Head of Onboarding in City of London

Company Background

Britannia Financial Group is controlled by a long standing banking family with over 150 years of experience in the financial services sector. Our group has evolved through the decades by adapting itself to the new realities of the international financial environment. We are located in the City of London, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, a member of the London Stock Exchange and FIA Europe with specialist desks coverage. The firm covers all major exchange traded and OTC derivative contracts.

The Role

The Onboarding Team at Britannia sits within a new shared services company, CIMAS Consulting Group Ltd, as part of the support function for the Britannia Financial Group. As Head of Onboarding, you will be leading the team responsible for all matters related to KYC and AML, from onboarding up until activation. You will be accountable for continuing the strategy for the department, working closely with the Onboarding analysts, Compliance Oversight, Trade Surveillance and all other relevant stakeholders to ensure that the Onboarding Team is managing risks, as our first line of defence. You will ensure we remain compliant whilst providing great levels of service to our clients. The successful candidate will be responsible for improving and implementing our onboarding process and, in doing so, leading a team of Analysts who operate at Group Level. You will be responsible for the smooth running of the day-to-day operations regarding the onboarding of new clients, counterparties, GUAs, Introducers, payments processing, amongst others.

Main responsibilities (but not limited to):

• Being the first point of contact for all escalations and resolving these wherever possible.
• Being the subject matter expert on CDD and AML, providing ongoing training and continuous knowledge sharing with the team.
• Excellent understanding of FCA and other regulatory requirements for KYC, such as FATCA/CRS, and understand how to implement them in a risk-based approach.
• Evaluating and, where necessary, improving processes in accordance with our policies, to ensure that we meet rigorous KYC standards whilst building efficiency.
• Working with IT and Developers to implement automation, and system improvements.
• Working closely with the Head of Compliance to ensure we meet policies and regulatory requirements.
• Working closely with Senior Management, including CEO, Head of Legal, Head of Operations, CRO and Head of Sales, providing regular updates where needed.
• Significant stakeholder engagement with a commercial and practical approach.
• Implementing new regulations, with support from our Compliance team.
• Advising the business on complex and/or urgent business issues by undertaking analysis on conflicts/confidential information to help the business make informed decisions.
• Managing a team of Onboarding Analysts, including overseeing technical aspects of their work, delegating tasks and ensuring outputs are in line with expectations.
• Taking responsibility for managing relevant projects, participating and representing the Department’s interests in larger projects across the business.
• Assisting on different areas as required by the Head of Compliance and MLRO.

Skills and Experience Required

• 6+ years’ experience in a KYC/CDD managerial role within a Financial Institution.
• Educated to degree level.
• Knowledge of a wide variety of Financial Crimes Compliance laws and regulations.
• Payments experience is a bonus.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills is essential.
• The candidate will be able to demonstrable an ability to build and maintain good working relationships with key stakeholders.
• Ability to work proactively and independently, to think laterally and resolve problems, and to assess risks in a proportionate and business appropriate way.
• Good organisational skills and a proven ability to work under pressure, prioritise and deliver against deadlines.
• Proven ability to independently identify and escalate matters and proactively engage and coordinate with key stakeholders on remediation and enhancement efforts.