Risk & Internal Control Officer

How you'll help us achieve it

As a Risk and Internal Control Officer, your mission is to safeguard Wave's operations by proactively identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks across all domains: strategic, operational, financial, technological, and reputational. You will play a critical role in enabling the organization to take controlled risks by designing and implementing robust internal control systems, conducting rigorous fraud and process analysis, and strengthening our risk culture.

With a learner's mindset and strong analytical skills, you will support Wave's sustainable growth in Senegal by securing operational resilience, protecting user trust, and guiding leadership in strategic decision-making through data-driven insights and optimized control solutions.

This role will report directly to the Risk and Internal Control Lead in Senegal.

In this role, you will:

• Support the implementation of Wave's risk management framework, including contributing to the design, deployment, and monitoring of internal control systems tailored to our business environment.
• Help identify and evaluate risks related to key activities, processes, information systems, production tools, and external events.
• Conduct risk assessments for new products, features, or process changes, in alignment with the company's scaling strategy.
• Contribute to the development and improvement of risk identification and prioritization systems, including relevant protection mechanisms.
• Design and perform preventive and detective controls based on the company's risk profile and follow up on their effectiveness.
• Assist in promoting a risk-aware culture by supporting awareness campaigns, training, and documentation initiatives across departments.
• Monitor internal reporting and escalation mechanisms to ensure timely detection, investigation, and resolution of risk issues.
• Support periodic reporting on risk and internal control matters, including dashboards and incident summaries.
• Contribute to the anticipation of risk trends, analyze emerging risks, and assess their potential impact on Wave's operations.
• Assist in preparing documentation and materials for risk committee meetings or communications with external stakeholders (e.g., auditors, partners, or regulators).
• Propose optimized process improvements based on control findings and risk assessments to support better decision-making by leadership.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with operational, finance, compliance, and other teams to align controls and risk mitigation strategies with business priorities.
• Perform ad hoc control reviews or risk investigations as needed by the business.

Key details

• Location: You'll work from our office in Senegal and may travel to field locations.
• Work authorization in Senegal.
• This is a Permanent position.
• Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula.
• We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents.
• We support working parents - we offer (26 weeks for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers) and subsidized child care when you return to work.
• We help you live your fullest life now- we subsidize gym memberships and fitness classes.
• Airtime reimbursement.
• Free food and a beautiful office space.

Requirements

• At least a Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Risk Management, Business, Economics, or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in internal control, permanent control, or internal audit.
• At least 2 years of hands-on experience in risk management activities (risk assessment, risk mapping, mitigation planning, etc.); knowledge of fraud and/or compliance is a plus.
• Strong analytical skills with a proven ability to conduct detailed technical investigations.
• Fluency in French and English, both written and spoken.
• Experience in mobile money operations or the financial services sector is an advantage.
• Prior exposure to international companies or multicultural environments is a strong plus.
  
  

You might be a good fit if you

• Are results-driven with a proactive "get it done" mindset.
• Bring high emotional and cultural intelligence.
• Thrive in fast-paced, high-pressure environments and can manage multiple priorities.
• Have a strong track record of collaboration across cross-functional teams.
• Are intellectually curious, creative in problem-solving, and view challenges as opportunities to learn.
• Work autonomously, take ownership, and know when to escalate or seek support.
• Default to over-communication to ensure clarity, alignment, and smooth coordination.
• Exercise sound judgment and maintain strict confidentiality when handling sensitive matters.
• Possess sharp analytical skills to assess complex data, spot patterns, and draw actionable insights.
• Propose practical and effective solutions to mitigate risks and address emerging challenges.
• Show adaptability and resilience when priorities or operations shift.
• Uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity in decision-making.
• Demonstrate strong attention to detail and thoroughness in all control and risk-related tasks.
• Communicate and influence effectively across all levels, from frontline teams to senior leadership.

Our team

• We have a rapidly growing in-country team in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Uganda, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon plus remote team members spread across the world.
• We're deeply passionate about our mission of bringing radically affordable financial services to the people who need them most.
• We foster autonomy for our employees. You'll own your projects at every stage, from understanding the problem to monitoring your solution in production.
• We raised the largest Series A in Africa in 2021. Our world-class investors, include Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, and Partech Africa.
• We are on.