Head of Risk
About the company
Hi, we're Ondo Finance. Our mission is to provide institutional-grade, blockchain-enabled investment products and services. We have both a technology arm that develops decentralized finance technology, and an asset management arm that creates and manages tokenized funds. We are the global leader in tokenized treasuries, tokenized stocks and ETFs, and are building the future of institutional-grade financial services onchain.
Founded by folks from Goldman Sachs Digital Assets Team, we’re backed by some of the best investors in the world including Founders Fund, Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Capital, Tiger Global, and more. We are currently the leaders in the space in terms of AUM and are well capitalized to continue growing the firm. We're fully remote, with team members across the U.S.
About the role
We’re looking for a Head of Risk to build and own Ondo’s end-to-end risk function across our products, protocols, and balance sheet. This role will define how risk is measured, governed, and mitigated across smart contract systems, trading activity, collateral management, and counterparties. You will work closely with engineering, trading, product, and leadership to ensure that Ondo can safely scale into more complex products such as perpetuals while maintaining institutional-grade risk standards. This is a high-impact, high-autonomy role responsible for shaping core decisions around capital allocation, liquidity, and system design.
Target outcomes
Implement a comprehensive Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework and playbook across smart contract, market, liquidity, and counterparty risk, with clear ownership and escalation paths
Oversee and optimize the risk engine to manage margin requirements, liquidation protocols, risk-adjusted limits for collaterals, and liquidity parameters with the goal to balance growth and downside protection
Embed risk-aware product design into all new launches, including perps and other leveraged products covering oracle reliability, tail-risk and exploit vectors
Develop an automated Risk Dashboard with real-time monitoring and implement reporting systems that provide clear visibility into firm-wide risk exposure
Oversee resilient and rigorous risk engine design to ensure system stress tests handling capabilities, scenario analysis (flash-crash, black swan de-pegs, liquidity shocks), ensure adequacy of capital buffers to maintain platform stability
Mapping out custody risk: qualified custodians, segregation of assets, insurance if possible, proof-of-reserves, hot wallet exposure, and operational controls around key management / multisig / MPC
Design and calibrate withdrawal, redemption, and liquidity mechanisms to reduce systemic risk while maintaining a strong user experience
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
Nice to haves
Experience at a centralized crypto exchange, derivatives venue, or market maker
Insurance domain knowledge, particularly in ****D&O, crime, cyber, and smart-contract coverage
Background in building or scaling risk functions from scratch
Hands-on experience with onchain analytics tools and real-time risk monitoring infrastructure
Familiarity with regulatory frameworks relevant to tokenized securities
Experience working with hybrid or distributed teams
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.