Compliance Director & MLRO, US

Airwallex (UK) Limited

Job Overview

Location

US - San Francisco

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• Lead and scale the Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) team across the United States, Canada, and expanding Americas markets, ensuring robust regulatory coverage and consistent application of global compliance standards.
• Serve as the primary regulatory liaison for AMER region authorities including FinCEN, NYDFS, state banking departments, and FINTRAC, managing day-to-day relationships, complex inquiries, and high-stakes examinations.
• Act as the designated Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) for the US region, providing formal compliance sign-off on high-risk decisions and complex escalations presented to the Governance and Risk Committee (GRC).
• Oversee and execute regional financial crime operations and reporting workflows where local regulatory mandates require second-line actions to be performed within specific US or Canadian jurisdictions.
• Monitor and analyze evolving BSA/AML, USA PATRIOT Act, sanctions, and financial crime regulations across AMER jurisdictions, proactively escalating material updates to the Global Policy team for framework integration.
• Provide strategic compliance advisory on Product Requirement Documents (PRDs), Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs), novel customer use cases, and new state money transmitter license applications to enable safe, compliant market expansion.
• Lead the design and deployment of region-specific financial crime compliance training programs for business units, commercial teams, and US/AMER staff to cultivate a risk-aware operational culture.
• Collaborate closely with global FCC leadership, product executives, and regional business heads to embed compliance as a strategic enabler of growth, balancing innovation with regulatory rigor.
• Manage multi-jurisdictional compliance operations across active US states and Canadian provinces, ensuring local sovereignty while aligning with global AML/CTF program standards.
• Advise on corporate customer onboarding workflows, virtual account structures, multi-currency wallets, and cross-border payment mechanisms within a fast-paced fintech environment.
• Utilize operational metrics, automated GRC systems, and compliance dashboards to track regional risk indicators, detect drift, and inform data-driven compliance decisions.
• Drive the successful navigation of complex state licensing audits and federal regulatory examinations, ensuring sustained compliance and minimizing exposure to enforcement actions.
• Partner with Product, Risk, and Commercial teams to support high-velocity product launches while maintaining adherence to regulatory requirements and internal controls.
• Maintain deep familiarity with US money transmission laws, Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), and financial crime risk frameworks applicable to digital payments and embedded finance.

🎯 Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Law, Criminology, Public Policy, Finance, Business Administration, or a related analytical field
• CAMS certification or an equivalent globally recognized compliance credential
• 12 to 15+ years of experience in AML, Sanctions, and Financial Crime Compliance within financial services, fintech, payments, or banking
• At least 5+ years of senior leadership experience managing multi-jurisdictional compliance teams or serving as a designated BSA/AML Officer or MLRO within the US or Canada
• Proven track record of interacting directly with AMER regulators (FinCEN, NYDFS, state regulators, or FINTRAC) and managing complex regulatory examinations and state licensing audits
• Experience providing compliance advisory on product rollouts, US state money transmitter licensing strategies, and complex corporate customer use cases within a matrixed environment

🏖️ Benefits

• Opportunity to work at a US$8 billion fintech leader backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, and Sequoia
• Collaborative environment with over 2,000 innovative professionals across 26 global offices
• Exposure to high-impact, global compliance challenges shaping the future of financial infrastructure
• Culture of founder-like energy, accelerated learning, and true ownership with emphasis on first-principles thinking

Skills & Technologies

Onsite

Degree Required

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Airwallex (UK) Limited

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About Airwallex (UK) Limited

Airwallex is a global financial technology company providing cross-border payment and banking infrastructure for businesses. It offers multi-currency accounts, foreign exchange, card issuing, expense management, and embedded finance APIs. Founded in Melbourne in 2015, the company serves enterprises and SMEs across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, operating under licenses in multiple jurisdictions and processing billions in annualized transaction volume.

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