Arbitration Specialist

Job Description

If you're interested in the position please apply by submitting your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter, please answer the following questions:

• What motivates you to apply for this role?

• Why would you be a good fit?

We’re looking for an Arbitration Specialist to join our growing team, with a primary focus on Japan (Tokyo) as well as supporting the wider APAC region.

The Complaints Arbitration Specialist will communicate directly with external arbitration bodies and regulators - representing Wise before local Japanese frameworks (such as the Tokyo Bar Association, JPSA, and KLFB) as well as wider APAC dispute resolution schemes (AFCA, FSCL, Fidrec, etc.). In this role, you will ensure we reach fair, compliant outcomes based on thorough case investigations, maintain professional relationships with arbitration bodies, contribute to root-cause analysis, and actively shape future policies and operational workflows within complaints and wider business functions. This role demands diligence, legal acumen, consistency, high-level bilingual communication, and the ability to handle sensitive regulatory information with the utmost care.

Your responsibilities:

• Case Management: Investigate arbitration cases thoroughly, providing comprehensive background information and evidence. Conduct internal audits of the customer complaint journey to ensure fair outcomes.

• Arbitration decision process: Assess cases and decisions made by external arbitration bodies, taking ownership of legally binding outcomes. Ensure Wise presents all necessary evidence based on this assessment in both Japanese and English.

• Japan & APAC Market & Regulatory Expertise: Serve as a subject matter expert for Japan while supporting the broader APAC region. Maintain an in-depth understanding of Japanese regulatory frameworks, (the Tokyo Bar Association (TBA) ADR process, JPSA procedures, etc.) and evolving regional dispute resolution trends to ensure full compliance and optimal outcomes for Wise customers. Proactively monitor regulatory changes and interpret their impact on our business.

• Strategic Growth & Scaling Insight: Apply an awareness of Wise's growth and scaling challenges in the APAC market to all case management and policy contributions, ensuring solutions are scalable and future-proof.

• Cross-Functional Influence & Action: Build and maintain effective working relationships with Compliance, Operations, and Product teams to effectively translate arbitration insights and regulatory changes into actionable policy and process improvements.

• Root Cause analysis and feedback: Collect vital company data on complaints, record arbitration decisions for use in Root Cause Analysis, and share feedback with relevant teams within Wise.

• Mitigate reputational damage from adverse decisions: Defend Wise against adverse decisions to safeguard the company's reputation.

• Work across multiple teams: Communicate with relevant product/operational teams to ensure a comprehensive understanding of cases and the ability to articulate this information to the arbitration body.

• Consistently hitting SLAs: Consistently handling cases within Wise’s SLAs, as well ensuring we do not breach cases based on the arbitration body deadline.

• Strong Fincrime knowledge: Maintain up-to-date knowledge on scam and deactivation complaints, understanding how they are handled across the business.

• Contribute to the team culture in a positive manner: Positively contribute to the team culture by assisting other Arbitration Specialists and Complaints Officers, sharing decisions, and providing feedback when necessary.

Qualifications

• You have at least 12 months of experience in dispute resolution, regulatory operations, or high-tier complaints handling.
• At least 12–24 months in a Financial Ombudsman office, regulatory body, Tokyo Bar Association (TBA) ADR scheme, bank, or FinTech handling dispute resolution, legal claims, customer escalations, or regulatory compliance in Japan and/or APAC markets.
• Legal & Regulatory Acumen: A legal background (e.g., Law degree, paralegal experience, or legal compliance background) is preferred, but not required. Direct exposure to Japanese financial regulatory frameworks is highly advantageous. A strong foundation or keen interest in APAC financial regulatory frameworks is highly advantageous.
• Language Skills: Impeccable/Fluent written and spoken English and high-level/native written and spoken Japanese. You will be managing regulatory filings, complex case notes, customer communications, and legal dispute proceedings in both languages.
• Standalone Autonomy & Resilience: You excel at working independently under high pressure. You will be the sole Arbitration Specialist based in Tokyo while the rest of the team operates out of other regional and global locations. You are highly self-motivated, proactive, and comfortable taking ownership of complex decisions without requiring co-located supervision.
• Multi-Channel Communication & Multitasking: You are confident navigating and multitasking across multiple communication channels simultaneously - including email, phone, and chat - while maintaining composure, speed, and accuracy in high-pressure scenarios.
• Communication: You’ve worked internationally, cross-team, or cross-geo before, so you quickly pick up on how to communicate effectively across diverse cultures, time zones, and matrixed structures. You welcome an open feedback culture, comfortably giving and receiving feedback across all levels of the organisation, and can adapt to Wise’s communication style.
• Attention to Detail: Meticulous, thorough, and accurate when auditing case files, compiling evidence, and submitting formal responses in both English and Japanese.
• Analytical Mindset & BI Tooling: Comfortable working with data, identifying patterns, and uncovering systemic trends to draw meaningful conclusions. You leverage data to make sound decisions and actionable recommendations to leads and cross-functional partners. Command of Lightdash, SQL, or other Business Intelligence (BI) tools is preferred.
• Problem Solving & Root Cause Analysis: Skilled at detecting problematic cases or workflows and escalating them effectively. You look beyond surface symptoms to uncover root causes using structured frameworks (e.g., 5 Whys, Fishbone diagrams) or demonstrate an eagerness to learn them.
• Organization & Autonomy: Punctual, highly organized, and able to prioritize complex workloads under tight regulatory deadlines. You operate autonomously, taking confident ownership of decisions on complex cases.
• Reliability & Adaptability: Committed to team goals, quick to adapt to regulatory shifts, and consistent in following through on commitments.
• Data Security & Customer Focus: Aware of and compliant with strict data security procedures. Above all, you are uncompromisingly customer-focused—our customers come first, and you consistently advocate for fair customer outcomes.

Additional Information

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.

Compensation: 7850000 to 10000000 (JPY) (YEARLY)