Banking Operations Manager EMEA & UK
Wise
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.
About the Banking Operations Team
The newly established Banking Operations team is instrumental in ensuring Wise delivers outstanding service and protects customer money through excellence in banking operations. We act as a crucial bridge between Payment Operations, Banking, Product, and our global banking partners. Our mission is to proactively manage partner-related risks, reduce partner costs, and support business growth, ultimately streamlining our payment operations to be cost-effective, low-risk, and scalable by elevating partner bank performance and holding them accountable to Wise's ambitious goals.
About the role
This is a unique opportunity to build the future of banking operations at Wise from the ground up, directly impacting customer experience and empowering teams through collaborative change towards Money without borders - instant, convenient, transparent and eventually free.
As a Banking Operations Manager, you will be a pivotal individual contributor, driving the operational success and strategic growth of Wise. You will own critical operational domains, manage key banking partner relationships, provide data-driven strategic insights, and lead complex initiatives to optimize our global payment ecosystem, thriving in a dynamic and evolving environment as you help build clarity and structure.
This role is positioned in Tallinn, Estonia, and we are open to relocate you (if possible).
What you'll do
In this role, you'll be a key driver in advancing our mission by focusing on core operational domains and strategic partner management, collaborating closely with our diverse internal teams and global banking partners. You will:
- Cultivate strategic partner relationships: Build and nurture strong, collaborative relationships with our global banking partners. You'll act as a primary liaison, managing Service Level Agreements (SLAs), driving partner accountability, and ensuring the consistent delivery of high service quality for seamless money movement.
- Champion operational excellence & incident resolution: Lead efforts to identify opportunities for significant operational change and continuously optimize banking processes across the payment ecosystem. This includes proactively troubleshooting complex system issues and acting as a core member of the bank partner incident management team to minimize disruptions and reduce operational load.
- Work on new integrations & strategic expansion: Drive the operational readiness and execution for new banking partner integrations, payment routes, and currency launches. You'll ensure smooth, low-risk rollouts, collaborate with Product and Engineering teams, and support strategic alignment as Wise continues its rapid global expansion.
- Deliver data-driven insights: Establish, define, and track key operational KPIs and metrics related to banking partner performance. You'll design reporting frameworks and generate strategic insights that inform critical company decisions and guide our overall banking strategy.
- Empower & connect internal teams: Develop best practices, implement training programs, and share crucial knowledge with Regional Payment Operations teams. You'll help them enhance problem-solving, boost operational efficiency, and foster stronger cross-functional collaboration.
- Minimum 5+ years of professional experience in Banking Operations, partner relationship management, banking regulation, or global payments in a fast-paced environment.
- Proven experience in driving significant operational change through effective B2B communication and collaboration, consistently optimizing processes for efficiency and impact.
- Demonstrated success in global and cross-team collaboration, working effectively with diverse teams across multiple locations to achieve shared objectives and drive operational efficiency.
- Basic data skills (e.g., ability to navigate tools like Looker to gather relevant data points).
What will make you successful in this role:
- Operational & payments expertise: In-depth knowledge of banking systems, payment operations, partner management, and operational risks.
- Problem solver & driver: You're a self-starter who drives to make things happen. You're comfortable tackling complex issues, taking charge in difficult situations, and delivering impactful projects.
- Data-driven strategist: You have a strong analytical mindset, able to build narratives from data, define KPIs, and influence strategic decisions.
- Relationship builder & communicator: You're proactive and excel at building strong relationships with both external banking partners and diverse internal stakeholders (Banking, Product, Engineering, Regional PayOps). You're a straight-up, clear, and honest communicator who can adapt to different audiences and persuade others.
- Accountability enforcer: You're skilled at holding both external partners and internal teams accountable for performance and action plans.
- Continuous learner: Your intellectual curiosity has no limit, guiding you to learn and adapt in a dynamic environment.
- Team player: You enjoy being part of an inspiring team environment where ideas are shared, openness is valued, and you're comfortable giving and receiving feedback.
Nice-to-haves:
- Experience driving process improvements and/or scaling operations.
- Experience working with global teams or managing relationships across different time zones and regions.
- Excellent written and verbal English skills, additional language skills are a plus.
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.
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