Head of Fraud and Financial Crime

Who are 118118 Money?

At 118 118 Money, we are dedicated to helping Britain achieve financial fitness. In 2023, we proudly relaunched the iconic 118 118 twins, reaffirming our commitment to improving the financial health of individuals across the nation. Our loans and credit cards are designed specifically for those often overlooked by mainstream lenders, empowering over 800,000 customers on their journey to better financial well-being.

Our vision is to champion financial fitness throughout Britain by offering accessible products, valuable resources, and unwavering support. We are on a mission to provide fair and transparent credit solutions that promote financial well-being for all.

With an impressive 4.8 Trustpilot rating, we take pride in being an approachable lender, ready to provide clear financial support. If you’re inspired by what you’ve read and want to make a real difference in people's lives, keep reading—your next opportunity to contribute to our mission could be just a few clicks away!

The role

We are looking for an experienced Head of Fraud & Financial Crime to lead our first line fraud and financial crime capability, defining and delivering our strategy, control framework and operational approach across fraud, AML, sanctions and broader financial crime risks. This role brings together fraud and financial crime into a single, coherent operating model with clear ownership and accountability.

You will lead the first line teams while working closely with Compliance, Analytics, Technology and Data to ensure controls are effective, scalable and aligned to the evolving threat landscape. This role requires a hands-on leader capable of operating at both strategic and detailed levels, with the ability to implement change, improve controls and drive operational delivery in a fast-paced environment.

This role is subject to certification under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR).

What you’ll do

Leadership, strategy and governance

• Own and deliver the firm’s Fraud & Financial Crime strategy across all relevant risk areas
• Lead the first line Fraud & Financial Crime team - spanning analytics and operations - ensuring clear accountability, effective performance management and strong delivery
• Establish and maintain a clear operating model with defined ownership across fraud and financial crime
• Design, implement and continuously improve the fraud and financial crime control framework, subject to MLRO and Compliance oversight
• Act as senior financial crime subject matter expert, bringing deep understanding of AML, sanctions, fraud and broader financial crime risks
• Provide oversight of fraud and financial crime detection performance, working with analytics teams to optimise rules, models and AI-driven controls
• Provide clear and actionable reporting to senior stakeholders and governance forums
• Take a hands-on role in investigating issues, reviewing controls and resolving complex fraud and financial crime problems, including closing second or third line recommendations

External engagement and emerging threats

• Build and maintain relationships with industry bodies, intelligence-sharing groups, law enforcement and external partners
• Translate external intelligence and regulatory developments into practical controls, processes and strategic direction
• Represent the organisation in relevant industry forums, regulatory engagement and external partnerships
• Support the strategic use of advanced analytics, AI and reg-tech solutions across fraud and financial crime detection
• Identify and proactively respond to emerging threats and vulnerabilities across the customer lifecycle
• Oversee implementation of new systems and capabilities, ensuring effective delivery of transformation initiatives

What you need

• Solid understanding of fraud and financial crime regulation, including AML, sanctions and risk management principles, with the ability to translate these into practical first line controls
• Experience in consumer lending, fintech, banking or card-based businesses
• Senior level experience leading operational teams, delivering control frameworks and operating in a regulated environment including audit and regulatory engagement
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives, influence senior stakeholders and drive delivery in a fast-paced environment
• Experience building or transforming fraud and/or financial crime capabilities, including implementation of tooling and systems
• Experience working with analytics, data science or AI-driven detection approaches, with an understanding of emerging risks and technologies
• Understanding of model governance, explainability and the effective use of analytics and AI in fraud and financial crime
• A pragmatic, commercially minded approach; able to balance strong controls with business outcomes
• Hands-on approach with the ability to operate across both strategy and execution

What's in it for you?

• A competitive salary
• Flexible, hybrid working opportunities.
• Company bonus scheme - if the business does well, you should get rewarded for your hard work.
• 25 days annual leave, (plus bank holidays) increasing to 27 after two years service and 30 after five.
• Company pension scheme – we provide an enhanced pension scheme with generous employer contributions to set you up for the future which includes life cover of 4x your base salary.
• Eye test – you can claim a freebie each year, or if your needs change.
• Employee Assistance Programme - we offer membership to a recognised scheme to support you and your wellbeing.
• A strong ethos of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Wide business exposure, in terms of business disciplines, projects and stakeholders.
• Direct contribution to business transformation and growth.
• Huge learning and career progression opportunities.
• Being valued as an individual from our team.
• Full training, support and mentoring to develop a successful career in financial services.

Like what you’ve heard? Great - apply now!

As a candidate, we know the interview process can be daunting and it’s important that you have a great experience with us. We will do all we can to make sure you are fully informed and excited by our story so we get to see the best from you. If you need any adjustments made to help you with the interview process, just let us know by emailing [email protected] and we’ll do our best to accommodate them.

Following your application, we will want to learn more about you, your motivations, experiences, and values. In turn, you get to learn about our business, our culture, the role and what we can offer you.

If you think you’d be great for the role, but don’t necessarily tick all the boxes, we’d still love to hear from you, so apply today and take the first step towards an excititing future!

Equal Opportunity Employer

At 118 118 Money we are passionate about equality, diversity, and inclusion. We are committed to being representative of different cultures, background, lifestyles, and groups, where everyone has an equal chance to succeed. It is our policy to treat everyone fairly and to ensure no one is disadvantaged or receives less favourable treatment. We recognise that everyone has different needs and while we can’t accommodate every flexible working request we are more than happy to have a conversation about it.

How we handle your data

118 118 Money requires your personal data to process your application for a position within our Company. If your application is successful through to telephone screening/interview, and you are not selected for a role, we may store your personal data for 12 months to enable our HR team to contact you should future roles be advertised.

Where you apply, but are not selected for telephone screening/interview, we will delete your personal data once the position is filled.

118 118 Money does not use automated decisioning or profiling when selecting candidates.

For your rights under GDPR please see our Privacy Policy.

Please be aware that should we pursue your application, all our Financial Services employees will be expected to complete background checks to assess suitability for employment, these include; a criminal record, identity, sanctions, adverse finance, fraud prevention and reference checks to comply with our regulatory requirements.