We’re looking for a South Asia Expansion Lead & India Country Manager to lead the team  that drives our expansion plans in South Asia. This role will also take responsibility as Country Manager for India. This is a unique and exciting opportunity to play a pioneering role to grow Wise in South Asia, allowing millions more potential customers to save money by using our services.

This is not your typical business development or relationship role. You will have full responsibility for overseeing our financial services partnerships, defining our market expansion and market entry strategies and executing on it, and managing critical relationships with government departments, regulators, industry bodies, etc.

What will you be doing?

• Identify the most appropriate way to grow Wise in South Asia, with a focus on India. If we need licences, you will need to manage the process end-to-end: understand the regulations, prepare, coordinate and submit the application, and get the regulatory buy-in.
• Work with the product team to prioritise new product launches, potential product changes and new features in India that would have the biggest impact for our customers. You will be one of the product team’s go-to people for regulatory knowledge.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with financial institutions (banks, payment companies, card schemes) in India and rest of South Asia. You will lead commercial negotiations, pitch Wise as a client, complete due diligence processes, maintain strong and active relationships with partners, and ensure the technical teams have what they need to integrate with the partners.
• Together with the compliance team, understand existing and new regulations, figuring out the best way in which our product and setup are compliant with them. We see regulation as an opportunity, and we want you to help us achieve that vision! 
• Enhance risk and governance framework in India together with Risk, Compliance and Company Secretary teams. You will also be appointed as India Country Manager and be on the Board of our India entities.
• Manage the relationship with regulators and other important non-commercial relationships, such as with government departments. Represent Wise to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and be accountable for good governance.
• Have oversight of Wise’s India business operations. Help guide strategy, provide leadership and alignment amongst the various functions responsible for ensuring the good health of the entity. Providing de-facto leadership on the ground to local teams and functional leads to ensure smooth operations.
• Participate in all relevant committees and Board meetings. Serve in other regulatory roles, as necessary, taking some Director roles in our multiple subsidiaries in the market.
• Represent Wise in India, working with Public Relations and Product Marketing teams to drive brand awareness and position Wise as a key industry player.
• Develop a long term vision for the rest of South Asia, build conviction and alignment, and execute cross-functionally to expand Wise in South Asia, beyond India.
• Have the opportunity to travel to our Regional HQ in Singapore or to our offices in Europe when needed

A bit about you:

• You have a wealth of experience in the FinTech, payments or regulation domains.
• You get stuff done. Not afraid to get your hands dirty to deliver what is needed. Bonus points if you have completed a licence application in a highly regulated industry in the past. 
• Experience of building business relationships with financial institutions in India, and dealing with risk/compliance teams within these institutions.
• Able to understand financial, payments and FX regulations in a changing regulatory environment in India and have an interest in AML/KYC and risk controls.
• Able to think out of the box for launching various products and services. 
• An analytical thinker. You have the ability to figure out the ideal operational and commercial process with every new partner.
• Excellent at managing external relationships such as with regulators and financial institutions.
• Able to understand regulations and make pragmatic, risk-based decisions on how these need to be implemented.
• Happy to work independently, and being a self starter.
• Passionate about transforming the financial industry for good

Your mission:

• Market expansion - Identify the most appropriate way to expand Wise in India,  then roll up your sleeves and make it happen. If we need a licence, you will need to execute the process end-to-end: understand the regulations, do the application and get the regulatory buy-in.
• Financial services partnerships - Maintain and improve relationships with financial institutions (banks, payment companies, card schemes) and lead commercial negotiations to drive down costs. You will monitor our economics to ensure that our service is competitive; if needed, onboard new Financial Institution partners.
• Strategic initiatives related to expansion - You will identify new / relevant local ways to benefit customers (such as a new local payment method or a new product feature) and implement it. You will also grow our new product offerings by identifying and pitching to relevant businesses in your target markets.

This role will give you the opportunity to:

• Choose your own path to success - you’ll have the freedom to define the vision and the responsibility for making it happen
• Gain international exposure -  you will work with our teams in offices around the world as well as meet with regulators and partners across APAC. You will also have the opportunity to travel to our Regional HQ in Singapore or to our offices in Europe when needed
• Be a part of starting something new by helping launch Wise in a new market

We’re people without borders — without judgement or prejudice, too. We want to work with the best people, no matter their background. So if you’re passionate about learning new things and keen to join our mission, you’ll fit right in.

Also, qualifications aren’t that important to us. If you’ve got great experience, and you’re great at articulating your thinking, we’d like to hear from you.

And because we believe that diverse teams build better products, we’d especially love to hear from you if you’re from an under-represented demographic.

We're people 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.

Every Wiser should feel that they can be themselves at work. Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to share their contributions towards mission zero and able to progress in their careers.

Having diverse teams that reflect our diverse customer base helps us build a better product. We can be more creative and empathetic to our customer's needs and life experiences and makes sure we leave no-one behind on our journey to mission-zero.

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

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