Senior Manager, Sanctions Regulatory Analysis

Airwallex is seeking a Senior Manager, Sanctions Regulatory Analysis to join its Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) team. The successful candidate will act as an in-region Sanctions Subject Matter Expert (SME) and serve as the second-line escalation point for highly complex, ambiguous sanctions matches, special investigations, and potential block-and-reject.

Responsibilities:

• Act as an in-region Sanctions SME and serve as the second-line escalation point for highly complex, ambiguous sanctions matches, special investigations, and potential block-and-reject.
• Own L3 Sanctions case investigation and decisioning regionally, assessing applicable reporting, disclosure, and recordkeeping obligations.
• Provide practical, timely, and risk-based sanctions advice on complex cross-border payment flows, indirect exposure, jurisdictional conflicts, new products and services, customer segments, commercial transactions, and geographic expansion.
• Own and maintain regional Sanctions operational procedures and provide effective second-line oversight of sanctions controls implemented by first-line teams, ensuring alignment with the Global Sanctions Policy while incorporating applicable local requirements.
• Liaise with global teams to provide actionable feedback on product-specific controls and screening technologies, leveraging in-region expertise and historical L3 escalations to ensure continuous optimization and alignment with the organization’s risk appetite.
• Monitor US, regional, and international sanctions and export-control developments, geopolitical events, and regulatory expectations, assessing their impact on customers, products, jurisdictions, lists, systems, procedures, and risk appetite.
• Develop and deliver targeted training and ongoing guidance for L2 sanctions reviewers, KYC, Operations, and other stakeholders on sanctions risk, alert adjudication, investigative research, discounting criteria, escalation standards, and documentation requirements.
• Lead responses to banking partners and other external stakeholders on sanctions-related inquiries and due diligence reviews.

Qualifications:

• 7-10 years of relevant experience, preferably at a fintech, payments company, or large financial institution specializing in sanctions.
• Experience managing sanctions alerts at the L3 level, recommending blocking/freezing transactions, assessing sanctions-related licenses and respective transactional permissibility, and managing reporting.
• History of assessing current sanctions frameworks and recommending enhancements to strengthen the program, including designing and scaling sanctions programs.
• Demonstrated understanding of in-region sanctions regulations and industry best practices pertaining to economic sanctions; knowledge of US sanctions in addition to in-region expertise is strongly preferred.
• Expert knowledge of the Australian sanctions framework administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Sanctions Office (ASO).
• Strong understanding of New Zealand's sanctions regimes administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), including the Russia Sanctions Act and UN-based regulations.
• Expert knowledge of Asian regulatory regimes and guidelines, specifically those administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
• Nuanced understanding of complex, overlapping geopolitical risks in the region, including the ability to navigate conflicting obligations.