Strategy & Operations Associate: Customer Risk Lifecycle

N26 Inc.; Barcelona; On-site; EUR 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation package with visa support

Work from home budget

Personal development budget

Language apps

Public transportation

Premium subscription to N26 account

Job summary

N26 Inc. is seeking a Steering & Planning Associate for its Customer Risk Lifecycle (CRL) domain in Barcelona.

You will bridge strategy and execution, translating ambitious goals into clear KPIs and outcomes, and partner with Product, Tech, Data, Growth, Finance, and more to drive risk-aware decisions. Join a high-impact team focused on safeguarding customers and the bank from fraud and financial crime through cutting-edge tech and data-driven processes.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in fintech, banking, consulting, startups or strategy roles in regulated environments.
• Strong grasp of scalable process design, automation and standardization.
• Analytical mindset focused on delivering data-driven impact.

Responsibilities

• Define and refine the Anti Financial Crime Strategy to enable data-driven trade-offs in CRL.
• Act as a subject matter expert on financial crime prevention and investigations.
• Lead continuous improvement by analyzing workflows, automating where possible and supporting scalable growth.
• Monitor KPIs and SLAs, review data and insights to stay aligned with objectives.
• Identify and prioritize product initiatives to optimize risk-rating and user experience.
• Manage vendor/external service provider relationships with performance tracking and SLAs.
• Develop business cases to evaluate cost, impact and value of new opportunities.
• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives end-to-end with clear ownership and timely delivery.
• Monitor performance against product KPIs and external partner delivery.
• Align stakeholders across Product, Tech, Data, Growth, Finance, etc., to drive execution.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional teams

Agile mindset

Analytical thinking

SQL

Excel

PowerPoint

English fluency

Stakeholder collaboration

Regulatory topics

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM/Finance/ Economics/ Business

Job description

About The Opportunity

We are seeking a highly driven Steering & Planning Associate for our Customer Risk Lifecycle (CRL) domain, helping achieve N26's ambition to be a pioneer in the prevention of Financial Crime. This presents a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge initiatives in an ever-changing space to safeguard N26 customers from fraud, scams, and digital identity attacks, and safeguard the bank against money launderers and money mules through their whole risk lifecycle. You will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between strategy and execution, helping N26 grow and run better by translating ambitious goals into clear KPIs and tangible results. In this role, you will be part of a high-impact team that acts as a strategic partner to leadership, driving value and business resilience across our core risk and compliance lines. If you are interested in learning how we leverage technologies like Machine Learning and Generative AI end-to-end - from a front-end UX perspective to back-end and staff tooling at onboarding, device pairing, payment, and card transactions - this position is for you! You will be working on initiatives that are at the heart of all risk-based decisions that support new and existing product propositions while ensuring compliance with future regulations.

In This Role, You Will

• Help ensure the Anti Financial Crime Strategy is well-defined, owning and refining the segment strategy to enable data-driven trade-offs across the Customer Risk Lifecycle.
• Act as a subject matter expert, developing a deep understanding of business drivers, infrastructure, and processes related to financial crime prevention and staff investigations.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives by analyzing workflows and performance metrics to identify inefficiencies, streamline processes, implement automation, and support scalable business growth.
• Monitor KPIs and SLAs to ensure alignment with company objectives, proactively reviewing data and performance insights.
• Identify and prioritize key product and strategic initiatives to deliver against our KPIs, uncovering opportunities to optimize the user experience and risk-rate customers effectively.
• Manage and maintain critical vendor and external service provider relationships, ensuring strong collaboration, performance tracking, and compliance with SLAs and risk management protocols.
• Develop business cases to evaluate the cost, impact and value of new opportunities.
• Lead and coordinate cross-functional initiatives end-to-end, ensuring strong project management, clear ownership, timely delivery, and continuous optimization.
• Monitor performance and optimize outcomes, including product KPIs, unit economics, and external partner delivery against SLAs.
• Act as the central connector across teams and partners, aligning stakeholders (Product, Tech, Data, Growth, Finance, etc.), resolving blockers, and driving execution on complex, high-impact topics in a dynamic environment.

Background

What you need to be successful:

• Minimum of 3 years of experience in fast-paced environments such as fintech, banking, consulting, startups, or corporate strategy roles—ideally within regulated industries or financial services
• Bachelor's degree in STEM, Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Management or a related field from a top-tier university.
• Strong understanding of scalable process design, automation technologies, and standardization best practices.
• An analytical mindset to deconstruct complex problems with a focus on delivering data-driven impact.

Skills & Traits

• Project management experience, particularly in cross-functional teams with Product, Tech, or Operations.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with diverse teams in a multicultural environment across various areas of expertise.
• Comfortable working independently on compliance and regulatory-related topics and engaging with relevant stakeholders.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.
• Agile mindset with strong problem-solving abilities and a proactive, growth-oriented attitude.
• Exceptional attention to detail and analytical skills; fluency in Excel and project management tools is essential.
• Proficient in SQL and confident in working with data to drive decisions.
• Strong storytelling and visual communication skills using PowerPoint.
• Passion for the banking and fintech industry, with a desire to deepen understanding of how N26 operates.
• Experience with operational processes optimization and understanding key drivers of customer satisfaction are a plus.
• Curious about new anti-financial crime technologies and how users and fraudsters will respond to them.
• Fluent in English.

What's In It For You

• Accelerate your career growth by joining one of Europe's most talked about disruptors.
• Employee benefits that range from a competitive personal development budget, work from home budget, language apps and public transportation.
• As an N26 employee you will have access to a Premium subscription on your personal N26 bank account. As well as subscriptions for friends and family members.
• Vacation days vary depending on your location of work. Additional day of annual leave for each year of service.
• A high degree of autonomy and access to cutting edge technologies - all while working with a friendly team of peers of diverse nationalities, life experiences and family statuses.
• A relocation package with visa support for those who need it.

Who We Are

N26 has reimagined banking for today's digital world. Technology and design empower everything we do and it's how we are building the global banking platform the world loves to use. We've eliminated physical branches, paperwork, and hidden fees for an elegant digital experience and supreme savings. Giving people the power to live and bank their way is what gets us out of bed in the morning and inspires the work that we do. We are headquartered in Berlin with offices in multiple cities across Europe, including Vienna and Barcelona, and a 1,500-strong team of more than 80 nationalities.

Equal Opportunities

We recognize that our strength lies in our people and the varied perspectives they bring to our workforce. We strive to build talented and diverse teams to drive our business success and empower our people to reach their full potential. We genuinely welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, neurodiversities, and ages. We're committed to creating an inclusive workspace where everyone feels valued and respected, free from harassment and discrimination.