As a Senior Fraud Researcher at Plaid's San Francisco HQ, you will join the Fraud team to help companies detect and prevent financial fraud using transaction patterns, device signals, identity linkages, and behavioral data. Your day-to-day responsibilities include leading complex investigations, translating findings into detection improvements, and collaborating with Data Science, ML, and Product teams to enhance Plaid's fraud prevention products like Protect and Signal. You will operate across various fraud tooling such as dashboards, alert systems, and analytics platforms, stress-test existing capabilities, and identify systemic gaps for new detection primitives. Additionally, you will conduct deep research on how fraud types manifest in network data, experiment with advanced techniques, and continuously monitor external trends to inform product development. The ideal candidate has 3+ years of applied fraud experience, strong investigative skills, and proficiency in SQL, Python, and graph/network analysis tools.
Skills
Python
SQL
BI tools
anomaly detection
graph/network analysis
rule engines
AI tools
ML models
CI/CD
What you'll do
Lead complex fraud investigations across identities, accounts, devices, and transactions.
Translate investigation findings into improvements for detection models and products.
Operate Plaid's fraud tooling to detect anomalies and validate signals at scale.
Conduct deep research on fraud patterns in network data using advanced analytics.
Continuously monitor external fraud trends and perform threat modeling proactively.
What we're looking for
3+ years of applied fraud experience in high-velocity environments.
Proven ability to lead complex investigations and reconstruct attacker sequences.
Strong communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences.
Experience with data environments, investigative toolchains, and BI tools.
Dark web investigation experience and source credibility assessment skills.
Familiarity with rule engines, signal gating, and large-scale monitoring systems.
Market check
Salary context
This
$139,000–$191,400
range sits above
57%
of similar postings on FindRole.
Peer median band
$119,500–$204,500
Median floor and ceiling across peers.
Typical midpoint (25–75%)
$126,800–$201,700
Middle half of comparable postings.
Based on 238 comparable postings.*
* 240 is the maximum number of comparable postings sampled.
Employer
About Plaid
Plaid is a financial technology company that builds a data network powering digital finance applications, enabling consumers to securely connect their financial accounts to apps and services. Industry: Financial Technology & Data Infrastructure
Plaid currently has
127 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$186,000–$262,800
across 127 roles with salary data.
Visa
Visa DPS risk tools
card risk management systems
data analysis
process management
fraud rules
model management
analytics
reporting
Python
SQL
PostgreSQL
Tableau
Power BI
CI/CD