Job Description

Purpose of the role

To provide assurance over the effectiveness of Compliance Risk Management across the bank. 

Accountabilities

• Development and refresh of the Compliance Assurance Annual Plan, ensuring that the Annual Plan focuses on areas of highest risk and value in relation to Compliance Risk.
• Delivery of risk-based assurance activity to validate the effectiveness of controls and processes designed to mitigate Compliance Risk.
• Identification of potential risks associated with non-compliance or control weaknesses in relation to Compliance Risk.
• Verbal and written communication of Compliance Assurance reports and issues to enhance the effectiveness of Compliance Risk management and oversight.
• Build, development and maintenance of effective relationships between Compliance Assurance and stakeholders across the three lines of defence.
• Proactive adoption of Data Analytics capabilities to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and coverage of Assurance work.
• Continued focus on the Barclays Mindset and Consistently Excellent to enhance the Assurance that we deliver, how it is delivered and the culture within the bank.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
• If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others..
• OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.

We're seeking an experienced Financial Crime professional with deep Merchant Acquiring expertise to lead Financial Crime Oversight activities for the Payments Acquiring business.

This is a senior Second Line of Defence role responsible for leading the independent oversight and assessment of the Merchant Acquiring Financial Crime Control Framework. Working closely with senior stakeholders across the business, you will provide objective challenge and assurance over the effectiveness of Financial Crime controls, helping ensure risks are identified, managed and mitigated in line with regulatory requirements and Barclays risk appetite. As the Financial Crime Oversight Lead, you will own the oversight strategy across Merchant Acquiring, delivering risk-based monitoring, thematic reviews, control assessments and issue oversight. You will provide critical insight to senior leadership and the MLRO on the effectiveness of the Financial Crime Framework and emerging Financial Crime risks impacting the business. This role requires a strong understanding of Merchant Acquiring and the associated Financial Crime risks, including customer onboarding, KYC and due diligence processes, payment facilitators, marketplaces, high-risk merchant segments, sanctions risk, transaction monitoring and evolving regulatory expectations.

This is a unique opportunity to lead Financial Crime Oversight within a complex and rapidly evolving Merchant Acquiring business. You'll play a critical role in providing independent assurance over the effectiveness of the Financial Crime Control Framework, influencing strategic risk decisions and helping shape the future oversight agenda for Barclays Payments.

Working directly with senior leadership and the MLRO, you'll provide independent insight, challenge and assurance, helping ensure the business remains resilient to evolving Financial Crime threats whilst supporting sustainable growth.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead independent assessments of the Merchant Acquiring Financial Crime Control Framework, evaluating both control design and operational effectiveness.
• Own and deliver the Financial Crime Monitoring Plan, ensuring oversight activities are aligned to the evolving risk profile of the business and emerging Financial Crime threats.
• Lead thematic reviews and deep-dive assessments in response to Financial Crime intelligence, incidents, emerging risks, regulatory developments and control weaknesses.
• Provide robust oversight and challenge of Financial Crime controls across the merchant lifecycle, identifying opportunities to strengthen the control environment.
• Oversee Financial Crime issue and event management, including root cause analysis, action tracking, remediation validation and review of closure packs.
• Analyse Financial Crime metrics, monitoring outcomes, incidents and management information to identify trends, emerging risks and systemic control weaknesses.
• Prepare and deliver reporting to the MLRO, senior management and governance forums on the effectiveness of the Financial Crime Framework.
• Provide oversight of audit, regulatory and remediation activities, ensuring sustainable and effective outcomes are delivered.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement through constructive challenge, insight-driven oversight and engagement with key stakeholders.

To be successful as a Merchant Acquiring Financial Crime Oversight Lead VP, you should have:

• Significant Financial Crime experience within banking, payments or financial services.

• Deep Merchant Acquiring experience is essential, including knowledge of merchant onboarding, customer risk assessment, card acquiring, payment acceptance and associated Financial Crime risks.

• Extensive knowledge of AML, Sanctions, Anti-Bribery & Corruption and wider Financial Crime regulatory requirements.

• Strong experience within a Second Line Financial Crime Oversight, Assurance, Compliance, Risk or Audit function.

• Experience leading monitoring, assurance, quality assurance or thematic review activity.

• Strong understanding of Financial Crime control frameworks, governance and issue management practices.

• Experience providing independent challenge and influencing senior stakeholders to drive risk management outcomes.

• Excellent analytical, reporting and communication skills, including experience presenting findings and recommendations to senior leadership.

• Proven ability to deliver in a fast-paced and evolving regulatory environment.

Some other highly valued skills may include:

• Experience supporting MLRO reporting and Financial Crime governance committees.

• Knowledge of card scheme requirements, payment facilitators, marketplaces and higher-risk merchant sectors.

• Experience supporting regulatory reviews, internal audit activity and remediation programmes.

• Professional qualifications such as ICA, ACAMS or equivalent.

You may be assessed on key critical skills relevant for success in the role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role is based in Glasgow.

Barclays’ payments acceptance business provides critical infrastructure to the UK economy, processing billions of pounds of payments annually for both small businesses and domestic and international corporate clients.

In April 2025, we announced a long-term partnership with Brookfield Asset Management to grow and transform the payments acceptance business by broadening the range of services offered, enhancing the experience for both existing and prospective clients. Leveraging extensive client relationships and deep experience of UK payments, we will create an environment of continuous innovation - activated by Brookfield’s global private equity expertise in payments, technology, operational transformation and corporate carve-outs - to ensure the business is strategically positioned for long-term growth.

Barclays will invest approximately £400m in the new business, the majority of which will be incurred during the first three years. Performance-linked incentives will drive greater alignment between the partners, underpinning the long-term commitment to the transformation. Barclays and Brookfield will work to create a standalone entity over time, continuing to use the Barclaycard Payments brand and acting as the sole payments acceptance services provider to Barclays’ clients for a minimum of ten years. 

For more information on our partnership with Brookfield (programme ‘Gaia’), please visit Barclays.com.