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Head of KYC

San Francisco, CA, New York, NY, Portland, OR, or Remote within Canada or United States

Mercury was founded to make banking* better for all businesses. We started by imagining what the best banking platform for startups would look like and in a few short years, we have thousands of customers using Mercury’s products, supporting their businesses as they grow. In order to continue our momentum, identifying our customers, collecting and verifying their information, and ensuring we understand the various risks they bring to Mercury is critical. 

To us, KYC is much more than a legal requirement. It is the foundation from which our risk program is built upon. We aim to make all of our KYC, KYB, due diligence, and risk assessment processes frictionless, efficient, and robust. We would like to go way beyond the industry standard, and innovate in all areas of risk management.

As the Head of KYC, Onboarding and Due Diligence at Mercury, you will be a key member of the Risk leadership team and will bring a principled, strategic approach to how we build and scale the foundation of our Risk programs. You will design, enhance, and build a best-in-class operations function focused on our customer onboarding processes, lead ongoing due diligence efforts across our growing customer base, and manage customers’ risk profiles effectively, alongside internal teams and external partners. Ultimately, you will aim to ensure the safety and compliance of Mercury and its customers, while positioning Mercury as a Risk industry leader.

*Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC.

Here are some of the things you will do:

  • Develop and execute the global KYC operations strategy for Mercury, ensuring alignment with broader risk management objectives and seamless integration across multiple Risk teams
  • Lead a large team of over 50 professionals responsible for application reviews, ongoing due diligence, and decision-making on applications and accounts, including mentorship and support of risk managers, fostering a high-performance culture
  • Drive short- and long-term initiatives to enhance risk performance, including improving SLAs, approval rates, capacity planning, and reducing friction and losses 
  • Ensure the efficiency of KYC reviews through automation, tooling improvements, and clear policies and procedures
  • Partner with internal teams across Risk, Legal, Compliance, Engineering, Product, Design, Customer Support, and Go-To-Market, to design and implement KYC project initiatives and enhance overall customer experience
  • Understand the implications of KYC and due diligence on other risk areas such as Fraud, AML, and Sanctions, and ensure a robust first line of defense
  • Educate internal stakeholders on KYC efforts, articulating how we strengthen our processes while minimizing unnecessary friction, and build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including banking and financial institutions partners
  • Become a champion of Mercury’s KYC programs, and an expert in Mercury’s products, policies, and tools, clearly articulating the balance between risk identification and requirements vs. product and customer experience
  • Provide senior management and Executive-level reporting on KPIs, program health, and key initiatives, ensuring visibility and alignment with organizational goals

There are lots of paths that could lead you to be successful in a role like this; we think the strongest candidates will have some of this experience:

  • 10+ years of experience working in an operational risk management function, such as Onboarding, KYC, Enhanced Due Diligence, or a related operational function, ideally in a financial technology company, large banking institution, or the payments industry
  • Significant experience in a people management role, both of ICs and Managers, leading and developing operational teams at scale
  • Deep knowledge of global KYC best practices and regulations, with a proven ability to design and scale KYC programs globally and across jurisdictions
  • Be a strong analytical thinker and have the ability to leverage data to develop team and organizational metrics, such as KPIs, SLAs, approval rates, capacity planning, and other related performance indicators
  • Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to motivate and guide teams through complex situations, secure Executive-level buy-in, and work effectively across internal functions and external partners
  • Comfortability with decision-making and working in an ambiguous, fast-paced environment
  • An ambitious sense of curiosity and a willingness to explore how KYC impacts areas outside of one’s comfort zone, such as new markets or new financial products
  • Respect for and interest in financial rules and regulations, as well as an eagerness to innovate and drive the industry forward

The total rewards package at Mercury includes base salary, equity (stock options), and benefits.

Our salary and equity ranges are highly competitive within the SaaS and fintech industry and are updated regularly using the most reliable compensation survey data for our industry. New hire offers are made based on a candidate’s experience, expertise, geographic location, and internal pay equity relative to peers.

Our target new hire base salary ranges for this role are the following:

  • US employees in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: $244,000 - $287,100 USD
  • US employees outside of New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: $219,600 - $258,400 USD

We use Covey as part of our hiring and / or promotional process for jobs in NYC and certain features may qualify it as an AEDT. As part of the evaluation process we provide Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound on January 22, 2024. Please see the independent bias audit report covering our use of Covey here.

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