Head of Financial Crime Operations (Central Manchester)

Please note: This is a single position. We are considering candidates from both our London and Manchester locations, so you may see this role advertised for either. There is only one role available, and we welcome applications from candidates based in or able to work from either location.

What We’re All About at Kroo

At Kroo Bank, we're building a better bank from the ground up. One that puts customers first, treats money responsibly, and uses technology to make everyday banking simpler, fairer and more transparent. We're a fully regulated UK bank, backed by long-term investors, with a growing customer base and big ambitions. We move fast, think carefully, and hold ourselves to high standards, whether that's how we build products, manage risk, or look after our people.

How you will contribute and key responsibilities:

As the Head of Financial Crime Operations, you will lead, inspire and oversee all Financial Crime operational functions across the bank, including KYC, AML, Transaction Monitoring, Fraud, Quality, Strategy and Controls. The core purpose of the role is the outstanding management of a complex, high volume operation, ensuring the department consistently meets its Service Level Agreements while robustly managing regulatory and operational risks. You will be a brilliant people leader, motivating, mentoring and developing a diverse team of financial crime professionals and fostering a supportive, high performing culture. While your primary focus is operational excellence and leadership, you will also support our technology journey, drawing on knowledge of financial crime technology and experience managing third party platform providers to collaborate effectively with product and engineering teams. Other responsibilities include:

• Lead and inspire the KYC, AML, Transaction Monitoring, Fraud, Quality, Strategy and Controls teams, ensuring clear direction and professional development across all levels.
• Manage daily operations to ensure all tasks are executed within agreed SLAs and quality standards, maintaining maximum efficiency without compromising compliance.
• Build and maintain highly collaborative partnerships across the bank, particularly with Customer Service Operations to ensure seamless customer journeys, and the Second Line of Defence to ensure absolute alignment with risk appetite and policy.
• Act as a key bridge between first line operations and the Second Line of Defence, translating risk policies into clear, actionable operational processes.
• Cultivate a culture of continuous learning, motivation, and career progression, ensuring team members are supported, engaged, and highly skilled.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for complex financial crime cases, applying sound, risk based judgement to resolve difficult scenarios.
• Monitor and report on key operational metrics, SLAs, and risk indicators, providing clear and actionable management information to senior leadership.
• Ensure operational frameworks, processes, and controls are robust, audit ready, and continuously optimised to address emerging financial crime risks.
• Support financial crime change and transformation initiatives, collaborating with product and technology teams to help shape system enhancements and automated workflows.
• Manage key relationships with third party financial crime technology and service providers to ensure service delivery aligns with Kroo Bank standards.
• Support the Chief Operating Officer and MLRO in representing the bank's operational financial crime framework to regulators, auditors, and external partners.
• Ensure effective resource planning, capacity management, and workload prioritisation across all financial crime teams to support business growth.
• Other duties as assigned to meet business needs.

Skills

• Ability to lead and inspire multiple teams across different financial crime disciplines.

• Ability to design and implement scalable financial crime frameworks and operational strategies.

• Ability to interpret and apply complex regulatory requirements within a fast paced environment.

• Ability to make high impact decisions within the bank's risk appetite and governance structure.

• Ability to oversee and enhance transaction monitoring, investigations, and fraud prevention systems.

• Ability to communicate effectively with executive stakeholders including the COO and MLRO.

• Ability to analyse complex data, identify emerging risks, and implement proactive mitigation strategies.

• Ability to manage competing priorities and drive operational efficiency across large functions.

• Ability to influence stakeholders and embed a strong financial crime culture across the organisation.

• Ability to produce clear, concise, and high quality reporting for senior management and regulators.

Qualifications

• Professional certification in financial crime or compliance such as ICA, ACAMS, or equivalent would be ideal but not essential.

• Strong working knowledge of UK regulatory frameworks including FCA expectations and the Proceeds of Crime Act.

• Significant experience in financial crime operations within banking, fintech, or financial services.

• Demonstrable experience operating at senior leadership level within AML, Fraud, or Financial Crime functions.

• Experience managing multiple financial crime disciplines including AML, transaction monitoring, investigations, and fraud.

• Proven experience engaging with regulators, auditors, and external stakeholders.

• Evidence of leading large teams and managing senior managers or team leads.

About Our Process:

We want every candidate to have a clear and positive experience, so here is an outline of what to expect. Our interview process for this role consists of the following stages:

1. People screen: an initial conversation with our People team to talk through your experience, the role, and what you are looking for.

2. Interview with the existing Head of Financial Crime and a Senior Financial Crime Manager, focusing on your operational and leadership experience.

3. Interview with the Chief Operating Officer, exploring strategic fit and your approach to leading at a senior level.

4. Final stage with our Second Line of Defence and the wider team, looking at alignment with risk appetite and how you would collaborate across the bank.

What we offer:

At our cutting-edge fintech company, we know that attracting and retaining the best talent means offering top-notch benefits that help our employees thrive both in and outside of work. Check out what we currently offer:

• Generous holiday time: 25 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays, 1 Kroo bank holiday (June 24th), and 1 day off during the week of your birthday.
• Personal days: We know that life can be unpredictable, so we offer 3 personal days to use as needed.
• Employer-sponsored volunteer program: We're passionate about giving back to our community, and we support our employees in doing the same with up to 4 hours per month of employer-sponsored volunteer time.
• Mental health support: We care about the mental health of our team members and offer access to Spill, our mental health support partner.
• Workplace pension: We want you to feel secure about your future, so we offer a workplace pension with a 5% employee contribution and a 3% employer top-up.
• Top-notch equipment: We provide top-of-the-line equipment necessary for smooth hybrid work, including a MacBook laptop. Additionally, we also offer support in establishing your home office by contributing towards your setup if required.
• Modern office: When you're in the office, you'll enjoy access to our modern, bustling workspace in Central Manchester.
• Cycle to Work scheme: We encourage sustainable transportation with our Cycle to Work scheme.
• Electric Car scheme: We're committed to reducing our carbon footprint, and our Electric Car scheme makes it easy for our employees to do the same.
• Enhanced parental leave: We know that family comes first, and we offer an enhanced parental leave policy to support our employees in starting and growing their families.
• Room for growth: As a fast-paced, high-growth start-up, we're dedicated to providing our employees with room to grow and excel.
• You get full healthcare for you and your nuclear family via Vitality.

Hybrid Working:

At Kroo Bank, we have a hybrid policy that combines working from the office with working from home, giving individuals and teams a good level of flexibility. The ideal candidate will be able to work from the office relatively regularly, as we do need a presence in the office. Working hours for this role are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm.

Diversity and Inclusion:

We wholeheartedly uphold our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Every employee is highly regarded, respected, and supported without any form of judgement or prejudice. We consider Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion as fundamental pillars guiding our path in all aspects of our bank. We also ensure that reasonable adjustments are made available to all candidates throughout the recruitment process.

To all Recruitment Agencies:

At Kroo Bank, agency resumes are strictly prohibited. Do not submit agency resumes or forward them to our job advertisements or Kroo Bank employees. Be aware that Kroo Bank will not assume any responsibility for fees incurred due to unsolicited resumes.

To ensure a fair and efficient application process, all candidates are kindly requested to submit their applications directly through the advertised platform. We kindly ask that you refrain from reaching out to the company or its employees via email, LinkedIn, or any other communication channels for inquiries or updates. Please note that any attempts to contact us through these channels will not receive a response. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.