Manager, Operations Strategy

About the role

Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by a unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide - including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN, and many more - with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts and payments to spend management, treasury, and embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you're ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us.

We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you are motivated by our mission and operating principles (https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles). You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You are humble and collaborative; you turn zero-to-one ideas into real products and "get stuff done" end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you'll tackle complex, high-visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let's build what's next.

About the team

The Operations team at Airwallex sits at the intersection of strategy, execution, and customer experience. The Operations Strategy function drives process optimization, strategic initiatives, and cross-functional program delivery across Airwallex's global operations. We partner closely with Engineering, Product, Legal, Security, and Data teams to solve complex problems at scale, ensuring that our operational infrastructure keeps pace with Airwallex's rapid growth. This is a team where you will have direct exposure to senior leadership, work on high-impact programs that shape how the company manages risk and data, and grow through ownership of ambiguous, cross-domain challenges.

What you'll do

This role sits within the Operations Strategy team and is focused on driving our Data and AI Governance Program, a critical cross-functional initiative. You will work at the intersection of program management and operations strategy, facilitating working groups across IT, Security, Engineering, Legal, and Data teams to design and operationalize data and AI governance frameworks that reduce data access and use risks while supporting business operations. This work requires someone who can run sprints, align stakeholders across domains, apply critical thinking to access control models and data classification frameworks, and measure success for the workstream.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA.

• Own end-to-end program management for cross-functional data and AI governance initiatives: run sprints, track progress, and report to the steering committee via weekly updates and monthly calls.
• Map dependencies across domains and align stakeholders on data and AI governance strategy, priorities, and sequencing to ensure coherent implementation.
• Set the strategy for which data and AI governance frameworks get implemented, and assess whether they are proportionate to the risk they address.
• Define and track success metrics for the data and AI governance programs to measure impact and guide iterative improvements.
• Translate data and AI governance requirements into operational processes that reduce data access risk without blocking the business, including spearheading access management, review, and technical hardening processes.
• Run technical deep dives on access control implementation across existing systems like Okta, Databricks, and back office tools, and set the standard new systems must meet.
• Drive requirements and design documents through development, review, and approval by technical and non-technical stakeholders to ensure alignment and feasibility.
• Create a living AI model and use case inventory to enable the company to track AI legal and governance risks proactively.
• Partner with Legal to translate regulatory requirements into actionable policy and process, ensuring compliance and operational practicality.
• Act as the central point for cross-functional coordination, removing blockers and enabling efficient execution of data and AI governance initiatives.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience, preferably with a fast-growing tech startup, top-tier strategy/management consulting, or equivalent.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills are essential for dissecting complex issues and designing effective solutions.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, especially with Engineering and Legal teams, to drive alignment and execution.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in ambiguous environments and deliver outcomes without clear precedent or structure.
• Comfort with data and technology concepts, including access control models, data classification, and governance frameworks.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to translate requirements and report progress to diverse audiences.
• Proven experience managing cross-functional programs and coordinating dependencies across teams.
• High accountability for outcomes, with the discipline to track progress, measure success, and iterate based on data.

Attributes we value

We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you are motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You are humble and collaborative; you turn zero-to-one ideas into real products, and you "get stuff done" end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you'll tackle complex, high-visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let's build what's next.

Location: USA

San Francisco

Engagement: Full-time