As the Financial Crime Manager, you will lead our fraud and AML detection operations from end-to-end. You will partner with product and engineering to evolve system capabilities while leading a high-performing team of specialists to deliver high-quality risk outcomes. By combining deep domain expertise with operational leadership, you will ensure Paystack remains a safe and trusted payments platform.

Responsibilities or duties

You will be accountable for:

• Informing the product roadmap for our monitoring, alerting, and case management tools.
• The quality and effectiveness of fraud and AML monitoring logic and detection scenarios.
• The operating model and performance of the Financial Crime Monitoring teams
• Translating risk, regulatory, and business requirements into robust, scalable detection systems
• Driving operational excellence by using data and metrics to manage team capacity and performance.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Crime Oversight

• Own the end-to-end fraud and AML detection domain, ensuring alignment between prevention, detection, investigation, and remediation.
• Apply deep understanding of fraud typologies, AML/CTF risks, sanctions, and regulatory expectations to detection design.
• Manage the Fraud and AML operational teams (specialists and first-line managers) to ensure adequate coverage, capability and day-to-day execution.
• Translate regulatory, partner, and audit requirements into scalable technical and operational controls.
• Stay ahead of evolving financial crime patterns, market-specific risks, and regulatory developments across Paystack’s footprint.

Financial Crime Capabilities

• Design and optimise systems, logic, scenarios, and thresholds used to identify financial crime.
• Ensure adequate coverage and capability across the team to meet growing transaction volumes.
• Apply a deep understanding of fraud typologies, AML/CTF risks, and sanctions to the design of our controls.
• Establish feedback loops between investigation outcomes and detection strategies to improve signal quality.
• Maintain auditable documentation of detection logic, business assumptions, and strategy changes.
• Measure and manage detection performance using quantitative metrics (precision, recall, false positives, alert-to-case conversion, loss metrics).

Team Leadership & Development

• Manage and mentor the Fraud and AML operational teams, including specialists and first-line managers.
• Set clear direction, provide coaching, and oversee performance management to ensure high-quality execution.

Operational Excellence

• Build and improve SLAs, KPIs, and quality frameworks across all Financial Crime teams.
• Use performance metrics to manage team capacity and ensure efficient investigation outcomes.
• Balance speed, quality, and regulatory expectations with a focus on maintaining a positive customer experience.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to define requirements for monitoring, alerting, and case management tools.
• Work closely with Legal, Compliance, and Risk to ensure alignment with regulatory obligations.
• Collaborate with the Data team to optimise rule effectiveness and performance.
• Support audits, partner reviews, and regulatory engagements as a subject matter expert.
• Provide clear updates to senior stakeholders on operational performance, risks, and emerging issues

Required

• 7+ years in financial crime roles in payments, fintech, banking, or financial services.
• Proven experience designing, building, and tuning risk detection systems (fraud, AML, or similar).
• Experience in measuring and optimising detection performance using quantitative metrics.
• Strong systems thinking: able to design scalable, maintainable monitoring frameworks rather than one-off rules.
• Deep understanding of financial crime typologies, fraud patterns, AML/CTF requirements, and regulatory obligations.
• Experience operating within fraud, AML, risk, or compliance functions in payments, fintech, or financial services.
• Proven experience leading and developing teams, including setting direction, coaching, and performance management.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• High ownership mindset and comfort operating in ambiguous, high-growth environments.

Preferred

• Familiarity with monitoring platforms, alerting systems, transaction screening, and case management tools.
• Fintech industry certifications such as ACAMS, ICA, CFE, CFCS, or similar.

• Informing the product roadmap for our monitoring, alerting, and case management tools.
• The quality and effectiveness of fraud and AML monitoring logic and detection scenarios.
• The operating model and performance of the Financial Crime Monitoring teams
• Translating risk, regulatory, and business requirements into robust, scalable detection systems
• Driving operational excellence by using data and metrics to manage team capacity and performance.
• Own the end-to-end fraud and AML detection domain, ensuring alignment between prevention, detection, investigation, and remediation.
• Apply deep understanding of fraud typologies, AML/CTF risks, sanctions, and regulatory expectations to detection design.
• Manage the Fraud and AML operational teams (specialists and first-line managers) to ensure adequate coverage, capability and day-to-day execution.
• Translate regulatory, partner, and audit requirements into scalable technical and operational controls.
• Stay ahead of evolving financial crime patterns, market-specific risks, and regulatory developments across Paystack’s footprint.
• Design and optimise systems, logic, scenarios, and thresholds used to identify financial crime.
• Ensure adequate coverage and capability across the team to meet growing transaction volumes.
• Apply a deep understanding of fraud typologies, AML/CTF risks, and sanctions to the design of our controls.
• Establish feedback loops between investigation outcomes and detection strategies to improve signal quality.
• Maintain auditable documentation of detection logic, business assumptions, and strategy changes.
• Measure and manage detection performance using quantitative metrics (precision, recall, false positives, alert-to-case conversion, loss metrics).
• Manage and mentor the Fraud and AML operational teams, including specialists and first-line managers.
• Set clear direction, provide coaching, and oversee performance management to ensure high-quality execution.
• Build and improve SLAs, KPIs, and quality frameworks across all Financial Crime teams.
• Use performance metrics to manage team capacity and ensure efficient investigation outcomes.
• Balance speed, quality, and regulatory expectations with a focus on maintaining a positive customer experience.
• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to define requirements for monitoring, alerting, and case management tools.
• Work closely with Legal, Compliance, and Risk to ensure alignment with regulatory obligations.
• Collaborate with the Data team to optimise rule effectiveness and performance.
• Support audits, partner reviews, and regulatory engagements as a subject matter expert.
• Provide clear updates to senior stakeholders on operational performance, risks, and emerging issues

• Proven experience designing, building, and tuning risk detection systems (fraud, AML, or similar).
• Experience in measuring and optimising detection performance using quantitative metrics.
• Strong systems thinking: able to design scalable, maintainable monitoring frameworks rather than one-off rules.
• Deep understanding of financial crime typologies, fraud patterns, AML/CTF requirements, and regulatory obligations.
• Proven experience leading and developing teams, including setting direction, coaching, and performance management.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• High ownership mindset and comfort operating in ambiguous, high-growth environments.
• Familiarity with monitoring platforms, alerting systems, transaction screening, and case management tools.

• BA/BSc/HND , Professional Certificate
• 7+ years in financial crime roles in payments, fintech, banking, or financial services.
• Proven experience designing, building, and tuning risk detection systems (fraud, AML, or similar).
• Experience in measuring and optimising detection performance using quantitative metrics.
• Strong systems thinking: able to design scalable, maintainable monitoring frameworks rather than one-off rules.
• Deep understanding of financial crime typologies, fraud patterns, AML/CTF requirements, and regulatory obligations.
• Experience operating within fraud, AML, risk, or compliance functions in payments, fintech, or financial services.
• Proven experience leading and developing teams, including setting direction, coaching, and performance management.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• High ownership mindset and comfort operating in ambiguous, high-growth environments.
• Familiarity with monitoring platforms, alerting systems, transaction screening, and case management tools.
• Fintech industry certifications such as ACAMS, ICA, CFE, CFCS, or similar.