FinCrime Operations Senior Lead - RFI

Wise is seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Operations Lead to join our Financial Crime Compliance team in Tallinn, Estonia. We’re looking for someone who runs towards problems, gets close to the work, and holds a high bar without apology.

You will own the day-to-day performance of a compliance operations function responsible for processing information requests from our partner banks: ensuring fast, accurate information exchange that keeps customer funds moving. This is an operational leadership role: your impact is measured in SLA delivery, quality, throughput, and the team culture that makes those things sustainable. The downstream effect of your team's work reaches every customer we serve.

You will manage a team of Team Leads and be accountable for what their teams produce, reporting into the Area Lead.

What you will actually be doing

Running a tight operation. You will own SLA and quality targets across the function and be expected to know, at any point, what is hitting, what isn't, and why. You will not be waiting for reports to tell you because you will already know.

Elevating performance. This is not a steady-state role. There is headroom in this operation and you will be expected to find it, validate it, and close the gap: with your leads, through your leads, and directly where needed.

Building leads who deliver. Your Team Leads are experienced. Your job is to make them better, not by shielding them from hard conversations but by expecting them to have those conversations and equipping them to do it well. You will hold them to a standard and you will not let them absorb pressure upward.

Challenging what isn't working. Processes, norms, and assumptions that made sense at a different scale will not automatically make sense now. You will be expected to identify what needs to change and make the case for it: with data, with clarity, and without waiting to be asked.

Communicating across a wide network. You will be expected to represent your operation with authority, push back when needed, and manage stakeholders.

What we're looking for

• You have run operations before, ideally in a fast-moving, high-volume environment, and you know what good looks like at pace. You understand the difference between a lead who needs development and one who needs a harder conversation.
• You read data critically. You know that hitting a metric and maximising performance are not the same thing, and you know how to tell the difference.
• You are independent. You do not need guardrails. You do not wait for someone to tell you there is a problem. You form a view, you act on it, and you bring people with you.
• Experience owning and delivering against tight SLA, quality, and throughput targets in a high-volume environment
• You are direct. With your team, with your peers, with leadership. You know how to frame a difficult message and you are comfortable being the person in the room who says the things others are working around.
• You get close to work. You are not above sitting with an analyst, pulling a case file, or walking a floor. You understand that distance from the work is where performance problems hide, and you do not let seniority become an excuse for losing sight of what is actually happening.
• Strong performance management skills: proven ability to set clear expectations, manage performance rigorously, coach for improvement, and address underperformance effectively.
• Decisive and action-oriented: a proactive, results-driven leader who is not afraid to take charge, make tough decisions, and hold themselves and their team accountable.
• Strong data literacy: not analytical in a technical sense, but fluent enough to know when numbers are telling the truth and when they aren't.
• Experience managing stakeholders across functions and seniority levels, including upward.
• Problem-solving and prioritization: ability to multitask effectively, prioritize decisively under pressure, and take full ownership in challenging situations.

If you’re ready to take on an exciting challenge and make a meaningful impact, we’d love to hear from you! Please submit your resume in English on or before 23rd of April 2026.

We will start interviewing for this position from day 1 so we would recommend applying rather sooner than later - otherwise, someone else might grab your dream job ?

Our Hiring Process

1. Application Review: We evaluate your experience and skills.
2. Independent assignment: Demonstrate your operational leadership, decision-making ability, clear and actionable planning, and effective problem communication to relevant stakeholders (2 business days to complete)
3. Final Interview: An in-depth discussion with our Global Head of Reporting & Financial Intelligence Unit and our FinCrime Operations Senior Lead to assess your technical and cultural fit.

For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.

We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.

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