Director, Strategy & Operations - CEO Office

Airwallex; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex, a leader in AI-native fintech infrastructure, seeks a strategic leader for the CEO Office to shape high-priority initiatives across global expansion, product strategy, and financial infrastructure.

You will frame problems, drive alignment, and move complex programs from idea to measurable outcomes, collaborating with senior leaders across functions and regions. A fast-paced, high-ownership environment awaits.

Qualifications

• Minimum qualifications include experience in top-tier consulting, high-growth tech, investing, strategic finance, or similar high-performance environments.
• Proven track record leading complex cross-functional initiatives with measurable outcomes.
• Exceptional problem-solving and structured thinking abilities.
• Strong executive communication skills; ability to synthesize complex topics clearly.
• Ability to operate in fast-moving, ambiguous environments with high ownership.
• Strong stakeholder management across seniority levels and functions.
• High commercial judgment and operational pragmatism.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

• Scale new products and business lines globally.
• Lead international expansion and market entry strategy.
• Oversee regulatory and banking infrastructure initiatives.
• Design and optimize organisational effectiveness and operating models.
• Drive commercial acceleration and go-to-market execution.
• Engage in M&A evaluation and post-merger integration.
• Support AI-enabled operational transformation and global scaling initiatives.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, finance, legal, and regional teams.

Skills

Problem-solving

Executive communication

Structured thinking

Ambiguity tolerance

Cross-functional leadership

Stakeholder management

Commercial judgment

Owership and accountability

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

About Airwallex

Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 676,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.

We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full.

About the team

The CEO Office works directly with Airwallex’s executive leadership on some of the company’s most important strategic, operational, and organisational priorities.

This is a small, high-trust team responsible for solving complex, company-critical problems across global expansion, product strategy, financial infrastructure, organisational scaling, and AI transformation.

The team helps leadership navigate ambiguity, accelerate execution, and drive alignment across the company during periods of rapid growth and change.

Airwallex is building the global financial infrastructure for modern businesses. With operations spanning multiple continents and rapid growth across payments, banking, software, and AI-enabled financial products, the company is entering a critical phase of global scale and platform expansion.

This role offers close exposure to senior leadership, direct involvement in high-stakes decision-making, and the opportunity to work on some of the hardest scaling challenges inside a global fintech platform.

What you’ll do

As part of the CEO Office, you will work closely with Airwallex’s leadership team on high-priority initiatives that shape the direction of the company globally.

You will operate across strategy and execution: helping frame problems, drive alignment, and ensure complex initiatives move from idea to outcome.

Projects may include:

• Scaling new products and business lines globally
• International expansion and market entry strategy
• Regulatory and banking infrastructure initiatives
• Organisational effectiveness and operating model design
• Commercial acceleration and go-to-market execution
• M&A evaluation and post-merger integration
• AI-enabled operational transformation
• Cross-functional strategic initiatives tied to company priorities

You will regularly work with senior leaders across product, engineering, finance, commercial, legal, operations, and regional teams.

This role is best suited to someone who thrives in high-context, high-accountability environments and is excited by solving difficult problems with imperfect information.

The pace is fast, expectations are high, and the problems are often ambiguous, but the learning curve and opportunity for impact are exceptional. The role is designed for individuals who want to accelerate their development and take on increasingly broad leadership responsibility over time.

Who you are

You are intellectually curious, highly structured in your thinking, and execution-oriented. You are comfortable operating in ambiguity and able to move fluidly between strategic thinking and practical problem solving.

You are someone who:

• Learns quickly and enjoys steep learning curves
• Communicates clearly and concisely
• Has strong business judgment
• Can balance detail orientation with speed
• Is comfortable with high expectations and high ownership
• Enjoys building rather than observing

Minimum qualifications:

• Proven experience in top-tier consulting, high-growth technology companies, investing, strategic finance, or similarly high-performance environments
• Demonstrated track record of leading complex cross-functional initiatives and driving measurable outcomes
• Exceptional problem-solving and structured thinking abilities
• Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex topics clearly and concisely
• Ability to operate effectively in fast-moving, ambiguous environments with high ownership and accountability
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across seniority levels and functions
• High degree of commercial judgment and operational pragmatism
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience in fintech, financial services, or other regulated industries
• Experience working directly with senior executives or founders
• Prior experience in consulting, investment banking, private equity, venture capital, or strategic finance
• Experience scaling products, markets, or operational functions in international environments
• Strong data analysis and business modelling capabilities
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on execution

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page.

Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.

Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.