Head of Fraud & Financial Crime Full Time NEW

Waterhouse-Kern Associates is proud to be partnering with a leading consumer lending business to find a new Head of Fraud and Financial Crime.

What you’ll do

Our client is looking for an experienced Head of Fraud & Financial Crime to lead their first line fraud and financial crime capability. This role is responsible for defining and delivering the strategy, control framework and operational approach across fraud, AML, sanctions and broader financial crime risks.

This role will bring together fraud and financial crime into a single, coherent operating model with clear ownership and accountability. You will lead the Fraud and Financial Crime first line teams while working closely with the wider Compliance, Analytics, Technology and Data teams to ensure controls are effective, scalable and increasingly leverage advanced analytics and AI-driven approaches.

You will play a key role in ensuring the business is equipped to both use AI to strengthen detection capabilities and respond to the increasing use of AI by criminals, protecting both our customers and the firm.

This role requires a hands-on leader with strong financial crime expertise, capable of operating at both strategic and detailed levels. The successful candidate will bring deep knowledge of financial crime regulation and practice, combined with the ability to implement change, improve controls and drive operational delivery in a fast-paced environment.

This role is a role which is subject to certification by us under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR).

Key responsibilities

• Own and deliver the firm’s Fraud & Financial Crime strategy across all relevant risk areas

• Establish and maintain a clear operating model, ensuring defined ownership and accountability across fraud and financial crime

• Design, implement and continuously improve the fraud and financial crime control framework, subject to the oversight of the MLRO and Compliance

• Take a hands-on role in investigating issues, reviewing controls and supporting the resolution of complex fraud and financial crime problems

Financial Crime Expertise & Industry Engagement

• Act as a senior financial crime subject matter expert within the business, bringing deep understanding of AML, sanctions, fraud and broader financial crime risks

• Maintain strong awareness of regulatory requirements and expectations, working closely with the MLRO, Compliance and Risk functions to ensure alignment

• Develop and leverage external networks (e.g. industry forums, intelligence groups, law enforcement engagement) to stay informed of emerging threats and best practice

• Translate external intelligence and regulatory developments into practical controls, processes and strategic direction

• Ensure the first line operates with appropriate awareness of financial crime obligations, working in close partnership with the MLRO and second line

• Represent the organisation in relevant industry forums, regulatory engagement and external partnerships relating to fraud and financial crime

AI, Emerging Threats & Innovation

• Define and lead the strategic use of advanced analytics, AI and reg-tech solutions across fraud and financial crime detection

• Identify and proactively respond to emerging threats, including those driven by AI and new technologies (e.g. synthetic identity, deepfakes, automated fraud attacks)

• Maintain strong awareness of industry developments and threat intelligence, leveraging external networks and intelligence sources to inform strategy

• Ensure the organisation is equipped to detect and mitigate AI-enabled fraud and financial crime risks across the customer lifecycle

• Partner with the wider Analytics and Technology teams to deploy and continuously improve AI-driven detection capabilities (e.g. machine learning, anomaly detection, behavioural analytics)

• Provide direction on the selection, implementation and evolution of fraud and financial crime tooling, including third-party and reg-tech solutions

• Lead or oversee implementation of new systems and capabilities, ensuring effective delivery of transformation initiatives

• Ensure appropriate governance, explainability and oversight of AI and model-driven decisioning

Risk Management & Control Effectiveness

• Identify emerging threats, trends and vulnerabilities and ensure appropriate mitigation is in place

• Lead root cause analysis of relevant incidents and ensure robust remediation actions are delivered

• Provide oversight of fraud and financial crime detection performance, working closely with analytics teams to optimise rules, models and AI-driven controls (without owning model build directly)

• Lead the first line fraud and financial crime operational teams, ensuring effective delivery of monitoring, investigation and escalation activities

• Ensure appropriate handling of financial crime obligations, including regulatory reporting and law enforcement engagement, in partnership with the MLRO

• Provide clear and actionable reporting to senior stakeholders and governance forums

• Support regulatory engagement, audit activity and external reviews

• Work closely with stakeholders across Operations, Analytics, Technology, Compliance and Risk to deliver fraud and financial crime priorities

• Drive continuous improvement across processes, controls and performance

Who you are

• Strong understanding of fraud and financial crime regulation and expectations, with the ability to translate these into practical first line controls and processes

• Pragmatic and commercially minded, able to balance strong controls with business outcomes

• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment

• Comfortable operating in ambiguity, making informed decisions in a rapidly evolving threat and regulatory landscape

• Strong, credible leader with experience managing teams and driving delivery

• Forward-looking, with the ability to challenge existing approaches and proactively evolve controls in line with emerging threats

• Able to operate at both strategic and operational levels

• Confident in influencing senior stakeholders and driving cross-functional change

• Strong judgment and decision-making capability in complex situations

• Collaborative and able to build effective working relationships across teams

What you’ll need

• Experience in consumer lending, fintech, banking or card-based businesses

• Strong fraud and financial crime expertise, including AML, sanctions, regulatory frameworks and risk management principles

• Experience leading operational teams, delivering control frameworks and operating in a regulated environment (including audit and regulatory engagement)

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives, influence senior stakeholders and drive delivery in a fast-paced environment

• Experience building or transforming fraud and/or financial crime capabilities, including implementation of tooling and systems

• Experience working with analytics, data science or AI-driven detection approaches, with an understanding of emerging risks and technologies

• Understanding of model governance, explainability and the effective use of analytics and AI in fraud and financial crime

• Hands-on approach, with the ability to operate across both strategy and execution