FinCrime EU Operations Senior Director

PowerToFly; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services provider in the UK is looking for an experienced leader to head their Financial Crime Operations function. The ideal candidate will possess over 15 years of expertise in financial crime across regulated environments and have substantial experience in the payments sector. This hybrid position focuses on operational excellence, regulatory compliance, and the management of large, diverse teams. Candidates must demonstrate strong stakeholder engagement and leadership skills to drive strategic initiatives and oversee transaction monitoring.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of financial crime experience within regulated financial services.
• Significant experience in the payments industry and operational processes.
• Experience managing large, multi-layered teams.
• Deep understanding of EU/UK regulatory frameworks.
• Proven success in operational scaling and data-driven management.

Responsibilities

• Lead Financial Crime Operations across regulated entities.
• Drive strategic planning and optimize workflows.
• Act as escalation authority for financial crime matters.
• Oversee transaction monitoring and client onboarding processes.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure operational readiness.

Skills

Financial Crime expertise (AML/CTF, sanctions, fraud)

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Decision-making capabilities

Education

Advanced degree or professional certifications (e.g., CAMS, CFCS, ICA)

Job description

Job Description

• Lead the end-to-end Financial Crime Operations function across regulated entities, ensuring operational excellence and regulatory alignment.
• Drive strategic planning, capacity modeling, and workflow optimization across Transaction Monitoring, Screening, KYC/Client Onboarding, and Live Monitoring functions.
• Act as the ultimate escalation authority for financial crime matters and complex investigations.
• Partner with 2nd Line teams including Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs) and , Financial Crime Policy on escalations, alignment and exception approvals.
• Build and scale operational programs in alignment with growth, new product launches, and geographic expansion.
• Ensure high-quality, timely execution of alerts, reviews, escalations, and investigations.
• Oversee processes related to:
  • Transaction Monitoring (AML and fraud)
  • Sanctions and PEP/Adverse Media Screening
  • KYC/Client and Banking Partner Onboarding and periodic reviews
  • Real-time/live monitoring of transactions
  • Client and bank partner inquiry responses

• Drive continuous improvement through automation, tooling enhancements, and workflow efficiency.
• Collaborate with various stakeholders (e.g. Risk, Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Product, and Engineering) to ensure operational readiness for regulatory changes.
• Partner with Compliance Technology Operations (CTO) and Model Risk Management (MRM) team for addressing necessary MRM related matters.
• Support regulatory exams, audits, and inquiries with strong documentation and operational insight.
• Partner with banking partners and external stakeholders to maintain trust, transparency, and timely communication.
• Lead, mentor, and develop large, diverse, multi-location teams across multiple functions.
• Build leadership depth, mentor managers and senior managers, foster high-performance culture.
• Foster a culture of high performance, accountability, and continuous learning.

This is a hybrid position. Expectationofdays intheoffice will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in Financial Crime (AML/CTF, sanctions, fraud, KYC, screening) within regulated financial services environments.
• Significant experience in the payments industry, covering operational processes and risk management across digital payments, money movement, or PSP/e-money institutions.
• Extensive experience managing large, multi-layered teams, ideally within global or regional operational environments.
• Deep understanding of EU/UK and global regulatory frameworks (e.g., BSA, AMLD, PSD2, sanctions regimes, FIU obligations).
• Proven success implementing operational scaling, process optimization, and data-driven workflow management.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with experience of engaging regulators and banking partners.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and decision-making capabilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in high-growth fintech or digital payments platforms.
• Expertise in automation and compliance technology, including case management systems, alerting tools, and operational automation.
• Advanced degree or professional certifications (e.g., CAMS, CFCS, ICA).

Additional Information

Visa is an EEO Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.