KYC Team Lead - Germany

About the Opportunity

We are looking for a motivated and experienced Global KYC Team Lead (EDD/ODD) with strong German market expertise to lead our Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) and Ongoing Due Diligence (ODD) activities. This role is ideal for a hands-on leader with deep compliance knowledge, a strong understanding of German regulatory expectations, and a passion for developing people and building scalable, high-quality KYC operations. You will play a key role in strengthening our KYC framework, driving operational performance, and ensuring regulatory excellence for the German market. Working closely with the KYC Leadership Team and cross-functional stakeholders, you will ensure consistent execution of policies, continuous improvement of due diligence processes, and strong audit and regulatory readiness.   In This Role, You Will

• Lead EDD & ODD Teams: Lead, coach, and develop EDD and ODD specialists supporting the German market. Drive strong performance, engagement, and capability development within the team
• Ensure Compliance & Quality: Oversee high-risk case reviews, escalations, and quality assurance. Ensure full alignment with German regulatory requirements, internal policies, and risk standards
• Optimize Processes & Controls: Identify gaps, inefficiencies, and automation opportunities across EDD/ODD workflows. Drive continuous process improvements to enhance quality, efficiency, and scalability
• Cross-Market & Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborate with other KYC Team Leads, Compliance, MLRO, PTX, and Business teams. Align on priorities, capacity planning, and execution across markets
• Audit & Regulatory Readiness: Ensure documentation, controls, and procedures meet audit and regulatory expectations. Actively support internal and external audits and remediation activities
• Vendor Oversight: Work with external vendors and partners to ensure consistent quality, timely delivery, and adherence to standards
• Strategic Initiatives: Contribute to cross-functional projects focused on operational scaling, regulatory improvements, and customer experience.
• Culture & Ownership: Foster a culture of accountability, ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement

  Leadership Capabilities, As a Team Lead, you will demonstrate:

• Strategic Thinking: Setting clear objectives aligned with KYC and company strategy, anticipating regulatory and operational risks
• Sound Decision-Making: Making balanced, risk-aware decisions in complex and time-sensitive situations
• Change Leadership: Guiding teams through change with clarity, empathy, and structure
• People Development: Coaching and mentoring individuals to build a high-performing, resilient team
• Audit & Data-Driven Leadership: Using data, metrics, and audit insights to drive decisions, planning, and improvements
• Stakeholder Management: Building strong, trusted relationships across Compliance, Operations, and senior stakeholders

  What You Need to Be Successful - Background

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Law, or a related field
• +5 years of experience in KYC, EDD/ODD, or Financial Crime Compliance
• Proven leadership experience in a regulated financial environment, ideally supporting the German market

  Skills & Competencies

• Strong expertise in KYC, EDD, and ODD frameworks, ideally within EU and German regulatory contexts
• Excellent leadership and people management skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a data-driven mindset
• Hands-on experience with tools such as JIRA, Confluence, Metabase, and Excel
• Fluent German and English (mandatory)
• Additional languages (Spanish, Italian, French) are a plus
• Ability to prioritize, collaborate, and drive results in a fast-paced environment
• Proven ability to manage projects, implement change, and improve processes

  At N26, you’ll be part of a forward-thinking, multicultural environment where innovation and compliance go hand in hand. You’ll lead impactful work that safeguards our customers and helps shape the future of compliant digital banking across Europe. If you’re passionate about leadership, compliance, and operational excellence, we’d love to hear from you. Apply today and help us build a safer, smarter banking experience.   What’s in it for you:

• Accelerate your career growth by joining one of Europe’s most talked about disruptors.
• Employee benefits that range from a competitive personal development budget, work from home budget, discounts to fitness & wellness memberships, language apps and public transportation. 
• As an N26 employee you will have access to a Premium subscription on your personal N26 bank account. As well as subscriptions for friends and family members.    
• Additional day of annual leave for each year of service.  
• A high degree of autonomy and access to cutting edge technologies - all while working with a friendly team of peers of diverse nationalities, life experiences and backgrounds. 
• A relocation package with visa support for those who need it.

  Who we are N26 has reimagined banking for today’s digital world. Technology and design empower everything we do and it’s how we are building the global banking platform the world loves to use.   We've eliminated physical branches, paperwork, and hidden fees for an elegant digital experience and supreme savings. Giving people the power to live and bank their way is what gets us out of bed in the morning and inspires the work that we do.    We are headquartered in Berlin with offices in multiple cities across Europe, including Vienna and Barcelona, and a 1,500-strong team of more than 80 nationalities.   Sounds good? Apply now for this position.   Equal Opportunities: We recognize that our strength lies in our people and the varied perspectives they bring to our workforce. We strive to build talented and diverse teams to drive our business success and empower our people to reach their full potential.   We genuinely welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, neurodiversities, and ages. We're committed to creating an inclusive workspace where everyone feels valued and respected, free from harassment and discrimination. If there's anything you need to make the application process work for you, please let us know by reaching out to candidate.exp@n26.com.    Visit our website to learn more about Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at N26.