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Airwallex is a $11B-valued unified payments and financial platform serving 250,000+ businesses globally, including Brex, Navan, and Qantas. The company operates across 27 offices with 2,300+ employees and is backed by leading investors including Sequoia, Visa, Mastercard, and T. Rowe Price.
As Head of Onboarding & FinCrime Operations, you will lead a global, first-line-of-defence team responsible for KYC operations, name screening, and transaction monitoring across Airwallex's markets. This is the largest team within the Operations division.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning the vision, strategy, and execution for Onboarding and FinCrime Operations globally
- Building, leading, and developing a high-performing, geographically distributed team while managing capacity for business growth
- Developing location and resourcing strategy to ensure 24/7 coverage, quality customer experience, and cost efficiency
- Creating repeatable, scalable operating rhythms with clear OKRs and data-driven performance management
- Balancing risk, customer experience, and commercial impact through timely, high-quality decision-making
- Driving continuous improvement in procedures, playbooks, and control frameworks aligned with financial crime and fraud policies
- Leading AI transformation initiatives within the operations teams
- Partnering closely with 2LOD Financial Crime Compliance, Risk Product, and Commercial leaders
You will need proven senior leadership experience in large-scale, multi-jurisdiction operations within regulated financial services or fintech. Deep expertise in AML/CTF, sanctions, KYC, transaction monitoring, and investigations is essential. You should have a track record of scaling FinCrime and Onboarding Operations across multiple product lines and geographies, delivering automation and AI-led transformation, and managing outsourced/BPO capacity at scale. Strong commercial and analytical judgment, cross-functional influence, and experience operating at the Operations-Product-Risk intersection are critical. Preferred qualifications include cross-border payments experience, comfort with technical API-first products, and relevant certifications (CAMS, ICA, ACAMs).
