Director, Fincrime Operations Excellence (UK/US)

About the role

The Director of FinCrime Operations Excellence is being hired to transform how FinCrime operations are run. This is not a role for someone who maintains and iterates. This is a role for someone who walks into a gap, diagnoses what is missing, designs the solution, and drives it to completion, while simultaneously keeping the operation running.

Responsibilities

• Build the operational framework from scratch
• Conduct a rapid assessment of the current operational state: what processes exist, what is undocumented, where quality is inconsistent, and where there are no standards at all.
• Design and implement a complete set of standard operating procedures covering alert triage, to drafting investigation summary that can be used for regulatory reporting, and queue management.
• Create escalation paths, handoff protocols, and coverage models that work across a globally distributed team and multiple time zones.
• Create the governance cadence i.e., daily stand-ups, weekly queue reviews, monthly quality reviews that keeps the operation running and productivity visible to leadership.
• Stand up queue management and productivity standards
• Define what good queue health looks like: target SLAs, acceptable thresholds for triggering backlog review and prioritization. Implement real-time queue monitoring dashboard to monitor productivity.
• Establish performance metrics.
• Build a productivity improvement program: identify the top bottlenecks in operations workflow, prioritize fixes, and track improvement over time. Own the case management system.
• Work with the Product to define the product roadmap for the case management tool, based on operational pain points and efficiency opportunities you identify.
• Ensure the case management system produces a complete, auditable record of every analyst decision. Data quality of the system is your accountability.
• Define and enforce the data entry standards and workflow discipline that make the system reliable for QA sampling, regulatory reporting, and management information.
• Build and own the quality framework
• Design and own the quality control and quality assurance framework — defining the standards, scoring rubric, sampling methodology, CAPA process, and reporting cadence that govern how Fincrime control execution is assessed. This framework is yours to create; the QC/QA Manager is accountable for executing it once built.
• Stand up an independent QA programme: sampling methodology, scoring rubric, reporting cadence, and CAPA process.
• Establish error rate baselines across all control types, set improvement targets, and track progress monthly.
• Ensure the quality framework is recognized by the compliance function as credible evidence of control execution standards.
• Global coverage and timezone management
• Ensure the operation has leadership coverage across all active time zones — designing shift structures, handoff protocols, and async communication norms for a globally distributed team.
• Be personally available for escalations and critical decisions outside standard business hours when required, and model the timezone flexibility you expect from the team.
• Build an operation that does not depend on any single timezone's working hours to function.
• Ongoing operational accountability
• Own queue health across all FinCrime control types — TM alerts, screening hits, CRR reviews, SAR pipeline — ensuring SLAs are met consistently.
• Report operational performance monthly to the Sr. Director and compliance stakeholders, with clear narrative on variances and remediation plans.
• Interface with the compliance function on quality findings, regulatory examination readiness, and control attestation.

Requirements

• 5+ years in operations management, specifically within a high-growth fintech or regulated financial environment.
• A history of architecting operational foundations, including establishing quality control framework and SOPs, from the ground up.
• Proven track record of identifying gaps/improvements and driving implementation.
• Direct involvement in influencing internal tools to drive efficiency.
• Experience managing globally distributed teams, working flexibly across multiple timezones.
• Strong knowledge of AML controls across customer risk rating, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, and fraud detection.
• You are motivated by the challenge of establishing order and clarity in an unstructured environment.
• Strong analytical and diagnostic skills to evaluate operational health rapidly and prioritize high-impact solutions for critical gaps.
• Clear and structured communicator, capable of building alignment between product teams, operations, and compliance leadership.
• Data proficiency, with the ability to establish key metrics and derive actionable insights from complex quality and operational datasets.

Bonus Points

• Proven background within a large-scale fintech operation.
• Familiarity with the financial crime tech landscape, including screening vendors, transaction monitoring rules, and case management systems.
• Direct experience managing complex operations across the Americas, APAC, and EMEA regions concurrently.