# Director, Regulatory Compliance UK **Company**: Airwallex **Location**: London **Experience**: senior **Job type**: full-time **Category**: Finance **Industry**: Finance **Apply**: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/airwallex/ba181f94-1b5c-42d3-a733-32ff51d90d9f?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply **Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/job/director-regulatory-compliance-uk-941f60f9-88d/ ## Description 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. For more fresh new jobs, check out [yubhub.co](https://yubhub.co/). ## Skills ### Required - UK financial regulations - Payment Services Regulations - Electronic Money Regulations - FCA Principles for Businesses - Consumer Duty standards - regulatory compliance - leadership - risk management ### Nice to have - 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 - Relevant legal qualification or industry certifications --- Source: [Apply at jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/airwallex/ba181f94-1b5c-42d3-a733-32ff51d90d9f?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)