Head of Financial Crime Control Governance

Overview

In this role you will lead the design, ownership, and operation of Wise’s 1LOD FC control governance across entities. You will ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the financial crime control environment and enable rapid delivery while keeping the framework audit-ready. You will work with Product, Operations, and 2LOD Compliance to govern controls, improve the library, and drive automation where appropriate. You will present insights to senior management and support regulatory exams. This is a strategic, high-impact role with room to grow the team as the programme scales.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the 1LOD FC control governance strategy and operating model across Wise entities
• Maintain the Financial Crime control library as the single source of truth and ensure hygiene
• Lead end-to-end control mapping across risks, processes, product, and obligations
• Enforce high-quality control documentation and continuous improvement of the assurance framework
• Advance automation in workflows and documentation (e.g., AI-enabled where suitable)
• Run control approval governance forums with senior sign-off and action tracking
• Prepare dashboards and trend analyses for senior management and risk committees
• Act as 1LOD point of contact for regulatory exams, walkthroughs, and audit requests relating to FC controls
• Lead and develop a small team with potential to grow as needed

Key requirements

• Significant experience in controls governance and risk within a regulated financial institution (bank, payments, fintech at scale, or consultancy supporting banks)
• Strong knowledge of financial crime risk domains (AML, sanctions, CDD/KYC, transaction monitoring, fraud) and their operational/control implications
• Proven ownership of control libraries, RCSA, and control lifecycle management with mapping to obligations
• Ability to run governance forums, manage senior stakeholders, and produce audit-ready records
• Experience partnering with 2LoD Compliance/Risk and supporting Internal Audit / regulatory reviews
• Strong prioritization, problem-solving, and ownership to deliver end-to-end projects with attention to detail
• Strong data literacy and ability to scrutinize metrics

• Stakeholder management
• Prioritization
• Problem-solving mindset
• Controls governance
• RCSA and control lifecycle management
• Control mapping to regulatory obligations

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