Director, Financial Crime Risk Ops (Fintech)

TL;DR

Director, Financial Crime Risk Operations (Fintech): Leading the first-line financial crime risk operations globally, overseeing transaction monitoring, investigations, and sanctions screening with an accent on scalability and regulatory compliance. Focus on building high-performing global teams, designing robust control frameworks, and driving automation to optimize risk mitigation.

Location: London

Company

Airwallex is a unified payments and financial platform for global businesses, providing integrated solutions for payments, treasury, and embedded finance.

What you will do

• Own vision, strategy, and execution for global Financial Crime Operations across transaction monitoring, investigations, and sanctions screening.
• Build and lead high-performing multi-country teams, setting clear OKRs and operating rhythms.
• Oversee day-to-day alert handling and investigations to ensure high-quality, timely risk decisions.
• Design and improve SOPs, playbooks, and control frameworks in alignment with 2LOD standards.
• Partner with FCC, Regulatory Compliance, and Legal to implement risk appetite and support audits.
• Drive operational transformation through automation and data analytics to reduce manual effort.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in financial crime or fraud operations, including leadership of multi-country teams.
• Deep expertise in AML/CTF, sanctions, KYC, and transaction monitoring processes.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale operational teams and managing performance.
• Experience designing control frameworks and audit-ready documentation in sensitive environments.
• Strong partnership skills with MLROs, Legal, and Product teams.
• Bachelor’s degree; professional certifications such as CAMS or ICA are strongly preferred.

Nice to have

• Experience in global payments or cross-border financial platforms.
• Success in evolving tooling and rule-sets using ML-enabled controls.
• Prior engagement with regulators or law enforcement on financial crime.

Culture & Benefits

• High-growth environment valuing founder-like energy and true ownership.
• Culture of curiosity, speed, and first-principles thinking.
• Opportunity to work with a global team across 26 offices.
• Emphasis on using AI to solve problems and work smarter.