Phoenix Technologies
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Phoenix is the Autonomous Commerce Platform for DTC Founders. We unify storefronts, checkout, payments, and operations into one platform where AI agents handle the operational grind and merchants focus on growth.
We set out to build the "Shopify of Direct Response" and along the way recognized something bigger. Direct response is roughly a third of all ecommerce transactions, a trillion-dollar market chronically overlooked by Silicon Valley. The merchants who run it are obsessive about tooling.
They live and die by velocity, conversion, and margin. They have no brand moats. They only compete on operations, which is exactly what makes them ripe for agentic disruption and the earliest, fastest adopters of AI agents in commerce.
That insight reframed Phoenix from "the Shopify of DR" to the AI Agent Platform for DTC Founders.
This is a category-defining bet, and we are running at it from a position of strength.
8-figure ARR growing 100%+ YoY
Strong unit economics and efficient growth
Rapid merchant adoption and expanding market presence
Backed by experienced operators and investors with a history of building and scaling successful businesses
This is a rare opportunity for a technical leader to step into a company with proven revenue, product-market fit, an established team, and a large market opportunity.
Three things make this an inflection point:
Product-market fit is established. Demand continues to grow, merchant adoption is accelerating, and Phoenix is outperforming expectations.
There is an opportunity to define a category. While many companies are building AI tools for commerce, few are focused on helping sophisticated DTC operators automate revenue-generating decisions at scale.
Our customers are AI-ready. They adopt technology quickly when it drives measurable business outcomes, creating an ideal environment for agentic products.
We are hiring a Payments Analyst – High-Risk Underwriting to evaluate and underwrite merchant and ISV applications before submission to acquiring banks and processing partners.
You will evaluate financial, operational, regulatory, fraud, and reputational risk across high-risk ecommerce merchants while working closely with merchants, processors, acquiring partners, and internal teams.
This is not a traditional back-office underwriting role. You will be expected to think critically, navigate complex or ambiguous merchant profiles, and find responsible ways to structure approvable business rather than simply follow an SOP.
You will work closely across:
Merchant underwriting
High-risk ecommerce
Merchant acquiring
Fraud and chargeback risk
KYC/AML and compliance
Processor and acquiring bank relationships
Merchant onboarding and payment operations
This role requires someone who is analytical, commercially minded, highly communicative, and comfortable making independent risk decisions in a fast-moving payments environment.
Review and make underwriting decisions on merchant and ISV applications prior to submission to processors, acquiring banks, and sponsor banks.
Evaluate:
Business models and transaction flows
Financial and bank statements
Processing history
Credit data
Chargeback exposure
Fraud risk
Overall financial and operational stability
Underwrite merchants across high-risk ecommerce, embedded payments, SaaS, subscription, and digital commerce business models.
Evaluate merchant compliance with:
Visa and Mastercard requirements
Card network rules
KYC/AML requirements
PCI DSS
Processor and acquiring bank requirements
Internal risk policies
Identify emerging risks and recommend appropriate controls while maintaining accurate, audit-ready underwriting documentation.
Develop and recommend strategies that appropriately balance merchant growth with risk.
This may include:
Reserves and rolling holds
Processing limits
Transaction monitoring
Fraud controls
Additional documentation requirements
Other operational safeguards
Prepare clear underwriting summaries, risk assessments, and approval recommendations for processors, sponsor banks, and acquiring partners.
Build trusted relationships with merchants, processors, acquiring banks, sponsor banks, ISVs, and compliance partners.
Develop a strong understanding of each merchant's:
Business model
Payment flows
Growth objectives
Processing challenges
Fraud and chargeback exposure
Operational risk
Serve as a strategic partner throughout the underwriting and merchant lifecycle.
Help identify payment strategies that support merchant growth while maintaining responsible risk management.
Provide recommendations around:
Authorization performance
Fraud prevention
Chargeback reduction
Payment processing efficiency
Processing costs
Overall payment performance
Identify opportunities to strengthen and expand existing merchant relationships where appropriate.
Partner closely with:
Sales
Partnerships
Client Success
Product
Operations
Leadership
Implementation teams
Help structure approvable merchant submissions, resolve underwriting challenges, support seamless onboarding, and communicate merchant feedback that can improve Phoenix's products and processes.
2+ years of underwriting experience within high-risk payments, merchant acquiring, fintech, or merchant services
3+ years of experience across payments, fintech, merchant acquiring, risk management, or financial services
Strong understanding of high-risk ecommerce and merchant risk
Experience underwriting merchants for ISVs, Payment Facilitators (PayFacs), payment gateways, embedded payment platforms, processors, or similar payments environments
Experience evaluating financial statements, bank statements, processing history, fraud exposure, and chargeback trends
Knowledge of KYC/AML requirements and acquiring bank requirements
Familiarity with Visa, Mastercard, NACHA, and PCI DSS requirements
Ability to make independent, data-driven underwriting decisions while balancing risk with business growth
Strong analytical, written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
Experience underwriting high-risk DTC, subscription, digital goods, or ecommerce merchants
Experience working directly with ISOs, PayFacs, processors, acquiring banks, or sponsor banks
Experience establishing reserves, rolling holds, processing limits, or other merchant risk controls
Experience with merchant portfolio monitoring and ongoing risk reviews
Experience improving or building underwriting processes rather than solely operating within established procedures
Experience working in fast-paced startup or high-growth payments environments
Strong merchant-facing or partner relationship experience
High ownership
Decisiveness
Strong recruiting and talent development capabilities
Accountability
Product judgment
Calm under pressure
Builder mentality
These are the values that guide how we operate:
All In to Win — Operate with urgency, intensity, and a relentless bar for excellence.
A Players Only — Only hire, develop, and keep A players. Protect talent density.
Merchant First — Merchants are why we exist. Every decision measured by merchant impact.
Entrepreneurial Spirit — Move like a Day One company. Fast, scrappy, hungry. Everyone owns.
Execution Over Ego — Best ideas win regardless of source. Status and titles do not matter.
After you apply, unlock the direct contact details of the people who actually make the call. A quick follow-up makes you 5x more likely to land an interview.
Marcus Rivera
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