About the role
At Koalafi, we believe in a world where no one has to put an important purchase on hold. That’s why we’re making it easier for more people to pay for big purchases over time.
Retailers across the country rely on us to offer flexible lease-to-own financing to their non-prime consumers, while increasing sales and strengthening customer loyalty. Their 2M+ customers love us because we provide a flexible way for them to make payments and give them an opportunity to improve their credit. Our 200+ Koalafi teammates enjoy inspiring and challenging work that accelerates their careers.
Interested in learning more about how we’re transforming the financing experience and joining our team?
About the Role
Koalafi's Fraud Operations team is the front line of our fraud defense. Our investigators review high-risk merchants and customers every day, from merchant underwriting to real-time investigations of consumer financing applicants. As we scale, we are investing in tools, processes, and AI to make that front line faster, smarter, and more consistent.
The Manager, Fraud Operations Automation will be the embedded analytical and automation engine of the Fraud Operations team. This is not a “fraud investigator only” role. You will bring the fraud domain intelligence that drives our operations, pinpoint where investigators spend time on manual, repetitive work, and convert those processes into data-driven, automated, and AI-assisted workflows. The result: investigators get the insights they need to act on the right cases at the right time.
You will sit within Fraud Operations and work shoulder to shoulder with our investigators, while partnering closely with the Fraud Strategy & Analytics team on high-priority initiatives.
What You'll Do
AI-Driven Workflow Automation
Lead the design and build of AI agents and automated workflows that reduce manual effort across Fraud Operations.
Build and deploy AI agents that automate manual investigative processes, including merchant underwriting and real-time suspicious customer investigations.
Map current investigative workflows end-to-end, identify the highest-value automation opportunities, and deliver solutions that measurably reduce handle time and improve decision consistency.
Partner with Engineering, Data, and Fraud Strategy & Analytics to move AI and automation solutions from prototype to production, in line with Koalafi's long-term AI strategy.
Establish guardrails, quality checks, and human-in-the-loop controls so automated decisions remain accurate, explainable, and auditable.
Investigative Insights & Proactive Detection
Give Fraud Operations on-demand and proactive visibility into suspicious activity.
Deliver on-demand analysis on suspicious merchants and customers to support active investigations and escalations.
Proactively surface emerging fraud patterns, high-risk merchants, and linked customer activity before they become losses.
Build data-driven prioritization so investigators focus on the highest-risk cases first.
Support merchant monitoring with analytical deep dives that complement the policies and models owned by Fraud Strategy & Analytics.
Operational Reporting & Dashboards
Build the reporting backbone for Fraud Operations.
Design and maintain dashboards tracking investigator productivity, queue health, case outcomes, underwriting throughput, and fraud trends.
Replace manual, spreadsheet-based reporting with automated, reliable reporting.
Develop ad hoc reports for Fraud Operations leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Define and track operational KPIs such as time to decision, false positive rates, and investigator capacity.
Cross-Functional Partnership
Serve as the bridge between Fraud Operations and Koalafi's analytics, product, and technology teams.
Partner with Fraud Strategy & Analytics to translate front-line investigative findings into rule, policy, and model improvements, and to ensure manual review aligns with policy intent.
Work with Product and Engineering to embed automation and data tools into case management and merchant update workflows (including JIRA).
Communicate findings clearly to investigators, leadership, and partner teams, and help drive projects from idea to delivery.
About You (Qualifications)
Bachelor's degree required, preferably in a quantitative or technical field such as Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, or Data Science.
At least 5 years of experience in analytics, data science, business intelligence, or a related role in Fraud domain.
Strong proficiency in SQL and lightweight Python; comfortable working with large, unstructured datasets.
Hands-on fluency in building AI agents and LLM-based workflows (for example, using frameworks and APIs from leading AI providers) to automate manual, judgment-heavy processes.
Experience building dashboards and visualizations in tools such as Tableau, Looker, Power BI, or similar.
A builder's mindset: you get excited about finding manual processes and automating them.
Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and the ability to explain technical work to non-technical partners.
Thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, remote-first environment.
Nice to Have
Familiarity with case management tools, JIRA, and workflow orchestration.
Experience with anomaly detection, entity resolution, or link analysis.
Experience in consumer finance, lending, lease-to-own, BNPL, payments, or fintech.
Location: Richmond, VA; Arlington, VA; or Remote (U.S.). Associates near one of our office locations may work in-office, hybrid, or remotely. Remote opportunities are available to candidates throughout the United States.
Salary Range: $128,000-$165,000 per year (depending on experience and location)
Additional Compensation: This position will be eligible to participate in company bonus plan.
The final salary offer will depend on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skills, and geographic location. The actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.
Applications will be accepted until position is filled.
Why choose Koalafi: A career at Koalafi means opportunities to tackle exciting challenges every single day. We take pride in a culture of innovation, trust, and ownership. You'll get outside your comfort zone, build meaningful relationships, and most of all, take charge of projects that ultimately help people get the things they need most.
Benefits
At Koalafi, you will have a direct impact on our products and help shape the company’s success. We offer competitive compensation & benefits packages to keep you at your best:
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
20 PTO days + 11 paid holidays
401(k) retirement with company matching
Student Loan & Tuition Reimbursement
Commuter assistance
Parental leave (maternal + paternal)
Inclusion and Associate Engagement Programs
Who we are & what we value
We focus on what’s most important
We set clear expectations and deliver
We embrace challenges to reach our full potential
We ask, “How can this be better?”
We move fast together