Director of Business Operations - North America at Wise in Austin, , United States

Job description

• We’re looking for a Director of Business Operations (NorthAm) to join us and do things differently.
• This is a critical leadership position designed for a strategic and hands-on leader who will shape the future of our operations across North America. You will not only lead business operations for the region but also proactively identify opportunities for improvement and guide a team of BizOps managers to execute these initiatives.
• This is a high-visibility leadership role with significant regional scope. For the right candidate, this position offers a clear succession pathway to senior executive entity leadership in North America. You will serve as the primary operational representative to our regulators and the regional Board of Directors.

Responsibilities

• You will lead the North American operational strategy, directing a matrixed footprint of over 1,000 support and servicing team members located in our European hubs (Budapest and Tallinn), while building out our local teams in Austin and São Paulo.
• Strategic Leadership: Lead the business operations organization in the region, identifying and capitalizing on opportunities to enhance efficiency and performance. You will work closely with global heads to shape the future of the region, including location strategy and capacity planning.
• Team Leadership: Lead and develop a small team of high-performing BizOps managers, guiding them to execute on key operational improvements.
• Regulatory & Board Representation: Represent our operations confidently and credibly in front of regulators and our board of directors.
• Expansion and Growth: Collaborate with the North American leadership team on strategic expansion into new markets and regions.
• Talent Development: Grow and mentor local operational leaders, hire new talent, and establish effective local ways of working, including hybrid models and career growth opportunities.
• Execution in a Flat Structure: Embrace our flat organizational structure by being a leader who can both strategize and execute, getting your hands dirty to solve problems and drive projects forward.
• Your success will be measured by your ability to scale our regional operations efficiently and sustainably.
• While you will ultimately hold accountability for regional servicing metrics (including SLAs, efficiency targets and resolution quality), your primary focus will be on driving structural improvements. You will work in lockstep with our product teams to build forward-looking infrastructure that upgrades our operations.
• Operational Excellence: Proactively identify systemic operational vulnerabilities, lead high-impact automation projects, and drive contact deflection strategies to scale our volume without linearly scaling headcount.
• Strategic Planning: Translate product requirements into a sustainable servicing model and formulate both long-term strategies and actionable 6-month plans.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Build, track and execute against robust KPIs, using data to uncover operational insights and eliminate customer friction points.
• Location and Talent Strategy: Act as a "local office leader", owning decisions on location changes, and contributing to our hybrid work strategy. You will also provide key input into forecasting and hiring decisions.

Requirements

• We are looking for a seasoned leader with a proven ability to operate at a senior level in a dynamic, product-driven environment.
• Experience: A minimum of 7+ years of experience in senior operational leadership roles within FinTech or at US banks.
• Leadership in Scale-Up Environments: A highly successful track record in senior operational leadership, with a sophisticated approach to managing people, processes, and fast-moving organizational change. You must have a demonstrated ability to execute and scale within complex, tech-driven operations or product-led servicing environments.
• Regulatory and Board Experience: Proven experience representing operations to regulators and a board of directors.
• Product Partnership: A track record of working in true partnership with product teams to build effective solutions for support challenges.
• Analytical & Data-Driven: You must be able to build and execute against KPIs and use data to solve complex problems and find insights.
• Local Market Knowledge: A strong understanding of the laws, culture, and regulations within the US market.

Skills

Required

• Senior operational leadership
• People management
• Process management
• Product-led servicing environments
• Regulatory and board representation
• Product partnership
• Building and executing against KPIs
• Data-driven problem solving