Banking & Expansion Manager / Country Manager

Job Description

People and businesses all over the world use Wise to avoid big bank fees and week-long international wires when they send, spend, and receive money abroad. We have over 15 million customers who move $15 billion every month with us. We help them save more than $6 million in bank fees every day.

Our banking relationships determine the quality of our product and a large part of its economics. And our relationships with regulators, governments and payment systems are crucial too. So, we’re on the hunt for an executor with a brilliant mind and strong communication skills to expand our product offering in Colombia. 

This is a unique and exciting opportunity to play a pioneering role to grow Wise in one of our key markets, allowing millions more potential customers to save money by using our services. You will have full responsibility for overseeing our local operations, defining our market expansion strategy and executing on it, and being the face of Wise in Colombia.       

What will you be doing?

Working with the Product teams (Product Managers, Analysts and Engineers), you will help define the opportunities for our products in Colombia and will help build better products and experiences for our customers. You will collaborate across teams and inspire others so that we deliver the best solution. Your contribution will mainly be from the payments infrastructure, regulatory and operational banking partnerships point of view.

Your mission:

To own and expand Wise’s regulatory presence in the country.

• Identify the most appropriate way to grow Wise in Colombia. You will manage the entire licensing process for Wise’s entry into Colombia and will: understand the regulations, prepare, coordinate and submit the application, and get the regulatory buy-in as well as support the fulfillment of any other local requirements for the license applications.

• Identify opportunities to offer the best product in the market taking advantage of our existing framework and future authorizations.

• Understand existing and new regulations and figure out the best ways our product can comply with them. You will translate regulatory requirements into product implementations together with our Compliance teams. You will be one of the product team’s go-to people for regulatory knowledge. We see regulation as an opportunity!

Contribute to defining the opportunities and direction for our products in Colombia. Collaborate across teams and inspire others so that we deliver the best solution.

• Work closely with product teams (Product Managers and Product Engineers) to develop our vision and build better products and experiences for our customers. Your contribution will mainly be from the payments infrastructure, regulatory and operational banking partnerships point of view.

• Work with our global teams (Product, Finance, Treasury, etc.) to ensure our customers and products are at the center of our mission.

• Be the person of reference in our new Colombia office, from both internal and external perspectives.

To build new relationships with relevant financial institutions:

• Open new relationships with relevant financial institutions (i.e. banks, payment processors, cards issuers, processors, etc.). You will manage the process end-to-end: find the right potential partners, pitch Wise as a client, negotiate the commercial agreements and contracts, complete account opening forms, explain our compliance processes, pass due diligence, and do anything else needed to be ready for development.

Take ownership of improving existing relationships with transactional banking partners and other financial institutions. You will:

• Lead commercial and relationship discussions with partners and monitor our economics to ensure we offer the most sustainable and competitive service in the market.

• Create new opportunities within existing relationships with financial institutions in Colombia to ensure we continuously improve our product (i.e. increase speed, reduce costs, add more visibility to our transactions, etc.).

Qualifications

This role would suit someone who is:

• Able to independently negotiate the most ideal terms with a clear product vision and understanding in mind and you can figure out the ideal operational and commercial process with every new partner.

• Excellent at managing financial regulatory relationships, constantly creating opportunities to improve them.

• Able to get stuff done. Not afraid to get hands dirty to deliver what is needed - we’re a fast growing company and you will need an entrepreneurial mindset to thrive.

• Deep understanding of how financial, payments and FX regulators work and the different decision makers that need to be taken into account to make things happen.

• Understand financial, payments and FX regulation in a changing regulatory environment and have an interest in AML/KYC and risk controls.

• Familiar with different financial licensing frameworks and requirements in Colombia, including payments institutions, FX brokers, and securities brokers.

• Familiar with how corporate banks and financial institutions work and their decision makers. You’re excellent at managing those relationships and are constantly creating opportunities to improve them.

• You are fluent in Spanish and English.

• You are resident in Colombia and able to serve as the local representative in the country.

• Happy to work independently and flexibly within a fast-moving environment.

• Passionate about transforming the financial industry for good.

 It would be ideal, but not essential if you:

• Have strong relationships and experience with regulators in Colombia, especially the Superintendencia Financiera and Banco de la Republica.

• Understand financial regulation in the broader Latam region, or have experience working with financial regulators.

• Have experience in obtaining licenses in Colombia, with a desirable experience in SEDPE license.

• Understands payments infrastructure in the region and is well-versed in the nuances of the FX market in Latam.

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.