Banking Operations Manager

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.

The Role: Banking Operations Manager 

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.

What You'll Do / Your Mission

In this role, you will advance our mission by focusing on key operational domains and strategic partner management:

Drive Partner Performance & Health:

• Own the continuous monitoring of banking partner system performance and integration points, identifying issues and ensuring optimal operational efficiency.
• Analyze and communicate performance and health metrics to the Banking team, providing strategic insights to guide partnership decisions, including recommending the offboarding of underperforming partners based on data.
• Lead discussions with banking partners to enforce accountability for SLA performance, incident resolution, and service availability.

Incident Management & Escalation:

• Act as a core member of the Bank Partner Incident Management team, ensuring issues affecting banking partner relationships are promptly managed, tracked, resolved, and escalated appropriately.
• Strategic Stakeholder & Partner Liaison:
• Act as a centralized point of contact and primary liaison between banking partners and internal Wise teams (e.g., Banking, Regional Payment Operations), ensuring clear communication of operational needs, performance expectations, and escalations.
• Manage Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with banking partners, ensuring agreed-upon terms are met and operational needs are clearly communicated.
• Establish regular touchpoints to foster strong relationships, address issues, and enforce partner accountability.
• Serve as the first POC for Operational Teams on partner-related matters, guiding resolution.
• Actively participate in QBRs with banking partners, presenting Banking Operations performance and insights.
• Operational Excellence & Process Optimization:
• Proactively identify, troubleshoot, and lead the resolution of complex system issues, collaborating with technical teams and banking partners to minimize disruptions.
• Identify opportunities to optimize banking operational processes and reduce inefficiencies across payment flows, championing improvements.
• Data Analysis & Reporting for Strategic Insights:
• Establish, define, and track key operational KPIs and metrics related to banking partner performance (e.g., payment volumes, speed, processing losses, payment failures/incidents, reconciliation issues, SLA adherence, partner responsiveness).
• Design reporting frameworks and generate regular reports, providing data-driven strategic insights to inform company decisions regarding banking operations.

Knowledge Management & Training:

• Develop best practices and implement training programs for Regional Payment Operations teams to empower upskilling, improve problem-solving, and enhance operational efficiency related to partner relationship management and partner access management.
• Collaborate closely with the Banking Operations Governance team to ensure alignment with centralized frameworks for Partner Due Diligence, Fee Management & Reconciliation, and Bank Account Creation & Access Management, providing operational insights for continuous improvement.
• Lead New Integrations & Launches:
• Manage and maintain the New Launch Process & Template for banking partners and new payment routes/currencies.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, and Regional Payment Operations teams to scope new payment options, assess integration requirements, and ensure smooth technical rollouts and post-integration monitoring.
• Oversee new Partner and Direct Access integrations/offboardings, actively minimizing operational risks before launch/contract closure.

A bit about you:

• You're a highly analytical, self-starting individual contributor who thrives in ambiguity and drives impact in a fast-paced, autonomous environment.
• 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.

• 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).

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.

• RSU's in a rapidly growing company

• An annual self-development budget

• Medical, dental, & vision insurance – including HSA and FSA options

• Company-paid: Life Insurance, Short & Long-Term Disability, and an EAP program

• Flexible working model – a mix of working from home and from the office

• Relocation expenses covered

• 25 days PTO, 15 sick days, 11 holidays, 5 compassionate leave days, 3 paid “Me” days and a paid volunteer day, annually

• A paid 6-week sabbatical leave after four years

• 18-weeks of paid parental leave, after a year with us

• 401k with up to a 4% employer match

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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