Chief Compliance Officer

​About the Opportunity
Our client is looking for a Chief Compliance Officer with strong experience from the payments industry to act as a critical partner to their business, helping develop, launch, and enable their mission to deliver a world-class payments operation to support the companies brands globally.

The selected candidate will have the chance to witness first hand the investment in digital technology that helps take the friction out of travel. The CCO will be a critical appointment and will be primarily responsible for ensuring the business complies with laws, regulatory requirements, policies and procedures across the UK. You'll be a key part of the senior management team defining the overall direction of the company. Registration as a Senior Manager with the FCA will be required to fulfil this role. Harnessing the strategic vision of the company this role will be responsible for establishing standards and implementing procedures to ensure that the compliance programs throughout the organisation are effective and efficient in identifying, preventing, detecting and correcting noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations and producing useful management information to support the business as it continues to scale.

Given the collaborative nature of the business you will be consistently business partnering with the product, operations, engineering and marketing teams to ensure you understand the intricacies of operations. You will support directly a dynamic organization of executives, legal experts, risk managers, product managers, finance and treasury professionals, software and hardware engineers, designers, deal makers, and operations specialists who are responsible for bringing products to life across the companies global portfolio of brands, and making an impact on millions of travellers per day.

This opportunity represents an exceptional chance to embed yourself with one of the world’s most exciting organisations and help define the future for accessing travel experiences across the world.

About the Opportunity

• The CCO will be a key member of the Executive Team and be instrumental in ensuring the organisation meets its strategic objectives under the umbrella of the company family of brands, with a particular focus on the UK.

• You will provide assurance to senior management and the Board that there are effective and efficient policies and procedures in place, well understood and respected by all employees, and that the company is complying with all regulatory requirements.

• Monitor adherence to (regulatory) compliance frameworks on existing and emerging regulatory requirements.

• Monitor data classification, collection and control

• Ensure work policies and procedures comply with regulatory requirements

• Monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of compliance program and tools (anti-money laundering, know your client, transaction monitoring, etc.)

• Demonstrate ethical leadership and business integrity

• Balance short-term concerns and pressures, long-term vision and sustainable organisational success

• Fulfil stewardship responsibilities by ensuring effective regulatory and GDPR compliance and control, and responding to regulatory developments

• Share strategic leadership responsibilities with the Management team and ensure the compliance function supports the business at a strategic and operational level

• Oversee the organisation’s compliance reporting and prepare and present clear and concise compliance reports to the Board.

• Engage and communicate effectively with colleagues, customers, suppliers, regulators, and other internal and external stakeholders

• Develop the annual compliance work plan and update this periodically.

• Guide in a productive, professional way, the compliance teams.

• Provide guidance, advice, and/or training and educational programs, to improve business' understanding of related laws and regulatory requirements.

• Coordinate efforts related to audits, reviews, and examinations.

• Develop policies and programs that encourage managers and employees to report suspected fraud, suspicious transactions and other improprieties, without fear of retaliation.

• Coordinate internal compliance review and monitoring activities, including periodic reviews of departments.

• Independently investigate and act on matters related to compliance.

About the Desired Candidate

• Minimum 8-10 years Compliance/Regulatory experience at a senior level, in a regulated financial services business which must include a significant amount of experience in the payments/e-money sector.

• Background in law, accounting, finance or related disciplines.

• Demonstrated experience dealing with financial services regulators

• In-depth knowledge of international payment and e-money regulations, financial crime regulations and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

• Compliance related qualification

• Degree in finance, economics, accounting, Law or related field.

• Strong knowledge of UK and EU financial services regulatory frameworks

• Knowledge of EEA Anti-Money Laundering Requirements

• Experience dealing with regulators such as the Bank of England, the FCA, etc.

• Ensure full governance compliance in the course of achieving the company’s goals and objectives.

• Enhance compliance culture within the organisation. Provide the relevant training and regular updates to heighten staff’s compliance awareness.

• The ability to prioritise activities and delegate to others both within the business and external partners

• Ideally have experience of managing the conduct risk and compliance requirements of internal and external channels

• Comprehensive understanding of IT systems and payment platforms

• Experience in implementing compliance frameworks at dynamic, scaling and innovative companies with a global reach

• Demonstrated experience in scaling a business in a dynamic international environment, e.g. in a fintech environment