Director of Financial Crime Risk

Hello, we’re Starling. We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had the power to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way. We’re a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We’re a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,500 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.

About the role

As Director of Financial Crime Risk and a designated Material Risk Taker (MRT), you will be responsible for the strategic oversight and effectiveness of the bank’s framework to combat money laundering, sanctions violations, fraud, and bribery.

Reporting to the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), you will serve as the primary strategic lead for Starling’s Economic Crime Risk Framework. Your mission is to ensure the bank remains resilient against financial crime threats while maintaining a risk appetite that supports our commitment to innovation. This is a critical Second Line of Defence role, influencing the bank's safety and soundness at an executive level.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Design, implement, and maintain a robust Second Line Economic Crime Risk compliance program, encompassing AML, CTF, Sanctions, ABC, and Fraud prevention.
• Risk Governance: Lead the annual Business-Wide Risk Assessment (EWRA) for Economic Crime, identifying emerging threats and directing the business on mitigation strategies.
• Policy Ownership: Define bank-wide Economic Crime policies, ensuring they meet evolving legal requirements and industry best practices.
• Regulatory Liaison: Act as a key support to the CCO in managing contact and information requests from regulators (FCA/PRA) regarding economic crime matters.
• Committee Support: Support the CCO as Chair of the Economic Crime Risk Committee by providing accurate data, management information, and technical challenge.
• Culture & Training: Oversee bank-wide training programs to ensure all staff understand their regulatory and reporting obligations.
• Strategic Counsel: Provide high-level reporting and advice to the CCO and relevant Risk Committees on the risk and control environment.

Requirements

You’ll need:

• Deep Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of UK Financial Crime regulatory guidelines, including AML, CTF, PEPs, and sanctions.
• Senior Leadership Experience: A proven track record of leading senior specialists and influencing C-suite stakeholders at a Director level.
• Analytical Rigor: The ability to interpret complex data and regulatory changes into actionable operational requirements for the First Line.
• Regulatory Alignment: A sound understanding of risk culture and how to ensure all activities comply with Consumer Duty and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR).
• Technical Literacy: Competency in understanding the use of models, data, MI, and statistical analysis.

About you:

• You have a collaborative working style and are customer-focused, placing the end customer at the heart of all decisions.
• You possess personal resilience, interpersonal credibility, and unwavering integrity.
• You are a flexible thinker, capable of adapting quickly to change in a fast-paced environment.
• You have a strategic outlook combined with commercial acumen and business planning capability.

Benefits

• 25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you)
• An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
• Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family-friendly policies
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work and Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships

About Us

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway.

We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.

Starling Bank is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling Bank are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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