UK KYC Lead

Xai · London, England, United Kingdom · Other

Posted 2026-09-10

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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

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