U.K. KYC Lead

SpaceXAI · Compliance (X Money)

Soho, London · Full-time · On-site 5 days

SpaceXAI is building a payments product. X Money is live in the US. The U.K. KYC program is being built now, and it needs to stand up to the FCA, 

This role sits in Compliance and reports to the Global KYC Program Lead. You will help design the UK KYC framework including CDD/EDD standards, procedures, QA, training, and the operating rhythm — and you will also work on real cases. It is a builder seat with a case load, not a queue job with “strategy” in the title.

If you have spent five years inside an FCA-regulated bank, EMI, PI, or payments firm, and you have actually written or rebuilt a control, this is the seat.

Why this seat is interesting

• You are close to the start of the UK program. The standards you write will be used.
• The work is payments KYC at consumer scale, not a private-banking book of 400 names.
• You sit with Product and Engineering, not three layers away from the customer journey.
• Small team. Direct line to the Global KYC Program Lead. Scope is large; process theatre is not.
• The measure of the job is a program that still works a year later.

What you will own

• Design and embed the UK KYC program: policy, procedures, CDD/EDD standards, risk rating, escalation paths, and QA
• Translate MLR 2017, JMLSG, and FCA expectations into something operations and product can run
• Handle complex cases, PEPs, adverse media, and escalations — then use what you see in the queue to fix the framework
• Find gaps in the current UK setup and close them: documentation, workflows, controls, training
• Work with Compliance, Legal, Operations, Product, and Engineering so UK requirements show up in the customer journey, not only in a policy folder
• Track UK regulatory change and tell the Global Lead what it means for the program
• Report on quality, risk, and throughput. Be the UK voice in global KYC decisions

This role is a good fit if you

• Have 5+ years of hands-on KYC / CDD / EDD in a regulated UK financial services firm (bank, EMI, PI, payments, or e-money)
• Know the UK regime well enough to argue a point: MLR 2017, JMLSG, FCA financial-crime expectations
• Have designed or materially improved a KYC framework, procedure, or control — not only cleared files
• Can write a clear procedure, defend a risk decision, and explain it to Product without jargon
• Are willing to do the cases. The program will be worse if the person who writes it never touches a file

Nice to have

• Second-line Compliance or Financial Crime experience
• Payments, wallets, P2P, or e-money KYC — retail or SME
• ICA, ACAMS, or equivalent
• Built something across more than one jurisdiction
• Have sat with product or engineering on onboarding, risk rating, or control design

How we work

Soho, London W1, two minutes from Piccadilly Circus. In-office 5 days a week; occasional work-from-home when needed. Hours are 10:00–19:00. Expect some late overlap with Palo Alto.

Small Compliance team, global program. You will have a lot of scope. If you need a 30-page RACI before you will draft a procedure, this will feel thin. If you want to put a real UK program on the page and then run it, it will not.

Pay and benefits

• Base salary £63,000–£83,000
• Equity
• UK private medical covering GPs and specialists
• Pension contributions
• Life insurance
• Lunch allowance
• Skilled Worker visa sponsorship where needed