Job description
CO-Wise is seeking a results-driven FinCrime Operations Senior Lead - Fraud to lead and scale our financial crime defense program in Kuala Lumpur. You will recruit, coach, and grow a team of skilled Financial Crime Operations Team Leads and analysts responsible for fraud monitoring, identification, investigation, and escalation.
In this strategic role, you will design and implement scalable controls and playbooks across transaction monitoring, alert triage, investigations, and SAR filings. You will partner with Product, Data, and Engineering to refine detection rules, risk signals, and data driven decisioning while ensuring strict regulatory compliance and data privacy. You will own performance metrics, coach the team toward best in class service levels, and drive continuous improvement in efficiency, quality, and escalations management.
As a senior leader, you will influence cross functional stakeholders, manage relationships with regulators, and contribute to risk governance forums. You will foster a culture of integrity and accountability, maintain a strong risk aware culture, and lead incident response for financial crime events. This is a hands on leadership role with a focus on scalable growth and sustainable risk management in a fast moving environment.
The ideal candidate brings 8+ years in financial crime, deep knowledge of AML and CFT, and a proven track record building high performing teams in a financial services or fintech setting.
CO-Wise offers a dynamic, growth-oriented environment with a focus on career development, competitive compensation, and comprehensive benefits. This role provides visibility to executive leadership and opportunity to shape risk strategy across the organization.
We value proactive problem solvers who can translate complex data into actionable risk decisions and who thrive in cross-functional teams.
Responsibility
- Lead and mentor a team of Financial Crime Operations Team Leads and analysts responsible for fraud monitoring, investigation, and escalation.
- Oversee end-to-end fraud monitoring, investigation processes, alert triage, and SAR filings to ensure timely and compliant case handling.
- Design and optimize detection rules, scoring models, and playbooks to reduce false positives and improve risk coverage.
- Ensure regulatory compliance, data privacy, and audit readiness across all financial crime operations.
- Collaborate with Product, Data Science, and Engineering to enhance risk signals and tooling through data-driven insights.
- Drive performance metrics, SLA adherence, quality assurance, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Manage recruitment, onboarding, coaching, performance reviews, and succession planning for the team.
- Engage with cross-functional stakeholders and regulators, leading governance discussions and incident response when needed.
Qualification
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; advanced degree preferred.
- 8+ years in financial crime, fraud risk, AML, or related areas, with at least 3 years in leadership roles.
- Proven ability to build and scale high-performing teams in financial services or fintech environments.
- Deep knowledge of fraud detection, transaction monitoring, SAR reporting, and AML/CFT frameworks.
- Analytical mindset with data-driven decision making; proficiency in SQL, Excel, and case management systems.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influence across multiple functions.
- Regulatory awareness, risk assessment, and incident response experience; commitment to ethics and compliance.
- Experience with vendor management and cross-border operations is a plus.