Onboarding Manager

alt21

City Of London

On-site

GBP 90,000 - 120,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

ALT 21 is seeking a hands‑on Onboarding Manager to lead KYC, AML and financial crime processes for UK clients. You will own onboarding end to end, perform risk assessments and drive automation across systems and vendors. The role combines regulatory execution with technical connectivity and team leadership.

You will collaborate with the EU Onboarding Manager to align UK/European processes, coach direct reports, and push for efficient, compliant onboarding at scale in a fintech FX environment.

Qualifications

Extensive experience in client onboarding, KYC and CDD/EDD, with ability to run cases independently.
Hands-on with transaction monitoring and financial-crime alert handling.
Familiarity with FCA Handbook and JMLSG guidance; apply risk-based onboarding.
Ability to understand APIs, data feeds and integrations between systems.
Strong leadership, coaching and escalation management skills.

Responsibilities

Own new client onboarding end to end, reviewing accounts per policy and guiding to a decision using risk-based methods.
Screen for AML, adverse media, sanctions and PEPs; clear or escalate alerts as appropriate.
Conduct risk assessments for onboardings and help improve AML/KYC framework.
Apply FCA/JMLSG guidance with a proportionate risk-based approach to onboarding.
Perform ongoing due diligence and transaction monitoring; document rationale clearly.
Coordinate with partners, sales and clients to keep cases moving.

Skills

Onboarding KYC

Transaction monitoring

Risk management

APIs & data flows

Automation

Leadership & coaching

Excellent English

Tools

Credit Reference Tools

Screening Tools

CRMs

Microsoft

SQL

Job description

Role overview

This is a hands‑on onboarding and KYC management role at the centre of how ALT 21 onboards its clients. Reporting to the SVP of Operations, you will own the day‑to‑day review of new accounts against our onboarding policy and procedures - running screening, risk assessments, KYC and ongoing monitoring to completion - while applying a genuine risk‑based approach and your own judgement. You will also manage direct reports, acting as a point of escalation and a coach, and work closely alongside the EU Onboarding Manager to keep our UK and European processes aligned.

What sets this role apart is the technical dimension. ALT 21 is an FX fintech and automation is core to how we scale, so we want an onboarding manager who is comfortable with technology rather than fazed by it - someone who looks at a manual task and asks, \"why aren't we automating this?\", understands how our systems and third-party vendors talk to each other, and helps enhance those connections. Strong candidates will show some or all of these technical skills; the more you bring, the better. Everyone here is expected to be in the weeds - this is not a role for someone who wants to sit back and simply administer a process.

Company overview

ALT 21 is an innovative, award‑winning and dual‑regulated FX hedging technology company. We are a fast‑growing business with offices in London, Dublin, Portugal and Malta and have undergone significant change over the last year on the back of a large funding round. We build technology that simplifies hedging, providing a full suite of products distributed through our partner channels to SMEs. Our mission is to use technology to bring essential financial risk management products to everyday businesses in a way that is easy for them to understand.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities

Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following.

Onboarding, KYC & financial crime

Own new client onboarding end to end - reviewing new accounts in line with company policy and procedure and taking them through to a decision using a risk‑based approach.

Screen all new accounts and relevant persons for AML, adverse media, sanctions and PEP matches, and clear or escal*ate* alerts appropriately.

Complete risk assessments for all new onboardings and contribute to maintaining and improving the firm's AML/KYC risk‑assessment framework.

Apply FCA and JMLSG guidance and internal procedures, using common sense and a proportionate, risk‑based lens to get clients onboarded correctly.

Perform ongoing due diligence and transaction monitoring, investigating alerts and unusual activity and documenting rationale clearly.

Handle payments to and from third parties, including payment queries from counterparty banks and service providers, and understand the financial‑crime considerations these introduce.

Liaise directly with partners, the sales team and, where needed, clients - requesting information and documentation and keeping cases moving.

Automation, systems & technology

Challenge and remove manual work - take ownership of automation and vendor connectivity, delivering the improvements rather than just identifying them.

Maintain and enhance connectivity between our internal systems and third‑party vendors (screening, data, payment and monitoring tools), understanding how data flows via APIs, files and integrations.

Put AI to work alongside automation - apply AI tools and agents to speed up onboarding, monitoring and QA, responsibly and within compliance guidelines

Leadership & collaboration

Manage and coach direct reports, reviewing their work and helping them develop sound risk judgement.

Work closely with the EU Onboarding Manager to keep UK and European onboarding aligned and consistent across entities where possible.

Support the SVP of Operations and wider Compliance team on tasks and projects as they arise.

Person specification

You will be commercially minded and pragmatic, but with genuine respect for the procedures and guidelines set out by Compliance - able to move quickly without cutting corners. You are comfortable in a fast‑moving environment where processes and tooling change constantly. You will have strong initiative, judgement and attention to detail, communicate with professionalism and integrity, and have a bias to action: you own problems and see them through without needing to be micromanaged.

Essential

Extremely strong written and verbal English.

Solid experience in client onboarding, KYC and CDD/EDD - comfortable running cases independently.

Hands‑on experience with transaction monitoring and financial‑crime alert handling.

Confident navigating the FCA Handbook and JMLSG guidance and applying a risk‑based approach in practice.

Commercially minded, while consistently working within compliance procedures and controls.

Comfortable managing and coaching direct reports and being a point of escalation.

Technically comfortable — able to understand how systems talk to each other (APIs, data feeds, file transfers) and keen to automate manual work rather than accept it.