Head of Compliance and Regulations

About the Role: Head of Compliance and Regulations

The Head of Compliance and Regulations plays a critical role in the development, implementation, and execution of our client’s compliance, regulatory, and risk management strategy. This role supports the Head of Legal and works closely with Product, Payments, Treasury, Engineering, and external stakeholders to ensure compliant scaling of payments, cross-border money movement, crypto, and Merchant-of-Record (MoR) operations across multiple jurisdictions.

This is a Full-time, Remote position based in London, United Kingdom, reporting to the General Manager within the Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance Department.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain deep understanding of regulatory frameworks governing payments, cross-border money movement, crypto, and Merchant-of-Record models across all operating markets.
• Lead regulator engagement, licensing, approvals, and ongoing regulatory reporting across jurisdictions, including central banks and payment authorities.
• Own and evolve the end-to-end compliance framework covering payments, MoR, AML, CFT, sanctions, transaction monitoring, and data protection.
• Define compliant operating models for collections, payouts, domestic acquiring, and cross-border flows in each market.
• Oversee KYC, customer and merchant due diligence, ongoing monitoring, and assessment of high-risk exposures.
• Lead AML, CFT, sanctions screening, and transaction monitoring for payment flows, last‑mile payouts, and merchant activity.
• Oversee tax, VAT, and statutory compliance requirements linked to MoR structures, ensuring audit readiness and accurate settlement reporting.
• Embed compliance requirements into payment flows, APIs, product design, and internal tooling in partnership with Product and Engineering teams.
• Act as the primary compliance point of contact for regulators, banks, PSPs, acquiring partners, and strategic partners.
• Support due diligence, onboarding, and ongoing oversight of local PSPs, acquiring partners, and payment vendors.
• Provide technical guidance to the business on regulatory change, translating requirements into pragmatic operational controls.
• Manage external advisors, consultants, and service providers supporting compliance activities.
• Act as Data Protection Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer where required.
• Perform additional duties aligned with regulatory, payments, and compliance leadership as needed.

Requirements

• 8–12+ years of experience in compliance, regulatory, or risk roles within payments, fintech, crypto, or financial services.
• Strong expertise in payments regulation, cross-border money movement, Merchant-of-Record models, and domestic acquiring.
• Hands-on experience with AML, CFT, sanctions, transaction monitoring, and regulatory reporting.
• Proven experience managing multi-country regulatory frameworks, including emerging and developing markets.
• Demonstrated ability to design compliant operating models for collections, payouts, FX, and merchant settlement.
• Experience engaging regulators, central banks, PSPs, and financial institutions across multiple jurisdictions.
• Ability to operate independently, exercise sound judgment, and make pragmatic decisions in high-growth environments.
• Strong organisational, communication, and cross‑functional collaboration skills.

Advantageous Skills

• Experience launching or operating payments or MoR products in Africa or other emerging markets.
• Exposure to mobile money, domestic acquiring, and local PSP ecosystems.
• Familiarity with crypto or stablecoin-related compliance frameworks.
• Startup or scale‑up fintech experience.
• Professional compliance certification (e.g. CCEP or equivalent).

Key Skills/Competency

• Regulatory Compliance
• AML/CFT
• Payments Regulation
• Cross-border Payments
• Crypto Compliance
• Risk Management
• Fintech Operations
• Transaction Monitoring
• Data Protection
• Regulator Engagement