Payments Risk & Controls Expert
Mercor • Remote, Germany, USA
Education
Any
Type
hourly
Pay Rate (by country)
$80–$180/hr
Listed
74d ago
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About this Role
From the Mercor listing
Mercor is collaborating with a leading AI research initiative focused on evaluating risk and control assessments across payments operations. We are seeking experienced payments risk and operational risk professionals to author and review structured risk/control rubrics against real-world banking standards. This project offers a unique opportunity to apply senior-level risk judgment to improve the reliability of frontier AI systems. This is a time-sensitive, project-based engagement with near-term availability preferred.
- Review and author payments risk and control assessments across payment capture and validation, authorization, tracking, funds control, smart routing, FX conversion, netting, prioritization, returns, and tokenization
- Evaluate inherent risk, residual risk, and control effectiveness using standard impact-and-likelihood frameworks
- Map risks to controls and identify control gaps or elevated vulnerabilities
- Identify failure modes in payments capabilities (system failures, stale data, bypassed authorization, missed cut-offs, misconfigured routing/netting/funds controls)
- Provide structured evaluations with clear written justifications grounded in operational risk and RCSA standards
- 5+ years of experience in payments risk assessment, bank operational risk, risk and control self-assessment (RCSA), issue management, risk and controls, compliance risk assessment, or banking risk advisory
- Experience in titles such as VP / AVP Operational Risk Management, RCSA Program Manager / Lead, Business Risk & Control Officer, Payments Risk & Controls Manager, Payments Operations / Treasury Services Risk Manager, or Compliance Risk Assessment Manager
- Background at a top-tier bank strongly preferred (e.g., JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BNY, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley)
- Risk-control advisory experience at a leading consulting firm also considered (e.g., KPMG, Deloitte, PwC, EY, Accenture financial-services risk advisory)
- Comfort with standard payments risk lenses: execution and accuracy, authorization and fraud, data integrity, timeliness and cut-offs, client impact, and regulatory/compliance impact
- Strong command of inherent risk scoring drivers — transaction value and volume, time sensitivity, geographic footprint, client harm, regulatory and operational impact, reputational impact, and historical signals (operational risk events, KRIs, issues, limits, external events)
- Has personally created or reviewed risk/control assessments
- Can articulate the difference between inherent risk, residual/control effectiveness, issue severity, and remediation priority
- Excellent analytical and written communication skills
- Comfortable working independently with digital tools
Requirements
- Must be eligible to work in one of: Remote, Germany, USA
- Fluent proficiency in English (Written & Verbal)
- Reliable high-speed internet connection
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience
- Demonstrated expertise in Business
What to Expect
Looking at Mercor Business listings we've tracked, contracts in this domain typically run about 3 weeks. Actual length varies by project, but this gives you a realistic baseline going in.
Based on 29 extracted Mercor Business listings.
Why This Role
Monetize your niche expertise without the billable hours. At $130/hr, this role offers elite compensation for pure intellectual work, no client management or administrative bloat.
Skills & Categories
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mercor for freelancers or full-time contractors?
Mercor places you with one client for a defined engagement, like 'Python Tutor for 3 months', rather than having you grab small tasks from a shared queue. Most roles function as steady contract work, not one-off gigs.
Does Mercor's application require an on-camera interview?
Yes, every applicant records a video interview with an AI interviewer that asks questions about your resume. Clients review that recording to judge communication skills before matching, so there's no way to apply without going on camera.
Does it cost money to apply to Mercor?
No, applying and joining Mercor is free. Mercor's revenue comes from a fee it charges the client on top of your hourly rate, not from applicants. Treat any request for payment to join as a red flag.
Is AI training work the same as traditional consulting?
No. Instead of client deliverables, you're given complex scenarios to evaluate: grading the AI's logic, correcting its hallucinations, and supplying expert-level reasoning it doesn't have on its own. The job is closer to teaching than consulting.
Why do these AI training roles pay so much?
Because general knowledge isn't what's being tested. The model already knows the basics; what it needs is expertise on edge cases, the rare, difficult, highly technical judgment calls only a senior professional in the field would make correctly.
What does the day-to-day workload look like for elite-expert AI training roles?
Slow and deep, not fast and repetitive. A single task can take 45-60 minutes of researching citations or verifying complex calculations. Quality is what's being measured here, not throughput.
What does Business work look like for a Payments Risk & Controls Expert?
Tasks here are scoped to Business, not generic labeling. As a Payments Risk & Controls Expert, expect to draw on real domain judgment (evaluating outputs, correcting errors, or providing expert reasoning specific to Business) rather than following a one-size-fits-all rubric. If you don't have hands-on Business background, this is likely not the right listing to start with.
What happens when I click Apply on this listing?
You'll be taken to Mercor's external site to complete your application there. This listing links through a referral, but the process is identical to applying directly; the link just routes you correctly. Create an account on their site and follow their onboarding steps.
Can I apply from outside Germany or USA?
This specific role is open only to people based in Germany and USA. If you are somewhere else, applying is unlikely to lead to an offer even if you pass the assessment, because the restriction is usually about where the work can legally be contracted rather than your skills. Read the full description for any tax-residency or right-to-work caveats before you apply, since they can differ by country.
How soon will I start working after applying to Mercor?
Not immediately. Mercor is a talent marketplace, not a task queue, so applying puts you in a pool of candidates. You start working only once a specific client, like a major AI lab, selects your profile, and that matching process can take weeks.