The Role: Head of Compliance and MLRO
Location: London
Hybrid role
The Head of Compliance & MLRO will hold senior responsibility for the firm’s compliance, financial crime and regulatory governance framework. This person will act as the key compliance lead for the business, providing oversight across FCA requirements, AML/CTF, sanctions, fraud, KYC/KYB, transaction monitoring, regulatory reporting and wider compliance risk.
The successful candidate will be responsible for embedding a strong compliance culture across the business, advising senior leadership on regulatory matters and ensuring that policies, procedures, systems and controls remain effective and proportionate to the firm’s risk profile.
Key Responsibilities
- Act as the firm’s MLRO, with responsibility for the oversight and management of financial crime risk.
- Lead the compliance and financial crime function, ensuring the business meets all relevant regulatory obligations.
- Own and maintain the firm’s compliance framework, financial crime framework, policies, procedures and controls.
- Provide oversight across AML, CTF, sanctions, fraud, bribery and corruption, KYC/KYB, customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence and transaction monitoring.
- Act as a senior point of contact for regulatory matters, including FCA engagement, regulatory enquiries, audits and reviews.
- Advise the board, senior leadership and key stakeholders on compliance, financial crime and regulatory risk matters.
- Ensure appropriate systems and controls are in place to identify, assess, monitor and mitigate compliance and financial crime risks.
- Oversee suspicious activity reporting processes, internal escalations and high-risk customer reviews.
- Manage regulatory reporting obligations and ensure accurate and timely submissions where required.
- Monitor regulatory developments and assess their impact on the business.
- Support new product launches, market expansion, client onboarding and commercial initiatives from a compliance perspective.
- Lead compliance monitoring, assurance and control testing activity.
- Prepare and present management information, reports and updates for senior management, committees and the board.
- Support remediation, regulatory change and framework enhancement projects.
- Lead, manage and develop the compliance team, ensuring clear ownership, capability and accountability.
- Promote a strong compliance culture across the business.
Candidate Profile
- The successful candidate will be a senior compliance and financial crime professional who is confident acting as the firm’s MLRO and leading the wider compliance function.
- They will be technically credible, commercially aware and comfortable advising senior stakeholders on complex regulatory and financial crime matters.
- They will bring a hands-on approach, strong judgement and the ability to strengthen the firm’s compliance framework while supporting the business as it continues to scale.
Experience Required
- Significant compliance and financial crime experience within a regulated payments, fintech, EMI, banking or broader financial services environment.
- Previous experience operating as an MLRO, Deputy MLRO, Head of Compliance, Head of Financial Crime or senior compliance leader.
- Strong understanding of FCA requirements, UK financial crime regulations and payment services/e-money regulatory obligations.
- Technical knowledge across AML, sanctions, fraud, KYC/KYB, customer risk assessment, transaction monitoring and suspicious activity reporting.
- Experience building, enhancing or managing compliance and financial crime frameworks.
- Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage confidently with the board, senior leadership, regulators, auditors and external partners.
- Experience providing compliance advice on new products, client onboarding, commercial initiatives or regulatory change.
- Strong governance, reporting and policy-writing skills.
- Ability to operate in a hands-on, fast-paced environment.
- Commercially pragmatic approach, with the ability to balance regulatory expectations with business objectives.
- Strong leadership capability, with experience managing or developing compliance teams.
Desirable Experience
- Prior FCA-approved SMF experience, ideally SMF16 and/or SMF17.
- Experience within payments, e-money, FX, remittance, merchant acquiring, open banking, cross-border payments or embedded finance.
- Exposure to high-risk customers, complex onboarding, financial institutions, correspondent banking-style risk or international payments.
- Experience with regulatory applications, FCA audits, skilled person reviews, remediation programmes or regulatory change projects.
- ICA, ACAMS or equivalent compliance/financial crime qualification.