate risk controls.
• crypto markets: Extensive knowledge of crypto markets is required to assess unique risks and opportunities within decentralized finance.
• smart contract systems: Familiarity with these systems is critical for evaluating protocol designs for vulnerabilities and systemic risks.
• quantitative tooling for risk modeling and simulation: This skill is needed to develop and implement robust risk models and conduct scenario analysis.

Who this role suits

• A professional with 8+ years of experience in risk management, comfortable operating in both traditional finance and crypto environments.
• Someone with a deep understanding of financial markets, including equities, derivatives, and crypto, who can apply this knowledge to risk parameterization.
• An individual who can operate effectively at both strategic and highly technical levels, capable of defining frameworks and evaluating smart contract architectures.
• A person with strong quantitative intuition, able to model and evaluate various risk types and make high-stakes decisions.

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.