SENIOR DIRECTOR REGULATED FINANCIAL RISK OPERATIONS / DUBLIN / HYBRID / PERMANENT/ €140,000- €160,000 PLUS BENEFITS
About the Team / Role
The Sr. Director, Regulated Financial Operations (Europe) is a newly created, highly visible, and critical executive leadership position responsible for the strategic oversight, operational excellence and the finance operations regulatory compliance of WEX's regulated Electronic Money Institution (EMI) financial operations in Europe, including Optal Financial Europe Limited (OFEL) and Optal Financial Limited (OFL). This role will report directly to the SVP of Global Risk Operations.
What’s on offer?
Highly competitive salary of €140,000-€160,000 (Dependant on experience)
Annual company bonus
40 hour week- Monday to Friday, no evenings or weekends
Hybrid working (2-3 days per week in our Dublin Office)
Industry leading pension scheme
25 days plus bank holidays
Group Life assurance
Private Medical Insurance
Employee Wellbeing
How you’ll make an impact
Strategic & Regulatory Governance
Executive Oversight: Provide executive leadership and hold internal executive accountability for the design and operational effectiveness of the safeguarding governance framework across all regulated European EMI entities (OFL/FCA and OFEL/CBI).
Risk Mitigation & Bench Strength: Be the accountable leader for mitigating key person risk by establishing robust succession planning, developing the leadership team, and ensuring process redundancy and cross-training across all critical financial operations functions.
Regulatory Relationship Management: In partnership with the respective Finance Directors and the International Compliance Team, develop and maintain a senior-level relationship with the regulators (CBI and FCA) on finance-related matters.
Compliance Framework: Own and execute the overall financial controls and risk framework for the regulated entities, ensuring strict adherence to Client Money (CM) Safeguarding Rules and Capital Adequacy requirements, and ensuring appropriate escalation of all emerging financial risks.
Oversight & Attestations: Oversee the fulfillment of all Outsourced Service Provider (OSP) obligations related to regulated finance activities and be responsible for providing formal attestations to the Board (of the regulated entities) on the adequacy of safeguarding arrangements and controls.
Operational Excellence and Scalability
Financial Operations Management: Direct and unify the strategy for core financial operations, including Client Money Safeguarding, scheme settlement, balance sheet reconciliation, treasury operations, and payment operations for all European regulated entities.
Leadership and Coaching: Directly manage and mentor a team of senior leaders, including the Director, Financial Operations International (UK), Finance Director, OFEL (Ireland), and the Finance Operations Manager fostering a culture of high performance, accountability, and professional development.
Outsourced Provider Oversight (OSP): Own the governance and performance of all Outsourced Service Provider (OSP) obligations where the Financial Operations team provides or receives services, ensuring contract adherence, service level agreement (SLA) compliance, and effective risk mitigation.
Process Transformation: Champion operational excellence by identifying and directing major initiatives for process improvement, simplification, and leveraging automation and AI tools to drive efficiency and scale operations to support enterprise growth.
Reporting and Financial Management
Statutory & Board Reporting: Oversee and review the preparation of statutory and monthly/annual financial accounts for all regulated entities. Ensure the preparation and presentation of comprehensive and insightful board reports, key performance indicators (KPIs), and key risk indicators (KRIs) for the regulated entity Boards and WEX Group senior leadership.
Capital Adequacy: Oversee the regular assessment and reporting of the company's capital adequacy, stress testing, and integration of capital planning into strategic forecasts, in line with CBI/FCA requirements.
Audit Partnership: Act as the senior executive liaison for internal and external audits, ensuring timely completion of deliverables and resolution of all financial and control-related findings.
Prudential Risk Management
Own and oversee the firm's Internal Capital and Liquidity Adequacy
Accountable for the accurate, timely, and reliable regulatory reporting on capital position and forecasts.
Provide oversight to maintain the credibility and operability of the Wind-Down Plan (WDP). This includes developing and testing triggers and ensuring the plan facilitates the timely and orderly return of customer funds.
Develop and maintain a comprehensive stress testing framework, including reverse stress testing, to assess resilience under adverse conditions and inform capital and liquidity assessments.
Experience You’ll Bring
Honours Bachelor’s Degree (NFQ Level 8) in Finance, Accounting, Business Studies, or a related discipline.
Professional Accounting Qualification is essential (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or CPA).
Senior management experience, with a significant portion at an executive level, within a regulated financial services or payments environment.
Subject Matter Expertise in internal controls and safeguarding of client funds, with deep knowledge of global regulatory risk (e.g., FCA EMD/CASS 15, CBI) requirements and client money safeguarding.
Proven experience in successfully managing and mentoring senior-level managers (Director level or equivalent).
Proven ability to influence and engage effectively at the C-suite and Board levels.
Must be willing to be located in Ireland to build local presence and regulatory rapport.
Exceptional ability to communicate complex regulatory and financial information to senior stakeholders and regulators in a clear, concise manner.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience in Treasury Management and Cash Funding.
Demonstrated experience as a Pre-Approval Controlled Function (PCF) holder or equivalent senior oversight role.
Proven background in delivering large-scale change, process re-engineering, or targeted automation projects in a financial operations environment.
What’s next?
If you believe you are passionate about joining our growing team as our new Senior Product Marketing Manager and wish to help grow WEX, please APPLY TODAY for immediate consideration.
Due to the volume of applications received, unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to each one individually, applicants that are shortlisted will be contacted within one week of application.
We do not accept speculative CVs. Any CV received by WEX will be treated as a gift and eligible for an agency fee. PSL agencies should only send CVs if authorised to do so by the Talent Acquisition team.
