Senior Banking & Expansion Manager

Company Description

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money.
Min fees. Max ease. Full speed.

Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.

As part of our team, you will be helping us create an entirely new network for the world’s money.
For everyone, everywhere.

More about our mission and what we offer
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Working with the Product teams in both the Regional Expansion and Grow Squads (Product Managers, Analysts and Engineers), you will help define the opportunities for our products in the UAE and in the global digital assets space. You will help build better products and experiences for our customers. You will collaborate across teams and inspire others so that we deliver the best solution.

Your contribution will mainly be from the payments infrastructure, regulatory and operational partnerships point of view.

Your mission:

Build Strong Commercial and Operational Partnerships: this will span across payments, vendors and potential stable coins partners. You will be responsible for putting all the elements in place to build a truly localised experience for our customers. This may include localised KYC, open banking etc. Specifically, you will:

• Identify and establish relationships with key local partners, including banks and service providers, to optimize the product experience for customers in terms of fiat connectivity and operational resilience.
• Onboard new partners and negotiate contracts, taking into account commercial priorities and regulatory risks.
• Manage existing commercial relationships to ensure they are delivering the best outcomes for our customers.

Launch and Lead a new VARA-Regulated Digital Assets Company:

• Lead and manage the end-to-end process of securing a VARA Broker-Dealer license, acting as the primary senior executive for the VARA licenced entity.
• Build a strong, constructive relationship with VARA and other UAE regulatory authorities to ensure a smooth licensing process and ongoing compliance.
• Ensure the operating model is efficient, scalable, and fully compliant with VARA regulations and aligned with our product and customer needs.
• Source and hire any required local personnel, such as a dedicated Compliance Officer or MLRO, to meet regulatory requirements.

Drive the Strategic Vision for Global Digital Asset Services

• Shape the product vision and roadmap alongside the Global Product team, focusing on customer needs, regulatory blockers, and strategic opportunities.
• Explore and develop strategies for expanding the services offered by the UAE entity to our global customer base following a successful launch.
• Work closely with the Product Manager and the wider team to prioritize opportunities, taking into consideration the product roadmap, resource allocation, and build requirements.

• Able to independently negotiate the most ideal terms with a clear product vision and understanding in mind and you can figure out the ideal operational and commercial process with every new partner.
• Excellent at managing financial regulatory relationships, constantly creating opportunities to improve them.
• Able to get stuff done. Not afraid to get hands dirty to deliver what is needed - we’re a fast growing company and you will need an entrepreneurial mindset to thrive.
• Deep understanding of how financial, payments and FX regulators work and the different decision makers that need to be taken into account to make things happen.
• Understand financial, payments and FX regulation in a changing regulatory environment and have an interest in AML/KYC and risk controls.
• Familiar with different licensing frameworks and requirements in the UAE, including payments institutions, FX brokers, and securities brokers.
• Familiar with how corporate banks and financial institutions work and their decision makers. You’re excellent at managing those relationships and are constantly creating opportunities to improve them.
• You are fluent in English and ideally in Arabic.
• Happy to work independently and flexibly…