Global Head of KYC Onboarding

Global Head of Onboarding

Ebury London Office - Hybrid: 4 days in the office, 1 day working from home per week

Role Purpose:

The Global Head of Onboarding (GHO) is a highly critical, senior leadership role accountable for the end-to-end global client onboarding strategy, operations, and execution across all products and regions. This role is the ultimate owner of the client’s first impression, responsible for balancing a world-class, frictionless customer experience with absolute regulatory compliance (KYC, KYB, AML/CFT) and operational efficiency at a global scale.

Reporting directly to the SVP of Operations, the GHO will drive the global Onboarding function's transformation, technology roadmap, performance, and risk control framework, ensuring scalable growth and competitive advantage.

Key Accountabilities & Responsibilities:

Global Strategy, Vision, and Transformation

• Global Onboarding Strategy: Define and own the 3-5 year global strategic vision for client onboarding, ensuring alignment with the company’s expansion goals, commercial objectives, overall product visions and regulatory mandates.
• Operating Model Leadership: Develop and adapt a Global Standardised Operating Model for Onboarding, leveraging new technology to drive efficiency, consistency, and scale across all jurisdictions, ensuring the model never becomes outdated or hides underutilisation.
• Technology & Product Roadmap: Act as the key executive sponsor for the Onboarding Technology roadmap. Drive strategic changes and innovation in the tech stack (e.g., core application, ID&V providers, screening tools) to support best-in-class automation, reduced friction, and superior client experience globally.
• Commercial Insight: Translate global market feedback and onboarding friction into actionable product requirements and commercial opportunities for the Product and Sales teams.

Operational Excellence and Risk Management

• End-to-End Performance Ownership: Maintain direct ownership of global operational KPIs; especially End-to-End Client Time, Client Completion Rate, and Right First Time (RFT) Rate, to drive continuous and measurable improvements in service quality and efficiency.
• Compliance and Control: Ensure global consistency and fidelity to all KYC/AML/CFT standards and local regulatory requirements. Establish and monitor a robust global governance framework and internal controls to ensure a "no surprises" culture and compliance with internal and external regulations.
• Friction and Bottleneck Reduction: Systematically and relentlessly identify, quantify, and eliminate bottlenecks and friction points across the global funnel to reduce client drop-off and minimise internal Stagnation Time.
• Capacity and Resource Management: Oversee the global resource model, promoting Cross-Team Utilisation to effectively manage peak demand and troughs across regions, ensuring optimal regional team utilisation.

Stakeholder and People Leadership

• Executive Stakeholder Management: Serve as the primary executive liaison, providing clear, data-driven transparency on performance, issues, and resource demands to the SVP of Operations (line manager) and other senior commercial, product, and compliance leaders.
• Global Team Leadership: Mentor, coach, and manage the team of Regional Heads of Onboarding and team leaders, fostering a culture of high performance, accountability, self-starter mentality, and proactive issue resolution across all regions.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Build and proactively maintain strong, strategic partnerships with Sales/Front Office, Compliance, Product/Tech, and other Financial Crime Operations teams Screening, Transaction Monitoring, CLM and fraud to pre-emptively resolve conflicts and drive mutual process improvements.
• Vendor and Outsourcing Management: Own the strategy and performance for all external KYC/ID&V vendor relationships, ensuring high standards of delivery and cost-effectiveness.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Executive Experience: Minimum 10+ years in Operations, Client Onboarding, or Financial Crime/Compliance within a complex global financial services or high-growth fintech environment.
• Management Experience: At least 5+ years in a global or multi-regional leadership capacity, specifically managing senior leaders and large, distributed operational teams.
• Domain Expertise: Expert-level, deep knowledge of complex B2B/SME client onboarding, including global and cross-border jurisdictional variations in KYB, KYC, and AML/CFT requirements.
• Data-Driven Leadership: Exceptional analytical and data literacy skills with proven experience in owning, interpreting, and driving strategy from end-to-end client conversion funnels, operational KPIs, and risk metrics.
• Technical Acumen: Strong familiarity with leading global and local KYC/FinTech solutions and the ability to define a strategic technology roadmap to achieve operational objectives.
• Autonomy and Drive: Proven ability to operate as a decisive, independent, and resourceful executive, making high-impact decisions with significant autonomy and without requiring constant centralised direction.

Performance Measures (KPIs)

The following metrics will form the basis of performance reviews and remuneration:

• Client Experience Time (CX Time): Global average End-to-End Client Onboarding Cycle Time (Submission to Activation).
• Client Conversion/Completion Rate: Global reduction in client drop-off rate at critical funnel stages.
• Operational Quality: Global Right First Time (RFT) Rate of Onboarding submissions.
• Operational Efficiency: Global Stagnation Time (Time in Queue before Analyst pickup).
• Productivity and Scale: Onboarded Accounts / Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Analysts (Productivity Ratio).
• Risk and Control: Success in maintaining the integrity of the global control environment (e.g., Audit ratings, RCSA scores).
• Strategy Implementation: Measurable success in the implementation of core global strategic initiatives and technology improvements.
• Stakeholder Feedback: Improvement in measurable stakeholder feedback scores from Sales/Commercial leadership.

Why Ebury?

• Competitive Starting Salary with an annual discretionary bonus that truly rewards your performance from day one.
• Dedicated Mentorship: Learn directly from experienced managers who are invested in your success.
• Cutting-Edge Technology: Leverage state-of-the-art tailor made tools and systems that enable you to perform at your best.
• Clear, Accelerated Career Progression: Defined pathways to leadership and specialist roles within Ebury.
• Dynamic & Supportive Culture: Work in a collaborative environment where teamwork and personal growth are prioritized.
• Generous Benefits Package: Access competitive benefits tailored to your location, which typically include health care and social benefits.
• Central Office: A fantastic location with excellent transport links.

Ready to launch your career with a global FinTech? Click the ‘Apply’ Today and discover your potential at Ebury!