Product Owner - Financial Crime (Technical)

Posted 3 days 9 hours ago by Allica Bank Limited

Permanent
Not Specified
Other
London, United Kingdom
Job Description

About Allica Bank

Allica is the UK's fastest growing company - and the fastest-growing financial technology (Fintech) firm ever. Our purpose is to help established SMEs, one of the last major underserved opportunities in Fintech.

Established SMEs are the backbone of local communities - representing over a third of our economy - yet have been largely neglected both by traditional high street banks and modern fintech providers.

This role will sit in the Payments Tribe, which has built Allica's ground-breaking new current account, aimed at established SMEs, who need both fantastic technology and best-in-class customer experience. Allica aims to offer unparalleled value to UK SMEs, going beyond payments to make financial management simple and painless. The Tribe also builds and manages all of Allica's savings account propositions.

As Product Owner, you will lead a dedicated squad on Financial Crime, across products, with skills such as Engineering and Data, as well as work closely with peers in functions such as Operations, Compliance and Risk. The squad delivers via simple, elegant solutions to our customers' complex problems, driving innovation in a space historically neglected by the more established players. We are committed to providing secure, seamless, and customer-centric financial experiences while staying ahead of evolving fraud and other financial crime threats.

We are rare amongst banks in that our senior leadership team includes backgrounds at world-leading financial fintech firms, which shows in their active engagement with our product squads, and in our bank-wide adoption of modern tools and techniques such as Scrum and Jira.

Role Description

We are seeking an experienced and driven Product Owner for Financial Crime to join our product team. This is a hybrid role that requires a strategic mindset coupled with a hands-on approach to technical execution. You will own the end to end strategy, delivery and continuous optimisation of our FinCrime detection, prevention and monitoring solutions. The role balances strategic vision with hands on execution, requiring deep data expertise, strong technical acumen with vendor platforms, and a passion for getting into the details of rule calibration, model performance and emerging typologies.

Principal Accountabilities

  1. Define & Evolve FinCrime Strategy

  • Develop and maintain a holistic roadmap spanning fraud (e.g. APP, ATO, internal), AML transaction monitoring and screening (sanctions, PEP, adverse media).

  • Continuously assess threat landscapes and regulatory change to ensure controls stay ahead of new typologies.

  1. Data Driven Detection & Analytics

  • Leverage advanced analytics, SQL/Python and machine learning techniques, supported by Engineers and Data Scientists and Data Analysts to surface anomalies, optimise risk scores and reduce false positives.

  • Own dashboards and KPIs that evidence the effectiveness of controls and drive iterative improvement.

  1. Rule & Model Calibration

  • Design, test and tune detection rules, thresholds and model features across vendor and in house tools, using back testing and champion/challenger approaches.

  • Implement robust change management around parameter updates and model retraining.

  1. Vendor & Platform Ownership

  • Serve as product owner for third party FinCrime platforms (e.g. fraud decision engines, AML TM and screening solutions).

  • Specify data contracts, integration patterns (APIs, event streams) and ensure high quality data ingestion.

  1. Execution Leadership

  • Drive delivery through a dedicated squad of engineers, supported by data scientists, writing tickets, prioritising backlogs and removing blockers.

  • Roll up sleeves to run ad hoc analyses, validate rules and support production releases.

  1. Cross Functional Collaboration

  • Partner with Operations, Compliance, Risk and Customer teams to embed controls seamlessly into customer journeys.

  • Present regular updates to senior leadership on threat trends, control performance and roadmap delivery.

Personal Attributes & Experience

  • Proven FinCrime domain expertise covering fraud, AML transaction monitoring and sanctions/PEP screening within banking or fintech.

  • Advanced data analysis skills: expert with Excel, SQL is preferred.

  • Technical product ownership of third party detection platforms; strong understanding of APIs, event driven architectures and data pipelines.

  • Demonstrated success in rule/model calibration and driving measurable reduction in fraud & AML risk while optimising operational efficiency.

  • Deep knowledge of UK and global FinCrime regulations (MLRs, POCA, Sanctions & FATF, PSR reviews, APP reimbursement, etc.).

  • Execution focused: thrives on delivering tangible outcomes, shipping iterative improvements at pace.

  • Strategic thinker with curiosity for emerging threats (e.g. deep fake ID, synthetic identities, mule ecosystems) and innovation in real time analytics.

  • Familiar with Agile/Scrum methodologies and leading cross functional squads.

Working at Allica Bank

At Allica Bank we want to ensure our employees have the right tools and environment in which to succeed in their role and in support of our customers.

Our employees are at the heart of everything we do, so our benefits are designed with you in mind:

  • Full onboarding support and continued development opportunities

  • Options for flexible working

  • Regular social activities

  • Pension contributions

  • Discretionary bonus scheme

  • Private health cover

  • Life assurance

  • Family friendly policies including enhanced Maternity & Paternity leave

Don't tick every box?

Don't worry if you don't have all the skills or requirements listed on the job description. If you think you'll be a good fit, we'd still love to hear from you!

Flexible working

We know the '9-to-5' isn't right for everyone. That's why Allica Bank is fully committed to flexible and hybrid working. Please let us know what is best for you and, if we can, we will do our best to accommodate.

Diversity

We're a diverse bunch here at Allica, with all kinds of experiences, backgrounds and lifestyles. Our openness and differences make us stronger, and we want everybody to feel comfortable bringing as much of themselves to work with them as they like.