Senior Risk & Compliance Manager (CDD)

In this role, you’ll be responsible for:

Team Leadership & Oversight

• Lead a small onshore and offshore CDD team, covering day-to-day task allocation, performance management, coaching, and quality oversight.
• Establish clear workflows, expectations, and escalation paths to ensure the offshore team delivers consistent, high-quality CDD and client risk assessment outputs.
• Run regular quality assurance reviews of analyst work, giving structured feedback and identifying training needs.
• Hold decision-making authority across the CDD lifecycle: approval, conditional approval, deferral, ECDD escalation, and decline or exit recommendations.

Transformation & Continuous Improvement

• Lead the end-to-end transformation of Monoova's CDD and client risk assessment framework, re-designing processes, controls, and decisioning for a merchant and business client base and embedding the reformed initial and ongoing CDD obligations in force since 31 March 2026.
• Own the design and documentation of CDD and client risk assessment processes, keeping procedures, guidance, and workflows current and aligned with the AML/CTF Rules, regulatory expectations, and internal governance standards.
• Identify and implement process improvements, enhanced controls, and workflow efficiencies across onboarding, periodic review, and trigger-based review processes.
• Evaluate, recommend, and support the implementation of new tools, systems, and automation, including screening, entity resolution, and perpetual KYC capability, to improve operational effectiveness and scalability.
• Ensure all process changes are fully documented with clear procedures, decision criteria, and supporting artefacts before deployment.
• Build and maintain operational reporting on CDD volumes, turnaround times, and service level adherence, using it to identify bottlenecks, resource constraints, and areas to improve.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, reviewing process performance, analyst feedback, and regulatory developments to drive enhancements to procedures, controls, and tooling.

Client Risk Assessment

• Oversee the end-to-end Customer Due Diligence lifecycle, including Initial CDD, Ongoing CDD, and Enhanced CDD for higher-risk clients.
• Oversee risk-based assessments of new and existing clients in line with the Client Risk Framework, covering ML/TF risk, fraud and scam exposure, chargeback, reversal and dispute risk, and credit, default, and settlement loss risk.
• Directly lead CDD and risk assessment on high-risk cases, complex corporate and beneficial ownership structures, merchant aggregators and payment facilitators, intermediary and nested arrangements, and any case requiring ECDD or escalation.
• Review and approve sanctions, PEP, and adverse media screening outcomes escalated by analysts, determining when ECDD or further escalation is required.
• Apply onboarding and review decision gates (approve, approve with conditions, ECDD required, defer, or recommend decline/exit), documenting each decision with supporting rationale.
• Manage periodic reviews and trigger-based refreshes, including ownership changes, adverse media, new products or use cases, and material activity changes.

Stakeholder Engagement & Risk Guidance

• Provide risk-based guidance and oversight to Growth and relationship teams on complex cases, onboarding conditions, and ongoing client risk matters.
• Liaise with and train internal stakeholders to ensure client risks and conditions are understood and implemented.
• Prepare and present client risk assessments and recommendations to the Client Approval Committee as required.

Broader Contribution

• In a small Risk & Compliance team within a fast-growing business, you will support other areas of our Financial Crime and AFSL Compliance Programs from time to time.

What we need from you

• Proven ability to lead, coach, and manage a small team, including experience with offshore or remote team management.
• Track record of designing, documenting, and implementing operational improvements and controls.
• Proven ability to take a CDD function from current state to target state, sequencing remediation, uplift, and day-to-day delivery without disrupting client onboarding.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, applying sound risk judgement.
• Strong attention to detail and documentation discipline.
• High emotional intelligence and ability to manage stakeholder expectations across different cultures and time zones.
• Timely reporting and ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.

Your experience and knowledge

• Expert-level knowledge of Australian AML/CTF legislation and regulatory expectations, including the AML/CTF Act 2006 as amended by the AML/CTF Amendment Act 2024, the AML/CTF Rules 2025, and the reformed initial and ongoing CDD obligations in force from 31 March 2026.
• Extensive hands-on experience performing and overseeing KYC/CDD and ECDD, gained at a bank, payment institution, or other financial institution servicing merchants, corporates, or other large business clients rather than a retail consumer base.
• Demonstrated experience leading CDD transformation or uplift programs at a financial institution, covering target-state process design, control enhancement, remediation of legacy customer files, and automation enablement.
• Demonstrable depth in credit risk, KYC, and fraud and scams, plus working knowledge of settlement, chargeback, and dispute risk. Single-discipline backgrounds are unlikely to be a fit.
• Strong risk management capability and ability to apply risk appetite consistently.
• Experience in fintech, payments, merchant acquiring, or high-volume financial services, with exposure to payment facilitator, aggregator, or marketplace models highly regarded.
• Experience managing offshore or distributed teams is highly regarded.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Monoova Culture and Benefits

• We reward great work with short-term incentives that recognise your impact and dedication.
• We offer learning budgets, opportunities, workshops and development programs to help you thrive.
• Great flexibility with a mix of remote and in-office work.
• Extra leave benefits including Birthday Leave and Diversity Leave to celebrate cultural and personal milestones.
• 16 weeks paid parental leave for primary carers, giving you extra time with your newborn and to recover.
• Special vouchers for your Birthday and Work Anniversary — because your moments matter.
• Enjoy free snacks, drinks and other goodies on the house!