Director of First Line Operations

Why Verifone

For more than 40 years Verifone has established a remarkable record of leadership in the electronic payment technology industry. Verifone has one of the leading electronic payment solutions brands and is one of the largest providers of electronic payment systems worldwide.

Verifone has a diverse, dynamic and fast paced work environment in which employees are focused on results and have opportunities to excel. We take pride in the fact that we work with leading retailers, merchants, banks, and third party partners to invent and deliver innovative payments solution around the world. We strive for excellence in our products and services, and are obsessed with customer happiness. Across the globe, Verifone employees are leading the payments industry through experience, innovation, and an ambitious spirit. Whether it’s developing the next platform of secure payment systems or searching for new ways to bring electronic payments to new markets, the team at Verifone is dedicated to the success of our customers, partners and investors. It is this passion for innovation that drives each one of our employees for personal and professional success.

Verifone is proudly an in-office work culture as we see immense benefits to career development and business results from our colleagues being physically co-located. Currently, we do allow a hybrid work schedule but we regularly revisit our attendance policy.

What's Exciting About The Role

This is a rare opportunity to step into a senior leadership position at the heart of Verifone’s global payments ecosystem. You will shape operational risk management across four regulated payment entities, influence the future of our payments & financial services strategy, and drive automation and continuous improvement at scale. For an experienced operational risk leader, this role offers the chance to modernise first‑line operations, strengthen controls, and contribute directly to how a renowned, established company continues to grow its presence in the UK/EU market.

Whilst our preferred office location for you to be close to is Munich, we are open to considering candidates located near to our Bad Hersfeld, Helsinki, and Bucharest office too.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage all first line activities across the four Verifone payment entities, covering the teams responsible for onboarding, re-underwriting, fraud and AML transaction monitoring
• Act as the first contact point for all 1st line questions and escalations across the four entities
• Set a consistent first line operating model, standards and performance expectations while respecting entity-specific regulatory requirements
• Own first line KPIs, SLAs and quality metrics, ensuring case volumes and backlogs are managed within risk appetite
• Identify and remediate gaps across the onboarding, re-underwriting, fraud and AML transaction monitoring processes
• Strengthen the first line control environment and ensure controls are effective, evidenced and audit-ready
• Review and approve higher-risk onboarding cases and escalation decisions, including complex ownership and foreign-owned structures
• Primary focus is on: Merchant onboarding, KYC, CDD and KYB, Periodic, trigger-based and event-driven re-underwriting and risk reviews, Fraud monitoring and case management
• AML transaction monitoring, sanctions and transaction screening, and alert handling
• Define and deliver the automation roadmap to reduce manual effort, improve accuracy and scale operations across entities
• Drive adoption of automated onboarding/KYC, risk scoring, alert triage and transaction monitoring tuning to reduce false positives and shorten cycle times
• Ensure the onboarding process offers the best possible client experience while applying regulatory requirements proportionately
• Build and develop a people strategy that allows execution upon the vision – across functions and locations
• Work closely with Product teams to ship and deliver best-in-market KYC product experiences to our customers
• Utilise data and user research to optimise the onboarding experience and transform how we fight financial crime and fulfil regulatory obligations
• Manage and optimise third-party services and outsourced vendors (1st line related) across the operating model 
• Provide management information and reporting to the EMEA CFO, senior leadership and risk committees
• Partner with second line (Compliance/Risk), internal audit, partner banks and technology to close findings and embed sustainable fixes
• Lead, develop and scale multi-team, potentially multi-jurisdiction operations

Skills and Experience We Desire

• 5+ years of experience in payments/fintech operations, risk or financial crime, with substantial time in first line leadership roles
• Deep, hands-on knowledge of merchant onboarding/KYC, CDD, KYB, re-underwriting, fraud monitoring and AML transaction monitoring
• Solid understanding of corporate structures, UBO analysis and foreign ownership models
• Demonstrated track record of identifying and mitigating gaps across these processes
• Proven experience automating onboarding, monitoring and case management processes with measurable efficiency gains
• Experience with regulated (payment) services & acquiring
• Proficiency with KYC/AML systems, TM tools, sanctions/watchlist databases and adverse media platforms
• Working knowledge of the applicable EU regulations
• Experience in client contact and managing client relationship processes
• Highly analytical with attention to detail
• Ability to prioritize and meet deadlines without sacrificing quality of work
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, depending on the situation
• Ability to effectively present information to regulators and/or Verifone Group Senior Leadership
• Strong people leadership experience, managing managers and large operational teams

Our Commitment

Verifone is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Verifone is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.