We’re looking for a Country Manager / CEO to lead our expansion efforts in Malaysia. Malaysia is a growing and important market for Wise and your success will mean helping millions more potential customers to save money by using our services. 

This is not your typical business development or relationship role. You will oversee the Malaysia market overall and will work with other teams at Wise to launch, run and scale our services and business operations. Over time, you will have full responsibility for overseeing our financial services partnerships, figuring out new products or deepening opportunities, and executing on it, and managing critical relationships with government departments, regulators, industry players and banking partners. 

What will you be doing?

As Country Manager (CM) / CEO, you are responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the licensee under the Board's direction, ensuring professionalism, honesty, and fairness while mitigating risks of illegal activities. By working with other teams, you will be responsible for:

• Ensure Board-approved policies and controls are effectively implemented, communicated, and understood throughout the organization.

• Inform the Board of any significant control lapses and ensure timely corrective actions to mitigate risks.

• Ensure employees are competent, professional, and well-trained in regulatory and AML/CFT requirements, conducting thorough background checks for key roles.

• Develop and implement AML/CFT policies considering the licensee’s risk exposure based on location, customer groups, and transaction volume.

• Ensure ongoing compliance with all regulatory requirements through effective systems and processes, including monitoring by branches and agents.

• Respond promptly and effectively to supervisory requests and concerns from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

• Maintain accurate, complete records of all business transactions and ensure timely submission of required reports to BNM.

Additionally, as part of the Asia Pacific Expansion team, you will also be involved in:

• Identify the best strategies for expanding Wise in Malaysia, including managing the end-to-end licensing process by understanding regulations, preparing, coordinating, and submitting applications, and obtaining regulatory approval.

• Product Development: Collaborate with the product team on new product launches and feature development to meet customer needs. Provide regulatory and local market knowledge, leading coordinated efforts to roll out products with other teams at Wise.

• Establish and maintain strong partnerships with financial institutions in Malaysia. Lead commercial negotiations, pitch Wise, complete due diligence, maintain active relationships with partners, and ensure technical teams have the resources they need for integration. Identify the best partnership arrangements to support Wise's business expansion.

• Work with relevant teams to establish scalable business and operations in Malaysia, oversee progress and challenges, assist with problem-solving, and set up governance structures for good business conduct.

• Collaborate with the compliance team to understand and comply with existing and new regulations, ensuring that our products and setup align with regulatory requirements. Help leverage regulation as an opportunity to achieve Wise’s mission.

• Manage relationships with regulators and other key stakeholders, including government bodies, the central bank, FIU, industry associations, and the media.

• Driving other Asia Pacific Expansion team priorities, such as aligning priorities across teams or regions, identifying operational improvement strategy, or identifying new growth opportunities in new regions

A bit about you:

• Experienced in the payment space (EMI or remittance industry experience is preferred), either from the regulatory side or within the industry. Bonus points for experience as a Country Manager or CEO in a payment company.

• Residing in Malaysia or willing to relocate to Malaysia. Please note that we don’t provide visa support for this role.

• Fluent in English; speaking Malay is a plus but not required.

• Well-versed in payments, FX, and AML regulations in Malaysia, and comfortable navigating AML/KYC and risk controls.

• Experienced in building business relationships with financial institutions and dealing with risk/compliance teams within these institutions.

• An analytical thinker who can break down problems into components, gather necessary data, identify step-by-step solutions, and effectively communicate with stakeholders.

• Excellent at managing external relationships with regulators and financial institutions.

• Able to work independently and be a self-starter, while also being great at teamwork and collaborating with other teams to achieve goals.

• Passionate about transforming the financial industry for the better.

• Willing to travel to our Singapore office or other Wise offices as needed.

Your mission:

• Market expansion - Identify the most appropriate way to expand Wise in Malaysia,  then roll up your sleeves and make it happen. If we need a licence, you will need to execute the process end-to-end: understand the regulations, do the application and get the regulatory buy-in.

• Manage financial service partnerships - Maintain and improve relationships with financial institutions (banks, payment companies, card schemes) and lead commercial negotiations to drive down costs. You will monitor our economics to ensure that our service is competitive and support the team on integrating to the local partner.

• Lead strategic initiatives related to wider expansion plan- You will identify new / relevant local ways to benefit customers (such as a new local payment method or a new product feature) and build on it. You will also grow our new product offerings by identifying and pitching to relevant businesses in your target markets. Understanding how our product works will be key to finding these new opportunities.

• Own strategic stakeholders relationships. You will be the face of Wise in Malaysia, hence you will build and improve relationships with strategic stakeholders, such as with the BNM, Paynet and fintech association or industry - whose purpose is to help us grow our business through collaborations with these stakeholders.

This role will give you the opportunity to:

• Choose your own path to success – You’ll have the freedom to define the vision and the responsibility for making it happen.

• Gain international exposure – You will work with our teams in offices around the world and learn from our experiences in other markets. You will also work on expansion projects beyond your core market, Malaysia, providing you with broader international experience.

• Be a part of something new – Help launch new Wise products and become a key factor in their success.

What do we offer: 

• Competitive salary

• Company Restricted Stock Units

Key benefits:

• Flexible working - whether it’s working from home, school plays or life admin we get that flexibility is essential and you’re trusted to do the right thing and be responsible

• Paid annual holiday, sick days, parental leave and other leave opportunities

• 6 weeks of paid sabbatical after 4 years at Wise on top of annual leave 

#LI-AH2

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.

Keep up to date with life at Wise by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.