Deputy Financial Crime Director

Our client is one of only six UK clearing banks with direct access to the country's payment systems. Built on modern, cloud-native technology, we provide businesses with secure, API-driven banking that's fast, compliant, and built for growth. Our role is simple: help ambitious businesses turn their plans into reality by removing barriers and simplifying complexity. If you want to work where technology meets banking, where security comes first, and where your work directly enables business ambition, you're in the right place.

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Deputy Financial Crime Director to support the leadership and development of the bank’s Financial Crime function. This senior role will play a key part in shaping and executing the bank’s financial crime strategy, covering fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, transaction monitoring, and client risk management.

Working closely with the Financial Crime Director and senior leadership team, the successful candidate will help lead the design and delivery of the bank’s Financial Crime Framework, ensuring it remains robust, scalable, and aligned with regulatory expectations.

While this role has broad oversight across financial crime disciplines, a strong background in fraud prevention, investigation, and payment fraud risk is essential, as the role will also lead and support the bank’s fraud strategy, initiatives, and operational capability.

Responsibilities

• Support the Financial Crime Director in the strategic leadership and ongoing development of the bank’s Financial Crime function.
• Provide senior oversight across fraud prevention, AML controls, transaction monitoring, and client due diligence activities.
• Lead and support the bank’s fraud strategy, ensuring effective prevention, detection, and investigation capabilities across payment products and client segments.
• Oversee fraud monitoring and investigation frameworks, ensuring robust controls are in place to detect and respond to emerging fraud threats.
• Act as a senior escalation point for complex financial crime and fraud matters, ensuring timely resolution and alignment with regulatory expectations.
• Work closely with Risk, Compliance, and Legal teams to ensure financial crime controls align with the bank’s overall risk management framework.
• Support engagement with regulators, payment schemes, and industry bodies, including Pay.UK where required.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives to strengthen financial crime controls across the bank’s technology platforms, products, and operational processes.
• Identify emerging financial crime risks, including fraud typologies affecting UK payment systems, and ensure appropriate mitigation strategies are implemented.
• Oversee financial crime MI and reporting, ensuring accurate and meaningful insights are provided to senior leadership, Board, and ExCo.
• Drive continuous improvement across financial crime operations through process optimisation, technology enhancements, and data-driven insights.
• Support the development of a strong financial crime culture across the organisation through training, guidance, and awareness initiatives.
• Provide leadership, mentorship, and strategic direction to financial crime teams across fraud, monitoring, and investigations.

Experience Required

• Extensive experience in financial crime leadership roles within a UK regulated bank, fintech, or payments institution.
• Strong background in fraud prevention, fraud investigations, and payment fraud risk management, particularly within UK payment environments.
• Deep understanding of financial crime frameworks including AML, fraud risk management, and transaction monitoring within a Three Lines of Defence model.
• Experience designing, implementing, or enhancing enterprise-wide financial crime and fraud control frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience leading fraud initiatives across retail or corporate payment products.
• Experience working with payment schemes and industry bodies such as Pay.UK.
• Experience engaging with regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority.
• Strong knowledge of fraud typologies, investigation techniques, and emerging financial crime risks affecting digital banking and payment systems.
• Experience with fraud and financial crime technology solutions, such as LexisNexis Risk Solutions and platforms such as ThreatMetrix.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder management skills with experience working across senior business, risk, and technology teams.
• Proven ability to interpret financial crime data, develop management information, and deliver insight-driven reporting to executive leadership.
• Strategic mindset with the ability to balance regulatory obligations, fraud risk mitigation, and customer experience.