Director of Engineering - Founding Engineer India
•Alpaca · 8h
EngineeringFull-timeAsia
8h ago
Wise·8 days ago
Are you a decisive, hands-on leader ready to make a real impact?
Wise is seeking a dynamic and experienced Team Lead to lead our Financial Crime Operations team (focused on suspicious activity reporting) in São Paulo, Brazil.
We are looking for an individual who thrives in a fast-paced fintech environment, and excels at building and driving high-performing operational teams. This is not a "floor manager" role; we need a leader who takes charge, coaches effectively, and champions a culture of excellence and accountability.
Your Mission:
As the Team Lead, your mission is to lead, develop, and inspire a team of specialists dedicated to identifying and reporting activities to global financial intelligence units. You will be instrumental in leading an efficient, compliant, and high-quality operational team.
This involves making data-driven decisions, proactively identifying and implementing improvements, managing performance, mitigating operational risks, and ensuring adherence to processes. You will be the driving force ensuring your team is not just managed, but truly led.
What You’ll Get To Do:
Lead and Develop a High-Performing Team: Directly lead, coach, mentor, and develop a team of specialists, fostering a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Drive Performance and Quality: Own and actively manage your team's Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), service delivery goals, and quality standards, implementing strategies to consistently meet and exceed targets.
Champion Operational Excellence: Design, implement, and oversee operational processes and task allocation, focusing on tactical execution to ensure timely, accurate, and efficient case resolution.
Uphold Rigorous Standards: Be accountable for the quality of your team's output, ensuring strict adherence to internal policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
Decisive Performance Management: Proactively manage individual and team performance, providing clear, constructive feedback, and taking swift, decisive action to address underperformance or behavioral concerns.
Stakeholder Engagement and Representation: Confidently represent the team's operations, policies, and processes to different stakeholders upon need.
Complex Case and Escalation Management: Serve as the primary escalation point for complex cases, collaborating with other functions to ensure effective resolution while maintaining strong customer empathy and clear communication.
Regulatory Adherence and Change Management: Ensure ongoing compliance with relevant regulations; manage the operational impact of regulatory changes with a focus on efficiency and customer experience.
Risk Identification and Mitigation: Proactively identify operational risks and vulnerabilities, contributing to the design and implementation of effective controls and mitigation strategies.
Continuous Improvement: Actively seek and drive opportunities for process adherence, automation, and tooling enhancements to improve efficiency and quality.
Capacity Planning and Resource Management: Contribute to effective capacity planning to ensure the team can meet fluctuating demands and SLAs.
Role Model Leadership: Set the highest standards for performance, diligence, and professional conduct, acting as a role model for your team and peers.
Proven Leadership Experience: Demonstrable experience in leading, motivating, and developing operational teams, preferably in a fast-paced, regulated environment (e.g., financial services, fintech).
Financial Crime Expertise (Preferred): Strong knowledge or experience in AML, fraud detection, internal controls, or financial rime reviews will be highly beneficial.
Decisive and Action-Oriented: A proactive, results-driven leader who is not afraid to take charge, make tough decisions, and hold themselves and their team accountable.
Exceptional Performance Management Skills: Proven ability to set clear expectations, manage performance rigorously, coach for improvement, and address underperformance effectively.
Confident and Articulate Communicator: Excellent verbal and written English communication skills. Ability to articulate complex issues clearly, present confidently, speak persuasively, and build strong working relationships with diverse stakeholders. Not shy and comfortable being visible. Other languages are a plus.
Analytical and Data-Driven: Strong understanding of operational metrics with the ability to analyze data, identify trends, and make informed decisions to drive team performance.
Problem-Solving and Prioritization: Ability to multitask effectively, prioritize decisively under pressure, and take full ownership in challenging situations.
Adaptable and Resilient: A willingness to learn, adapt to change, and maintain composure and effectiveness in a dynamic environment. Demonstrates resilience, not easily swayed by external pressures. Comfortable making decisions independently and taking ownership of those decisions.
Ownership and Accountability: A proven track record of taking individual ownership, driving initiatives to completion, and being a strong team player.
Process Improvement Mindset: A natural inclination to identify inefficiencies and drive improvements.
If you are a results-oriented leader with a passion for fighting financial crime and a proven ability to build and inspire high-performing teams, we want to hear from you!
If this sounds like the beginning of a great new challenge for you, please apply by submitting your CV and cover letter in English. In your cover letter, please share a specific example of leading an operational team through a significant challenge, outlining your approach and the tangible impact. Please note that an application without a cover letter will not be considered.
Additional Information
Please apply by submitting your resume in English.
Our Benefits:
💰 Salary for this role is 15.400 BRL gross per month
🚀 RSU’s in a rapidly growing company
💻 Flexible working model
💪 An annual self-development budget
🩺 Health and dental allowance for you and your dependents
💝 Company-paid: Life Insurance, and an EAP program
☀️ Paid time off: 30 days vacation + 3 “Me” days + 1 volunteer day, annually
🏝️ A paid 6-week sabbatical leave after four years
👶🏼 18-weeks of paid parental leave, after a year with us and child care assistance
🚌 Transportation vouchers
🍕 Food (708 BRL per month) and meal (1,166 BRL per month) vouchers
🏋️ TotalPass access to 3,500 gyms and studios throughout Brazil
Click here to learn more about the benefits that we offer at Wise
You must already be legally authorized to work in São Paulo, Brazil.
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