Fraud Analyst

Our mission

We're making Africa the first cashless continent.

In 2017, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.

We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. Now, we have millions of users across 9 countries and are growing fast.

Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent and that's where you come in...

How you'll help us achieve it

As a Fraud Analyst, you will play a key role in preventing, detecting, and protecting Wave's customers, agents, and the business from fraud risks, while ensuring our services remain user-friendly and accessible.

You'll handle complex fraud cases, conduct in-depth data analysis, and follow up with customers when needed. Additionally, you’ll lead occasional training sessions for our Fraud Communications team.

Reporting directly to our Fraud Team lead, this position offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on our fraud prevention strategies.

In this role, you’ll:

• Collaborate with Support, Risk, Operations, and Compliance teams to understand threats, query data, and recommend heuristic rule updates.
• Analyze fraud trends and patterns from reported cases to identify emerging fraud risks.
• Assist in coordinating with law enforcement, providing necessary information and evidence for investigations.
• Monitor and evaluate fraud detection tools, focusing on key metrics like accuracy and response times.
• Contribute to tool development or improvements based on observed efficiencies and feedback.
• Assess fraud risks periodically, identifying vulnerabilities among customers, agents, and staff.
• Use investigative skills and SQL queries to dig into fraud risk decisions and improve processes.
• Prepare fraud training materials and assist with stakeholder communication on fraud issues, including reporting and dashboards.

Key details

• Location: You'll work from our office in Côte d’Ivoire and may travel to field locations.
• Work authorization in Côte d’Ivoire is required.
• This is a permanent position.
• Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula.
• We run performance reviews twice a year and award bonuses or promotions to exceptional performers who have been with the company for more than 6 months.
• We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents.
• We support working parents - we offer 26 weeks of parental leave for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers, in addition to subsidized child care when they return to work.
• Airtime reimbursement.
• Free food and a beautiful office space.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or above in IT, business administration, finance, criminology, or a relevant discipline.
• At least 2 years of experience in the financial sector, focusing on investigations, fraud risk controls, or regulatory requirements.
• Proficiency in spoken and written French or English. Fluency in a local language is an advantage.

You might be a good fit if you

• Showcase strong analytical, interpersonal, and communication skills.
• Are self-motivated and thrive under pressure.  
• Demonstrate strong computer application skills.  
• Are creative and flexible, solving problems while focusing on finding the best solutions for our unique needs.  
• Communicate effectively and frequently, both in writing and in person.  
• Are detail-oriented and strive for excellence in everything you do.  
• Have intellectual curiosity, creatively approach problems, and embrace failure to spark innovation and growth.  
• Are excited about diverse projects and eager to contribute wherever needed.  
• Adapt swiftly to changing fraud priorities and conditions, and cope effectively with complexities.  

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 Y Combinator's top companies by revenue.

How to apply

Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English and a cover letter describing your interest in Wave and the role.

We review applications frequently and recommend that you apply to the role that most closely aligns with your skills, experience and career goals.

Wave is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.