Financial Crime Officer

Reporting to: Director of Compliance

Location: London, United Kingdom

Who we are and why we exist

At Liberis – merchants matter most! We’ve been on a mission to provide small and medium businesses (SMEs) with accessible and responsive finance since 2007. SMEs account for most businesses worldwide and are critical contributors to job creation and global economic development. They represent about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. Despite this, more than three quarters (77%) of SME businesses last year were unable to secure the traditional bank financing they desperately needed to grow and thrive. This has created a $5 trillion funding gap for SMEs globally.

That’s where Liberis steps in! To best help small businesses, Liberis has built the leading global embedded finance platform. Through this, Liberis provides partners with the technology and financial solutions necessary to offer personalised and accessible funding to their small business customers.

To date with ~20 global strategic partners and direct reach to more than 1 million small businesses, Liberis has provided $1 bn of funding in over 50,000 transactions, enabling more than 100,000 jobs to be created and saved. We are making a genuine difference to your local pub, hairdresser and online retailer!

We are in a very exciting period of growth, in the UK and internationally, with teams based in London, Nottingham, Stockholm, Atlanta, Munich and remotely. We are looking for talented and ambitious individuals to help us reshape business finance. How we work is as important to us as what we do – exemplified by our behaviours:

#1 Merchants matter most – our success is tied to our merchants' success

#2 Act like time is running out – the fastest company in a growing market will win

#3 Own every outcome – the hardest problems we face are yet to be solved

#4 Communicate directly – we don’t have time to beat around the bush

#5 Prove it - every feature we build, decision we make and action we take, matters

#6 Empathy always - Liberis wins when every employee thrives

If our mission and behaviours resonate – get in touch!

Who are you?

Our commitment to integrity and compliance underpins everything we do. As we continue to expand, we are seeking a Financial Crime Officer to join our Compliance team with the remit and oversight across all Liberis geographies. This pivotal role demands a highly motivated and passionate individual who is eager to support our business by ensuring the highest standards of financial crime controls and compliance with AML regulations, particularly within the EU. The business has and continues to grow exponentially which requires a compliance team to keep pace and evolve its financial crime framework, controls, policies and culture. If you like to roll your sleeves up, create not just follow and think laterally about how to structure a financial crime framework that supports fast international growth, this could be your dream role!

Responsibilities

As a Financial Crime Officer at Liberis, you will:

• Implement and Monitor Financial Crime Frameworks: Develop, implement, and oversee comprehensive financial crime prevention strategies across multiple jurisdictions to safeguard the company against fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes.
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure adherence to all relevant AML regulations and guidelines within the EU and other jurisdictions in which Liberis operates. This includes staying abreast of new legislation and systematic horizon scanning advising on compliance matters, and adjusting policies and procedures accordingly.
• Ability to draft detailed financial crime related policies, procedures including on CDD, SAR and other AML related matters.
• Risk Assessment and Management: Conduct regular risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities within the organisation's FinCrime operations. Develop and implement risk mitigation strategies to address identified risks effectively. This includes conducting and documenting Business Wide Risk Assessments and Customer Risk Assessments, developing appropriate mitigating measures.
• Review, maintain (and where applicable) create global policies and processes appropriate for the size and scale of the business including but not limited to AML/KYC (simplified, standard and enhanced due diligence) , transaction monitoring, SAR identification and reporting.
• Training and Awareness: Lead training initiatives to enhance staff awareness and understanding of financial crime risks, AML obligations, and the importance of compliance within their roles that is tailored to individual roles.
• Reporting and Investigation: Oversee the monitoring and reporting of suspicious activities to relevant authorities as required. Lead investigations into financial crime incidents, ensuring swift and appropriate action is taken.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Work closely with various internal and external stakeholders, including cross functional departments such as Product, Technology and Operations teams, to promote a culture of compliance and ensure transparent communication regarding financial crime matters. Be data driven and establish consistent MI covering all financial crime trends that can be shared with the Executive and the Board.

We think you’ll need

• Proven experience in a financial crime prevention or similar role within the regulated financial services industry (we expect this to be roughly 5 years). Broad knowledge of SME lending and a passion for fintech
• A strong understanding of financial crime controls, with an emphasis on AML regulations applicable in the EU and ideally in North America.
• Proven ability to develop and implement financial crime strategies and policies.
• Experience in implementing customer risk assessments and building robust yet agile financial crime infrastructures.
• Exceptional analytical skills with a detail-oriented approach to risk assessments and management (business wide and customer risk assessments).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, capable of engaging effectively with both internal teams and external stakeholders. Not perceived as someone who always says “no” to the business.
• A self-driven and motivated attitude. Agile mindset with an ability to manage competing priorities and a fast-paced environment where growth is front and centre
• with a passion for supporting the business through diligent and effective financial crime prevention practices.
• Relevant professional qualifications in financial crime such as the International Compliance Association (“ICA”) or compliance would be highly advantageous.
• Keen to innovate and build not just listen and follow. Embraces smart working through process, technology and AI enhancements.

What happens next?

Think this sounds like the right next move for you? Or if you’re not completely confident that you fit our exact criteria, apply anyway and we can arrange a call to see if the role is fit for you. Humility is a wonderful thing, and we are interested in hearing about what you can add to Liberis!

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