Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money.
Min fees. Max ease. Full speed.
Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.
As part of our team, you will be helping us create an entirely new network for the world's money.
For everyone, everywhere.
More about our mission and what we offer.
Job DescriptionThe Regional Lead of AML Investigations is a leadership role responsible for the strategic direction and operational excellence of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) investigations. Beyond functional oversight, this role serves as a critical strategic partner to regional executives responsible for operations and service delivery.
The role is responsible for driving focused results that meet the rigorous expectations of the Regional Business/Operations Leads, defining the regional investigative strategy and governing the standards that ensure sustainable growth. By bridging the gap between complex regulatory requirements and operational efficiency, the appointed Regional Lead of AML Investigations provides the leadership team with the transparency and execution certainty needed to deliver exceptional service to Wise customers while maintaining the highest standards of financial integrity.
Job Responsibilities:
- Executive Partnership & Reporting: Act as a trusted advisor to the Regional Product teams, Regional Compliance officers and Business Operations, providing data-driven insights into regional risk profiles, investigative performance, and emerging threats.
- Strategic Oversight & Risk Mitigation: Lead a multi-layered AML organization function of approximately 200 people. Drive high-performance through leadership of 5 Senior Team Leads (direct reports) and 20 Team Leads, ensuring workflows are optimized for both high-volume efficiency and deep-dive quality. Proactively identify emerging financial crime trends and implement investigative strategies to protect the platform.
- Results-Oriented Execution: Drive the delivery of KPIs that align with regional business objectives, ensuring that AML operations support seamless service delivery and customer experience, aligning with the Global AML operation plans and objectives.
- Operational Excellence: Build and maintain scalable high performance teams, uplifting skills level, demonstrating proactiveness, ensuring the timely, high-quality filing of SARs/STRs.
- Team Leadership & Culture: Foster a high-performing, mission-driven culture of curiosity and integrity, building the technical expertise required to handle complex cases while continuously evolving the team structure to stay ahead of rapid regional growth. You will mentor Senior Team Leads, investigative leads and specialists, building the technical expertise required to handle complex cross-border cases.
- Stakeholder & Product Collaboration: Accountable for the regional roadmap of risk tooling, partnering with Product, Engineering and Global Compliance teams to architect automated investigative solutions.
- Operational Resilience & Scalability: Align investigative capacity with the regional growth roadmap, identifying resource gaps and implementing technological solutions to meet executive-level execution goals.
- Regulatory Liaison & Governance: Act as the primary regional lead for all internal audits and regulatory exams, ensuring our governance framework is always transparent and review-ready.
- Global & Matrix Alignment: Provide dedicated support to the Global Head of AML Operations and to the Head of AML Investigations Service Delivery by ensuring regional initiatives remain synchronized with the global AML strategy. You will act as a key conduit for information, escalating regional insights and implementing global best practices to maintain a consistent and unified approach to financial crime across Wise.
- Minimum of 5+ years in a leadership role within AML, Financial Crime, or Risk Operations, preferably in a fast-growing fintech or global financial institution.
- Extensive experience, typically 10+ years, in Operations (preferably KYC/AML, financial crime, compliance, or related fields within the financial services industry).
- Strategic Partner & Influencer: Proven ability to spot improvement opportunities, drive them through to delivery, and provide data-backed evidence of successful deployments.
- Outcome-focused Owner: Operates beyond a compliance checklist by deeply understanding the intent behind regulations. This leader takes full ownership of building a regional investigative function that effectively mitigates risk while enabling Wise to scale safely and sustainably.
- Product Centricity: Passionate about leveraging technology and automation to solve compliance challenges; you view manual processes as a problem to be engineered away rather than a status quo to be managed.
- Data-Fluent Decision Maker: Exceptional ability to use data to drive investigations, set regional KPIs, and identify emerging financial crime patterns before they become systemic risks.
- Master of Ambiguity: Thrives in a fast-paced, ever-changing regulatory landscape; you are comfortable making high-stakes decisions with incomplete information and pivoting strategies as regional requirements evolve.
- Matrix Leadership Excellence: Highly skilled at navigating a matrix organization, successfully balancing the needs of Head of Operations in the Region with the global standards set by the Global Head of AML Operations.
- Inclusive Team Builder: A hands-on leader dedicated to mentoring high-performing investigators and fostering a culture of intellectual honesty, curiosity, and integrity.
- Exceptional Communicator: Capable of distilling complex regulatory nuances into clear communication for stakeholders across different cultures, time zones, and technical backgrounds.
- Accountable & Reliable: A track record of managing high-pressure projects and regulatory exams with transparency, ensuring Wise remains "audit-ready" at all times.
Nice to have:
The ability to pull your own data using SQL to identify trends or bottlenecks.
Previous experience directly liaising with regulators during audits or license applications.
A background in Product-led companies, where you’ve influenced technical roadmaps to improve compliance outcomes.
Professional certifications like CAMS, or equivalent regional AML qualifications.
For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.
We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.
If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.
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Skills Required
- At least 5 years of leadership experience in AML, financial crime, or risk operations
- Typically 10 or more years of operations experience, preferably in KYC, AML, financial crime, compliance, or related financial services fields
- Proven ability to identify improvements, deliver them, and demonstrate successful outcomes with data
- Experience building and leading regional AML investigative functions that mitigate risk while enabling business growth
- Ability to leverage technology and automation to improve compliance processes
- Exceptional data analysis and KPI decision-making skills for investigations and financial crime trends
- Ability to make high-stakes decisions in an ambiguous, changing regulatory environment
- Strong matrix leadership skills balancing regional operations and global AML standards
- Experience mentoring investigative teams and building an inclusive, high-performing culture
- Exceptional communication skills across cultures, time zones, and technical backgrounds
- Track record managing high-pressure projects and regulatory exams with transparency
- Ability to pull data using SQL
- Experience liaising directly with regulators during audits or license applications
- Experience in product-led companies influencing technical roadmaps for compliance outcomes
- CAMS or equivalent regional AML certification
What We Do
Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world's money. With Wise Account and Wise Business, people and businesses can hold 40 currencies, move money between countries and spend money abroad. Large companies and banks use Wise technology too; an entirely new network for the world's money. Launched in 2011, Wise is one of the world’s fastest growing, profitable tech companies. In fiscal year 2025, Wise supported around 15.6 million people and businesses, processing over $185 billion in cross-border transactions and saving customers around $2.6 billion.
Why Work With Us
We’re truly global in who we are, how we work, and how we build. Everything we do is centred around creating a world of money that’s fast, easy, fair. And open to all. Everyone who works here owns a piece of Wise, from the work they do, to the stock they hold.
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Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
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