Regional Risk Lead - EMEA - 12 months maternity cover

The Regional Risk Lead for EMEA serves as a senior leader within the Partner Risk Management team as part of Wise Platform, with responsibility for Partner Risk Assessment and Monitoring. This role is responsible for setting the regional approach for risk reviews and assessment standards, maintaining end-to-end procedural ownership across regional operations, and establishing data-driven governance frameworks aligned with business risk tolerance. The Regional Risk Lead oversees complex risk decision-making at point of onboard and throughout the partner lifecycle, mentors team leads and risk analysts, and directly unblocks partnership challenges.

Domain Expertise & Core Responsibilities Correspondent Banking & Financial Crime Leadership

• Set Strategic Standards: Apply expert-level industry knowledge and financial crime proficiency to establish the risk management approach for regional risk reviews and assessment criteria.
• Complex Partnership Leadership: Take a hands-on, active role in evaluating the most complex, newest, or unique partnership agreements. Lead by example and coach team leads and analysts on risk evaluation in high-complexity scenarios.

Data-Driven Governance & Oversight

• Governance Frameworks: Establish high-level standards for partner risk reviews to ensure risk assessment and ongoing monitoring remain objective, data-backed, and aligned with organizational risk tolerance.
• Executive Oversight: Implement robust oversight systems utilizing operational data to track partner activities and deliver strategic insights for executive decision-making.

Defensible Risk-Taking & Decision Support

• Calculated Decision Making: Execute calculated risk decisions supported by defensible logic and structured risk analysis.
• Team Unblocking & Escalations: Serve as the senior escalation point to assist and unblock team leads and analysts in resolving complex, edge-case risk evaluations.

Stakeholder Engagement & Compliance Education

• Stakeholder Advisory: Educate internal business partners and external partners on intricate compliance and financial crime concerns using logical, evidence-based solutions.
• Regulatory Alignment: Translate evolving regional regulatory requirements into clear, actionable governance guidelines.

Operational Excellence & Procedural Ownership

• Procedural Ownership: Act as the primary owner for regional risk procedures, processes, and operational standards.
• Continuous Optimization: Evaluate and refine regional risk assessment procedures to ensure consistency, scalability, and adherence to global risk standards.