Strategic Onboarding Manager

Equals; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Equals is seeking a Strategic Onboarding Manager to assess high-risk and complex customer relationships, ensuring alignment with risk appetite and regulatory requirements. The role focuses on onboarding a wide range of clients in the financial services sector.

You will lead Enhanced Due Diligence, high-level risk pre-assessments, and meetings with prospective customers, making decisions on approvals and influencing cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• 3+ years onboarding experience in payments/financial institutions.
• Experience with EMD Agent and BIN Sponsorship onboarding.
• AML/KYC regulatory knowledge and controls.
• Experience onboarding customers in cryptocurrency sector.

Responsibilities

• Conduct Enhanced Due Diligence on financial institution customers, UK-based and overseas.
• Perform high-level risk pre-assessments for prospective customers.
• Assess suitability for onboarding models (Whitelabel, EMD Agent, BIN Sponsorship).
• Present risk-based assessments to leadership with recommendations on viability.
• Attend customer meetings and site visits to verify business substance and AML controls.

Skills

Risk assessment

Regulatory knowledge

Stakeholder communication

Onboarding experience

Education

AML/KYC Certification (ICA/ACAMS)

Job description

As a Strategic Onboarding Manager at Equals, you will play a pivotal role in assessing high-risk and complex customer relationships, ensuring they align with the firm’s risk appetite and regulatory requirements. This role is onboarding-focused, meaning you will be directly involvedwith onboarding a wide range of different customers operating primarily in the financial services sectors.

You will be responsible for conducting high-level risk pre-assessments, enhanced due diligence and customer meetings & visits on prospective customers, and making decisions on whether to approve their applications.

This role requires a strong risk mindset, deep regulatory knowledge, and the ability to influence decision‑making at all levels of the business.

About you

We believe that certain skills are essential in order to be successful in this role and these are detailed below. You may not have all the other skills we have outlined as desirable; we

understand that and will still welcome your application. We will carry out individual interviews for shortlisted candidates and assess who is best suited for the role after we have discussed everything with you.

Responsibilities

• Conducting Enhanced Due Diligence on a wide range of different financial institution customers’ applications, both UK-based and overseas. This will include verifying the customer has sufficient AML controls, through documentation, desktop reviews and on-site visits.
• Conducting high-level risk pre-assessments of prospective customers that fall outside onboarding.
• Conducting suitability assessments with prospective customers, to ensure they are being onboarded under an appropriate model – this includes Whitelabel, EMD Agent and BIN Sponsorship models.
• Present risk‑based assessments to the Head of Strategic Onboarding and the Group Head of Onboarding, providing clear and well‑documented recommendations on the viability of new customer relationships.
• Attend customer meetings and site visits for both existing and prospective clients, to verify business substance, operational legitimacy, and AML controls/processes
• Support the wider Onboarding teams throughout the customer onboarding journey, offering advisory support.
• Provide guidance to commercial teams on how to appropriately support complex clients and businesses operating within higher‑risk sectors and jurisdictions.
• Work closely with Sales, Account Management, and first‑line teams, advising on new business opportunities, ensuring alignment with Equals’ risk appetite, and declining unsupportable cases.
• Attend industry expos and networking events alongside Sales teams, providing risk‑based insights on new client relationships and business opportunities
• Mentoring and supporting the development of more junior colleagues within the Onboarding teams.
• Contributing to the development and enhancement of internal Enhanced Due Diligence guidance documents, questionnaires and acceptance criteria manuals.
• Deputising for the Head of Strategic Onboarding when required.
• Strong risk assessment and analytical skills, with the ability to evaluate complex client structures, financial models, and risk profiles.
• In‑depth knowledge of KYC, AML, EDD, and regulatory requirements, particularly relating to high‑risk sectors, jurisdictions, and complex business models.
• Experience in complex client onboarding, including financial institutions.
• Ability to interpret financial crime risks and effectively communicate these risks to stakeholders.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to present risk‑based decisions to stakeholders.
• Confidence in leading client meetings and site visits, and attending industry expos.
• Strong decision‑making abilities, particularly in making risk‑based decisions.
• Collaborative approach to working with cross‑functional teams, including Compliance, Financial Crime, and Account Management.
• High level of accuracy in documentation, audit trails, and reporting, ensuring transparency and accountability in risk decision‑making.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 3+ years of experience in onboarding within the Payments industry, including financial institutions
• Experience of onboarding or overseeing EMD Agent and BIN Sponsorship customers
• Certification in AML/KYC (e.g., ICA, ACAMS) is highly desirable
• Experience with onboarding and compliance management systems
• Experience of onboarding customers operating within the cryptocurrency sector.