Head of Financial Crime

Mukuru is one of Africa’s largest Remittance companies, with fintech-based products and services catering to African emerging markets and international jurisdictions. To support Mukuru’s rapid growth and global expansion into new markets, Mukuru is building a market leading Compliance function, which includes Financial Crime. As we grow our Compliance function globally, we are looking for an experienced, highly skilled, and knowledgeable individual to join the team as Head of Financial Crime. The role will be responsible for the development and implementation of financial crime programmes to prevent and detect financial crime such as money laundering, fraud, and terrorist financing.

The main purpose of this role is to lead our financial crime prevention and detection efforts and ensuring our organisation’s adherence to financial crime legislation across all jurisdictions in which we operate, including jurisdictions in Africa, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

**Duties and Responsibilities (Include but are not limited to)**:

- Develop and ensure effective implementation of group and localised policies, procedures, and controls to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
- Keep abreast with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards related to financial crime prevention across the business and communicate the impact on business operations to senior management and relevant stakeholders
- Develop and implement an effective financial crime compliance strategy that aligns with the organisation's strategy, risk appetite, goals, and objectives
- Conduct regular reviews and audits to assess financial crime policy compliance and identify areas for improvement
- Develop and implement risk management strategies to mitigate identified risks in collaboration with Risk Team
- Conduct risk assessments to identify potential financial crime risks within the business
- Monitor and analyse emerging financial crime trends and adjust risk management strategies, policies, and procedures accordingly
- Manage investigations into suspected financial crime, including preparing reports and making recommendations for remedial action
- Manage and coordinate activities with internal teams and external stakeholders, such as law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies, during investigations
- Collaborate with internal teams to ensure business performs appropriate due diligence on customers, partners, and third-party entities to mitigate the risk of exposure to financial crime
- Prepare and deliver regular reports on financial crime compliance activities, trends, and key performance indicators to senior management and relevant Group governance forums
- Manage communication effectively with internal teams, regulatory bodies, and law enforcement agencies regarding financial crime matters
- Oversee and guide teams across the business in reporting suspicious activities or potential breaches
- Implement and maintain effective systems for monitoring transactions and detecting suspicious financial crime activities in collaboration with IT teams to ensure robust data security and privacy measures are in place
- Create and maintain financial crime awareness across the business
- Establish and maintain strong working relationships with and represent the organisation’s financial crime department in interactions with regulators, financial intelligence, and law enforcement agencies
- Participate in relevant forums, internally and externally to stay informed about emerging trends and share best practices
- Manage a team of financial crime professionals, providing leadership, guidance, and support as needed

**Key Requirements**:

- Relevant Bachelors Degree/ Advanced Diploma (Law, Forensics, Risk and Compliance)
- Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and/or Certified Fraud Examiner
- 8 years extensive international experience in financial crime compliance within the financial services industry, preferably with a specific focus on fintech payment institutions
- **4 years **strong leadership skills and Management experience with a proven track record of successfully managing a large team of compliance professionals
- Excellent working knowledge of financial crime legislation, regulations, and best practices across Africa, UK, and the EU
- Excellent drafting and presentation skills, targeted at various audiences and levels of seniority
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to effectively assess and mitigate financial crime risks pro-actively
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, and other external stakeholders
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively communicate complex financial crime compliance matters to both technical and non-technical audiences
- Excellent knowledge of and working experience with technology solutions and tools used in the detection and prevention of f