FinCrime EU Operations Senior Director

Company Description

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world. Join Visa and do work that matters — to you, to your community, and to the world.

Progress starts with you.

Job Description

• Lead the end-to-end Financial Crime Operations function across regulated entities, ensuring operational excellence and regulatory alignment.
• Drive strategic planning, capacity modeling, and workflow optimization across Transaction Monitoring, Screening, KYC/Client Onboarding, and Live Monitoring functions.
• Act  as the ultimate  escalation authority for financial crime matters and complex investigations.
• Partner with 2nd Line teams including Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs) and , Financial Crime Policy on escalations, alignment and exception approvals.
• Build and scale operational programs in alignment with growth, new product launches, and geographic expansion.
• Ensure high-quality, timely execution of alerts, reviews, escalations, and investigations.
• Oversee processes related to:

• Transaction Monitoring (AML and fraud)
• Sanctions and PEP/Adverse Media Screening
• KYC/Client and Banking Partner Onboarding and periodic reviews
• Real-time/live monitoring of transactions
• Client and bank partner inquiry responses

• Drive continuous improvement through automation, tooling enhancements, and workflow efficiency.
• Collaborate with various stakeholders (e.g. Risk, Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Product, and Engineering) to ensure operational readiness for regulatory changes.
• Partner with Compliance Technology Operations (CTO) and Model Risk Management (MRM) team for addressing necessary MRM related matters.
• Support regulatory exams, audits, and inquiries with strong documentation and operational insight.
• Partner with banking partners and external stakeholders to maintain trust, transparency, and timely communication.
• Lead, mentor, and develop large, diverse, multi-location teams across multiple functions.
• Build leadership depth, mentor  managers and senior managers, foster high-performance culture.  
• Foster a culture of high performance, accountability, and continuous learning.

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.  ​

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in Financial Crime (AML/CTF, sanctions, fraud, KYC, screening) within regulated financial services environments.
• Significant experience in the payments industry, covering operational processes and risk management across digital payments, money movement, or PSP/e-money institutions.
• Extensive experience managing large, multi-layered teams, ideally within global or regional operational environments.
• Deep understanding of EU/UK and global regulatory frameworks (e.g., BSA, AMLD, PSD2, sanctions regimes, FIU obligations).
• Proven success implementing operational scaling, process optimization, and data-driven workflow management.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with experience of engaging regulators and banking partners.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and decision-making capabilities.

 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in high-growth fintech or digital payments platforms.
• Expertise in automation and compliance technology,  including case management systems, alerting tools, and operational automation.
• Advanced degree or professional certifications (e.g., CAMS, CFCS, ICA).

Additional Information

Visa is an EEO Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.

Client-provided location(s): London, United Kingdom

Job ID: a163464b-fde4-4994-b2c1-11aa4274e0c9

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2026-01-05T16:46:23