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Aave Labs is seeking a Head of Risk to lead the Risk team and own the company's risk-governance framework across its contributions to the Aave Protocol and its products. The Aave Protocol is the world's largest and most trusted onchain lending market, connecting decentralized finance with individuals, traditional finance, and fintech.
In this leadership role, you will coordinate with external risk service providers, set and monitor risk parameters, and provide final internal Risk sign-off on collateral onboarding, material protocol-risk recommendations, and product or strategy launches. You'll lead the Risk team and work closely with embedded quantitative, product, and engineering specialists, as well as external risk providers to ensure Aave's risk posture remains best-in-class as the protocol scales into new markets and asset classes.
Key responsibilities include: leading and building the Risk team with clear direction and standards; owning and evolving Aave's risk management frameworks and policies; establishing model-risk and data-governance standards for quantitative models and external risk inputs; reviewing whether product and engineering controls adequately implement approved risk requirements; establishing standards for external risk providers and data dependencies; owning governance and approval thresholds for protocol-risk parameters; approving collateral onboarding decisions; reviewing liquidation performance; leading risk governance processes and presenting analyses to the DAO; monitoring market structure changes; and driving a culture of ownership and accountability within the team.
Required qualifications: 5+ years of risk management experience with strong preference for DeFi or crypto-native background; proven experience leading and managing a risk team; deep understanding of the Aave Protocol, its markets, governance, parameters, and risk dynamics; strong grasp of market structure, portfolio risk management, and stress testing methodologies; experience governing risk for composable DeFi products or pooled strategies; experience working with or managing external risk service providers; strong accountability and ownership mindset; excellent judgment under uncertainty; and strong communication skills for governance proposals and stakeholder alignment.
Nice-to-have qualifications include previous DeFi governance experience, traditional finance risk management background (portfolio, credit, or market risk), and familiarity with risk tooling and simulation platforms used in DeFi.
