Director of Business Operations - North America

Company Description

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money.
Min fees. Max ease. Full speed.

Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.

As part of our team, you will be helping us create an entirely new network for the world's money.
For everyone, everywhere.

More about our mission and what we offer.

Job Description

We’re looking for a Director of Business Operations (NorthAm) to join us and do things differently.

This is a critical leadership position designed for a strategic and hands-on leader who will shape the future of our operations across North America. You will not only lead business operations for the region but also proactively identify opportunities for improvement and guide a team of BizOps managers to execute these initiatives.

This is a high-visibility leadership role with significant regional scope. For the right candidate, this position offers a clear succession pathway to senior executive entity leadership in North America. You will serve as the primary operational representative to our regulators and the regional Board of Directors.

What you’ll do.

You will lead the North American operational strategy, directing a matrixed footprint of over 1,000 support and servicing team members located in our European hubs (Budapest and Tallinn), while building out our local teams in Austin and São Paulo.

• Strategic Leadership: Lead the business operations organization in the region, identifying and capitalizing on opportunities to enhance efficiency and performance. You will work closely with global heads to shape the future of the region, including location strategy and capacity planning.

• Team Leadership: Lead and develop a small team of high-performing BizOps managers, guiding them to execute on key operational improvements.

• Regulatory & Board Representation: Represent our operations confidently and credibly in front of regulators and our board of directors.

• Expansion and Growth: Collaborate with the North American leadership team on strategic expansion into new markets and regions.

• Talent Development: Grow and mentor local operational leaders, hire new talent, and establish effective local ways of working, including hybrid models and career growth opportunities.

• Execution in a Flat Structure: Embrace our flat organizational structure by being a leader who can both strategize and execute, getting your hands dirty to solve problems and drive projects forward.
   

Accountability & Success Metrics.

Your success will be measured by your ability to scale our regional operations efficiently and sustainably. 

While you will ultimately hold accountability for regional servicing metrics (including SLAs, efficiency targets and resolution quality), your primary focus will be on driving structural improvements. You will work in lockstep with our product teams to build forward-looking infrastructure that upgrades our operations.

• Operational Excellence: Proactively identify systemic operational vulnerabilities, lead high-impact automation projects, and drive contact deflection strategies to scale our volume without linearly scaling headcount.

• Strategic Planning: Translate product requirements into a sustainable servicing model and formulate both long-term strategies and actionable 6-month plans.

• Data-Driven Decisions: Build, track and execute against robust KPIs, using data to uncover operational insights and eliminate customer friction points.

• Location and Talent Strategy: Act as a "local office leader", owning decisions on location changes, and contributing to our hybrid work strategy. You will also provide key input into forecasting and hiring decisions.

Qualifications

We are looking for a seasoned leader with a proven ability to operate at a senior level in a dynamic, product-driven environment.

Essential:

• Experience: A minimum of 7+ years of experience in senior operational leadership roles within FinTech or at US banks. 

• Leadership in Scale-Up Environments: A highly successful track record in senior operational leadership, with a sophisticated approach to managing people, processes, and fast-moving organizational change. You must have a demonstrated ability to execute and scale within complex, tech-driven operations or product-led servicing environments.

• Regulatory and Board Experience: Proven experience representing operations to regulators and a board of directors.

• Product Partnership: A track record of working in true partnership with product teams to build effective solutions for support challenges.

• Analytical & Data-Driven: You must be able to build and execute against KPIs and use data to solve complex problems and find insights.

• Local Market Knowledge: A strong understanding of the laws, culture, and regulations within the US market.

Additional Information

Leading at Wise

Our 4D leadership framework, defined by four key attributes, captures what it means to be an impactful leader at Wise. Our unique culture gives teams and individuals the autonomy to make impactful decisions for our customers. Leaders empowr their teams to deliver this impact and champion our culture.

• Design: Our leaders design the strategic direction, empowering their teams to operate autonomously and make data-driven decisions that directly benefit our customers.

• Drive: They drive a high-performing culture by acting as a coach, nurturing an environment of continuous development and growth.

• Develop: Leaders actively develop resilience and emotional intelligence to lead authentically and by example.

• Disrupt: They disrupt the status quo by championing change and innovation, constantly seeking new ways to achieve our mission.

For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders  — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.

We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.

If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.

Keep up to date with life at Wise by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.