BPL Financial Crime Policy & Advisory AVP

We're seeking an experienced Financial Crime professional with Merchant Acquiring expertise to join our BPL Financial Crime Policy & Advisory team.

This is a Second Line of Defence role responsible for supporting the provision of Financial Crime oversight, advice and challenge across the Payments Acquiring business. Working closely with stakeholders across the business, Risk and Compliance teams, you will contribute to the effective management of financial crime risks whilst supporting the business in achieving its strategic objectives.

You will provide advisory support on complex Financial Crime matters, contribute to policy and governance activities, support risk assessments and remediation programmes, and help enhance the control environment across the merchant lifecycle.

This role requires a strong understanding of the Financial Crime risks associated with Merchant Acquiring, including customer onboarding, payment facilitators, marketplaces, high‑risk merchant sectors, transaction flows, sanctions exposure, fraud typologies and evolving regulatory expectations.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop your Financial Crime expertise within a dynamic Merchant Acquiring environment. You'll gain exposure to a wide range of Financial Crime risks, work alongside experienced subject matter experts, and play an important role in strengthening the control environment that supports our merchant acquiring business.

You'll have the opportunity to influence risk outcomes, contribute to strategic initiatives and build specialist expertise in one of the fastest‑evolving areas of financial services.

• Assist in providing Financial Crime advice and guidance to the Merchant Acquiring business on day-to-day risk matters, customer onboarding, customer lifecycle management and business initiatives.
• Support with the interpretation and implementation of Financial Crime policies, standards and regulatory requirements.
• Review customer escalations, high‑risk merchant referrals, policy exceptions and risk assessments, providing clear and risk‑based recommendations.
• Assist in the oversight of remediation programmes, audit actions and regulatory deliverables, ensuring actions are tracked and completed effectively.
• Perform analysis of Financial Crime metrics, incidents, emerging threats and industry developments to identify potential risks and control improvements.
• Support the development and enhancement of Financial Crime policies, procedures and risk management frameworks.
• Assistance in producing high‑quality management information, analysis, briefing papers and governance materials for stakeholders and committees.
• Contribute to thematic reviews, deep dives and oversight activities to assess the effectiveness of Financial Crime controls.

• Ideally, experience working within a Second Line Financial Crime, Compliance or Risk team.
• Knowledge around card scheme requirements, payment facilitators, marketplaces and higher‑risk merchant sectors preferred.
• Professional qualifications such as ICA, ACAMS or equivalent.
• Use of Data Analytics to interpret large quantities of data

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 will be based in London or Northampton.

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.

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