Deputy MLRO UK & EU

Key Responsibilities

• Nominated Officer Cover & Financial Crime Framework
• Deputise for the MLRO as Nominated Officer under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000, taking SAR and DAML decisions under a written delegation when the MLRO is unavailable.
• Support the ongoing refinement of YouLend's financial crime framework across the UK and EU, including AML/CTF, screening, KYC/KYB, customer risk assessment, transaction monitoring, ongoing monitoring and SAR processes.
• Contribute to YouLend's financial crime risk assessments, including the Business Wide Risk Assessment, Customer Risk Assessment, Country Risk Assessment and relevant product, partner and channel risk assessments.
• Ensure financial crime policies, standards and procedures remain current, practical and embedded across relevant first- and second-line teams.
• Provide senior financial crime advice to the business on new products, partners, markets, operational changes and strategic initiatives. Systems, Controls & Financial Crime Operations
• Oversee the effectiveness of YouLend's financial crime systems and controls, including CDD, screening, transaction monitoring, escalation processes, SAR decisioning, high-risk customer management and ongoing monitoring.
• Provide enhanced due diligence, PEP and high-risk sign-off within delegated limits, and escalate decisions above them to the MLRO.
• Work closely with Financial Crime Operations to ensure controls are applied consistently, efficiently and in line with YouLend's policies and risk appetite, including oversight of outsourced due diligence providers.
• Review and refine transaction monitoring, KYC/KYB and AML processes, working closely with Operations, Product, Data, Engineering and Transformation teams, and identify responsible opportunities to use automation and AI. Governance & Regulatory Engagement
• Act as a key financial crime contact for regulators, law enforcement, external advisors and internal stakeholders, as appropriate, including the FCA and the Danish FSA.
• Support the Risk & Compliance Committee, including papers, MI, action tracking and escalation of material issues.
• Refine financial crime MI so that senior stakeholders have clear insight into risk trends, control effectiveness, operational performance, backlogs, alerts, SARs, high-risk customers, screening outcomes and agreed actions.
• Support regulatory notifications, information requests, audits, thematic reviews and other regulatory engagement relating to financial crime, and contribute to the annual MLRO report.
• Lead readiness for the EU AML Regulation, including customer due diligence design decisions for markets such as Germany and France. Assurance, Monitoring & Continuous Improvement
• Lead and support financial crime compliance assurance reviews, thematic reviews and control testing.
• Track assurance actions through to closure, ensuring outcomes are clearly documented and appropriately evidenced.
• Use MI, assurance findings and operational feedback to identify trends, improve controls and support continuous improvement.
• Ensure relevant first and second line teams are trained and equipped to identify, escalate and manage financial crime risks, and coach second-line analysts.
• Continue to mature YouLend's risk-based approach, ensuring controls are commercially workable while remaining regulatorily defensible.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Significant experience in financial crime within regulated financial services, ideally within a payment institution, electronic money institution, fintech, SME lending, merchant acquiring, corporate lending or similar environment.
• Experience acting as MLRO, Deputy MLRO, Nominated Officer or in a role taking SAR decisions within a regulated financial services business.
• Strong understanding of UK financial crime requirements, including the MLRs, JMLSG guidance, sanctions, SARs, NCA reporting and FCA expectations.
• Experience working with EU financial crime requirements, cross-border financial crime frameworks or multi-jurisdictional financial crime governance. Knowledge of Danish, German or French requirements, or the EU AML Regulation, is helpful.
• Experience overseeing KYC/KYB, CDD, transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, PEP/adverse media screening, fraud controls, customer risk assessment and ongoing monitoring.
• Experience working with financial crime operations teams, including escalation frameworks, QA, MI, training and continuous improvement.
• Strong experience preparing senior management reporting, committee papers, regulatory responses and clear written assessments.
• ICA Advanced Certificate or Diploma in Anti-Money Laundering, ACAMS (CAMS) certification, or equivalent experience.
• Willingness to be notified to the FCA, and to other EU authorities where required, in a regulated individual role. Skills
• Strong judgment and ability to apply a practical, risk-based approach in a fast-moving business, and the confidence to hold a position under commercial pressure.
• Ability to use data, MI and assurance findings to assess control effectiveness and drive improvements.
• Clear and credible communicator, with the ability to challenge constructively and influence senior stakeholders.
• Comfortable working across Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Operations, Product, Data, Engineering and Commercial teams.
• Strong written skills, with the ability to produce clear, concise and regulatorily defensible analysis.
• Pragmatic, structured and execution-focused, with the ability to improve controls without creating unnecessary complexity.