Team Lead - Reporting (FinCrime Operations)

Are you a decisive, hands-on leader ready to make a real impact? Wise is seeking a dynamic and experienced Team Lead to establish and lead our Financial Crime Operations team (focused on suspicious activity reporting) in Hyderabad, India – a key addition to our global operational network. As one of our founding operational leaders at this site, you'll have the opportunity to build our local presence while working within an international framework spanning US, Malaysia, Estonia, and beyond. We're looking for an ambitious leader who thrives in a fast-paced, global fintech environment and has a proven track record of building and driving high-performing operational teams.

This is not a "floor manager" role; we need a leader who takes charge independently, makes tough decisions, coaches effectively, and champions a culture of excellence and accountability across borders.

Your mission

Lead, develop, and inspire a team of specialists dedicated to protecting the integrity of our global platform by identifying and reporting suspicious activities to financial intelligence units worldwide. You will establish an efficient, compliant, and high-quality operation in Hyderabad that operates to the same exacting standards as our global teams. This involves making data-driven decisions, proactively managing performance, mitigating operational risks, and ensuring adherence to global processes. You will be the driving force ensuring your team is not just managed, but truly led: setting the foundation for operational excellence and contributing directly to Wise's mission of making money move seamlessly across the world

What you’ll get to do

• Lead and develop a high-performing team: lead, coach, mentor, and develop a team of specialists, fostering a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Drive performance and quality: own, monitor and action your team's KPI outcomes, service delivery goals, and quality standards by implementing strategies to consistently meet and exceed targets.
• Decisive performance management: proactively manage individual and team performance, providing clear, constructive feedback, and taking swift, decisive action to address underperformance or behavioral concerns.
• Champion operational excellence: oversee operational processes and task allocation, focusing on tactical execution to ensure timely, accurate, and efficient case resolution.
• Uphold rigorous standards: be accountable for the quality of your team's output, ensuring strict adherence to internal policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
• Capacity planning and resource management: contribute to effective capacity management to ensure the team can meet fluctuating demands and SLAs.
• Role model leadership: set the highest standards for performance, diligence, and professional conduct, acting as a role model for your team and peers.
• Stakeholder engagement and representation: analyse and represent the team's results, deliverables and challenges to different stakeholders upon need.
• Complex case and escalation management: serve as the primary escalation point specialists, collaborating with other functions to ensure effective resolution while maintaining strong customer empathy and clear communication.
• Risk identification and mitigation: proactively identify operational delivery risks and vulnerabilities, contributing to the design and implementation of effective mitigation strategies.