VP, Customer Operations

The Vice President of Customer Operations is a senior leadership role responsible for the strategic oversight, governance, and performance of the Group’s end-to-end back-office operations, with primary accountability for Client Processing (Payments & Transactions) and Client Onboarding (KYC, Screening & Ongoing Monitoring).

This role is designed for a highly experienced operations leader with a strong background in regulated financial services (ideally FX / brokerage / fintech), who can operate at both strategic and executional levels. The VP of Operations will set the operational vision, define scalable operating models, establish meaningful KPIs and OKRs, and act as a key influencer across the business.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership & Operating Model

• Own and define the Back Office Operations strategy, aligned with the Group’s overall business objectives, regulatory obligations, and growth plans.
• Design and continuously evolve a scalable operating model covering Processing and Onboarding, ensuring resilience, efficiency, and regulatory robustness.
• Translate company-wide strategy into clear operational priorities, measurable OKRs, and executable roadmaps for senior managers and team leads.
• Act as a senior thought partner to executive leadership, contributing to long-term planning, capacity modelling, and geographic expansion discussions.

2. Processing Operations (Payments & Transactions)

• Provide executive oversight of all client transaction activities including deposits, withdrawals, internal transfers, investigations, and exception handling.
• Ensure processing operations meet defined SLAs for accuracy, turnaround time, and client experience.
• Partner closely with Payments, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Process Improvement, Product and front facing Customer teams to ensure seamless end-to-end client journeys.
• Oversee relationships with banks, PSPs, and fintech partners from an operational performance and escalation perspective (commercial ownership remains with Payments/Commercial teams).
• Ensure strong governance, controls, and audit readiness across all transaction flows.

3. Client Onboarding & KYC Operations

• Provide executive leadership for client onboarding, KYC verification, enhanced due diligence, and ongoing monitoring activities.
• Ensure onboarding operations balance regulatory rigor with client experience, supporting growth without compromising compliance.
• Partner with Compliance on policy interpretation, risk frameworks, and regulatory change implementation.
• Oversee large-scale screening and monitoring operations, ensuring timeliness, accuracy, and documented decision-making.
• Act as a senior escalation point for complex or high-risk onboarding and KYC cases.

4. KPIs, OKRs & Performance Management

• Define, own, and continuously refine operational KPIs and OKRs across Processing and Onboarding.
• Ensure metrics are outcome-focused, balanced (speed, quality, risk), and aligned with business objectives.
• Establish robust performance governance including monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews.
• Use data, trend analysis, and insights to proactively identify risks, capacity constraints, and improvement opportunities.
• Hold the teams accountable for delivery while enabling them with clarity, tools, and support.

5. Process Improvement & Operational Excellence

• Act as a senior sponsor for process improvement initiatives, automation, and tooling enhancements.
• Work collaboratively with the Process Improvement / Enablement team to:

           o Identify inefficiencies and pain points

           o Prioritise initiatives based on impact and feasibility

           o Recommend sustainable solutions

• Champion standardisation, documentation, and best-practice adoption across all back-office functions.
• Ensure change initiatives are embedded through training, communication, and performance tracking.

6. Leadership, Talent & Culture

• Lead and develop a multi-layered leadership structure including Senior Managers, Managers and Team Leads.
• Create a culture of accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Own succession planning, talent development, and leadership capability building within Operations.
• Ensure effective workforce planning, shift coverage models, and contingency planning to support 24/7 or multi-region operations where applicable.
• Act as a role model for the company’s values, behaviours, and leadership principles.

7. Stakeholder Management & Influence

• Serve as a key operational interface with senior stakeholders across Compliance, Risk, Product, Technology, Payments, Finance, and Front-Office teams.
• Influence decision-making through data-driven insights, clear narratives, and pragmatic solutions.
• Represent Operations in internal governance forums, steering committees, and executive reviews.

Required Experience:

• 10–15+ years of experience in Operations within regulated financial services (FX, brokerage, fintech, banking, or payments).
• Proven experience leading large, multi-function operational teams across processing and/or onboarding/KYC.
• Demonstrated success in defining and managing KPIs, OKRs, and performance frameworks at scale.
• Strong track record of partnering with Compliance and Risk in highly regulated environments.
• Experience sponsoring or leading large transformation or automation programmes in collaboration with enablement teams.

Skills & Competencies:

• Strategic thinker with strong execution discipline
• Influential leader with the ability to drive alignment without direct authority
• Highly analytical and data-driven decision maker
• Strong problem-solving and structured thinking skills
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, complex, and evolving environments

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Economics, Operations Management, or related field (Master’s / MBA preferred)
• Relevant professional certifications (e.g. Lean, Six Sigma, PMP, Compliance or Risk qualifications) are advantageous
• Strong understanding of FX products and client lifecycle operations is highly desirable

Leadership Experience:

• This role requires a senior, credible, and resilient leader who can set direction, challenge constructively, and elevate operational maturity across the organisation.
• The VP of Operations is expected to think beyond function, act as a business leader first, and drive outcomes through collaboration rather than siloed optimisation.