Head of Onboarding & FinCrime Operations in Kennington

About AirwallexAirwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy.
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More than 675,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on.
We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design.
A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices.
We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do.
Read ouroperating principles to see it in full.About the team:Onboarding and FinCrime Operations is a global team responsible for KYC Operations, Name Screening and Transaction Monitoring at Airwallex globally.
This is a first-line-of-defence team and the largest part of the Operations division.
You will partner closely with 2LOD Financial Crime Compliance (including the MLRO teams), Risk Product and Commercial leaders across our key markets.The team is passionate about operational excellence and delivering an exceptional end-to-end customer experience.
The team thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and is committed to continuous learning, innovation and growth.What you’ll do:As the Head of Onboarding and FinCrime Operations, you will lead a global team responsible for defining procedures and delivering operational excellence in new client onboarding and periodic review.
You will ensure that Airwallex champions high standards for integrity, judgement and documentation in all aspects of financial crime operations.Responsibilities:Own the vision, strategy and execution for Onboarding and FinCrime OperationsBuild, lead and develop high-performing a globally distributed team, managing capacity to reflect business growthOwn the location and resourcing strategy of the team, solving for 24/7 coverage, quality of customer experience and cost efficiencyCreate a repeatable & scalable operating rhythm, including clear OKRsTake a data-driven approach to performance managementStrike the right balance between risk, customer experience and commercial impact, ensuring timely, high-quality decision making and communicationsDrive continuous improvement in the quality of procedures, playbooks and control frameworks, aligned to Airwallex financial crime and fraud policies defined by 2LOD and partnering closely with Risk Product and EngineeringEnsure that Airwallex continues to improve the quality and consistency of documentationLead AI transformation of the Onboarding and FinCrime Operations teamsThis role will be based in either London or Singapore.Who are you:We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role.
The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory.Minimum qualifications:Proven experience, including senior leadership in large-scale, multi-jurisdiction operations in a regulated financial-services or payments/fintech businessDeep knowledge of AML/CTF, sanctions, KYC, transaction monitoring and investigations processes and controls and how they map into first-line operationsProven track record of scaling FinCrime and/or Onboarding Operations across multiple product lines and geographies, and of building globally consistent performanceDemonstrated delivery of automation/AI-led transformation in an operations setting (or clear strategic + technical fluency to lead it)Strong commercial and analytical judgement — comfortable framing decisions in unit economics, scalability and return on investmentTrack record of operating at the Operations–Product–Risk intersection and driving cross-functional outcomes without full reporting-line authorityExperience managing outsourced / BPO / offshore capacity at scalePreferred experience:Cross-border payments; multi-entity, multi-licence environmentsComfort with a highly technical, API-first productDemonstrable evidence of driving tooling and rule evolution with Risk Product & Data teamsExperience of AI transformation in Onboarding and FinCrime OperationsTop-tier consulting or operator-investor background (structured thinking under ambiguity)Relevant professional certification (e.g., CAMS, ICA, ACAMs etc.) would be a strong plusApplicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party RecruitersTo protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for