Director, Regulatory Compliance UK

As Director, Regulatory Compliance (UK), you will serve as the senior compliance authority and strategic partner for Airwallex's rapidly expanding UK presence.

Operating as a licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI) supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Airwallex requires compliance leadership that sees regulatory integrity not as a roadblock, but as a critical commercial enabler and competitive differentiator.

In this role, you will lead our UK compliance framework, serve as the primary interface with local regulators and industry bodies, and work cross-functionally across Product, Strategy, Commercial, and Operations to safely launch cutting-edge payment infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

• Lead UK Regulatory Compliance: Lead a UK-based team of regulatory compliance professionals; own and continuously evolve the UK compliance management system, policies, registers, and operational controls to ensure ongoing compliance with FCA handbooks, PSRs, EMRs, and UK AML/CTF regimes.
• Drive FCA Engagement: Act as the principal point of contact for the FCA, handling regulatory inquiries, notifications, audits, thematic reviews, and routine reporting with transparency and authority.
• Product & Commercial Advisory: Partner early with Product, Commercial, and International Expansion teams to design compliant-by-default cross-border payment, issuing, acquiring, and embedded finance architectures.
• Safeguarding & Governance: Oversee compliance aspects of key UK regulatory regimes including safeguarding and Consumer Duty in close partnership with Finance, Risk, Product, and other teams.
• Regulatory Horizon Scanning: Monitor domestic and international regulatory developments (e.g., Consumer Duty, operational resilience, PSR APP fraud reimbursement schemes) and proactively translate emerging rules into pragmatic technical and operational roadmaps.
• Team Leadership & Culture: Build, coach, and scale a high-caliber UK compliance advisory and operations team while fostering a company-wide culture of risk accountability and ethical rigor.
• Board & Committee Reporting: Prepare and deliver clear, actionable regulatory compliance reporting and key risk indicator (KRI) updates to executive leadership, local operating boards, and audit/risk committees.

Requirements:

• 10+ years of regulatory compliance experience within UK fintech, payment services (EMIs/APIs), neo-banking, or modern global financial institutions.
• Leadership Track Record: At least 4+ years managing and developing high-performing compliance teams in high-growth environments.
• Deep Regulatory Knowledge: Expert grasp of UK financial regulations, including the Payment Services Regulations (PSRs), Electronic Money Regulations (EMRs), FCA Principles for Businesses, and Consumer Duty standards.
• FCA Interface Experience: Direct track record of managing formal regulator relationships, supervisory inspections, or key authorization filings with the FCA.
• Pragmatic Problem-Solving: Ability to interpret complex regulatory requirements through a first-principles lens, providing creative, commercial, and defensible paths forward.
• Executive Presence: Strong communication, negotiation, and written advocacy skills capable of influencing board members, executive partners, and external regulatory bodies.

Nice-to-Haves:

• Prior experience holding an approved person / Senior Management Function (SMF) role under the FCA regime.
• Background handling regulatory aspects of cross-border multi-currency schemes, merchant acquiring, or credit/lending adjacencies.
• Relevant legal qualification or industry certifications (e.g., ICA Diploma in Governance, Risk & Compliance).

Benefits:

• Competitive base salary, performance incentives, and meaningful equity.
• High autonomy to build, scale, and influence the core infrastructure powering the global digital economy.
• Comprehensive health, wellness, pension, and parental leave coverage.
• Dynamic, global culture with clear paths for rapid professional development.