Head of Product Compliance

**Office**:
Singapore

**Team**:
Product

**Background**:
**Domain expertise**:
Builds a 1st line compliance team that aids product and operational teams in building and operating the product compliantly. Supports the existing leads, and builds out new control functions for any of these sub domains. This includes, but is not limited to, capital requirements, treasury, financial reporting, regulatory reporting, ICARA requirements, financial crime controls and others.

**Leading leads**:
Helps scale the team to think beyond the existing products and services Wise offers, to ensure there are trusted compliance professionals to help launch new products and deal with future risks. Team leader that is able to build a team of 50+ product compliance professionals, leading leads and developing competency maps and frameworks to help the professional growth of the team.

**Collaboration with product, operations & 2nd line of defence**:
Looks after the strategic development of the product compliance function as a trusted advisor and consultant to all areas of Wise beyond its existing focus today.. Has experience and a background in dealing with regulators globally and going through large scale regulatory reviews, new licence or product launches, and as required supporting the acquisition of new licenses and partnerships to enable growth.

Collaborates closely with the Product Leads and Directors, all Operational Heads, the Chief Compliance Officer, and the Head of Internal Audit to ensure consistent visibility, collaboration and ensure we are compliant in our processes and product offerings globally.

**Duties and responsibilities**:

- Ultimately responsible for building an organisation across functions which is capable of proactively identifying and mitigating risk in the first-line teams globally, across all domains and escalating to 2LOD, 3LOD when appropriate
- Identifying new risks at Wise (e.g. capital requirements, financial reporting obligations) and working with product and operations to mitigate these risks.
- Address risk-related themes by working across product engineering, compliance, and operations to prioritise, either directly or through influencing organisation structure and process changes.
- Identifies emerging issues and risks and ensures that this is factored into all growth plans and can be explainable to auditors, internally or externally
- Acts as a key representative at all Risk Committees and group board meetings.
- Help leads ensure controls are built in the first line. Guides decisions on the trade-offs between growth and risk, and is accountable for ensuring the risk profile in the first line is within appetite.
- Grows leadership within the product compliance area and support existing leads with hiring
- Work with the existing product compliance leads to ensure there are no ownership gaps. Equally, ensures that there’s no duplication of work across both product compliance teams.
- Works with 2LOD to ensure there is the right representation from the 1st line in global audits, that the audits have the accurate information about controls and that audit remediation plans are in place and not delayed
- Builds up the team structure and establish strategies on hiring, onboarding, performance management, competency and compensation maps, etc.
- Lead or sit on Wise’s risk committees and build them into more valuable exercises.
- Holds PC teams accountable to be able to balance and represent the needs of all first line teams including risk, growth, capacity, and customer experience.

**Skills/experience needed**:

- Excellent verbal & written English. You are proactive, clear, concise, and comfortable speaking publicly.
- Subject-matter expertise in a variety compliance related topics, with experience across regulatory and financial crime compliance. This may include things like ICARA, capital requirements, financial reporting, safeguarding, customer notification and complaints, license permissions, AML and/or KYC.
- Regulatory experience in any of the following markets: UK, US, EU, APAC
- Experience in presenting at board level meetings
- Experience in dealing with large scale global audits or regulatory reviews (e.g. Section 166s, Cease & Desist letters, Regulatory monitors and inspections)
- Management experience, managing a regulated financial institution’s compliance programme
- Strong communication skills, and comfortable speaking externally about compliance prevention topics
- Previous experience in team leadership, minimum of 10 years.
- Ability to travel as needed.
- Experience communicating complex information accurately, clearly, and quickly to all levels of management, regulators, auditors, and third parties.
- Experience completing time‐sensitive analysis of financial activities across multiple jurisdictions and countries.
- Proven track record of taking individual ownership and responsibilities as well as being a great team-player.
- Extremely strong analytical ability. Able t