--- title: 'Senior Director, AML & Sanctions, Governance & Policy at Airwallex' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-aml-sanctions-governance-policy-airwallex-london-v0fnj7kgtm8v' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-09' --- # Senior Director, AML & Sanctions, Governance & Policy at Airwallex - **Company:** [Airwallex](https://feeny.ai/companies/airwallex) - **Location:** London, United Kingdom - **Employment:** full-time - **Posted:** 2026-09-03 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/airwallex/ad877e85-6c71-4e6b-afc7-3d87b9488adb/application **Skills:** AML, Sanctions, Financial Crime Compliance, Risk assessment frameworks, Regulatory examination defense, Audit defense, Policy writing, Governance frameworks, Fintech experience, Payments experience, Cross-border payment mechanisms, Virtual accounts, Multi-currency wallets, Automated transaction monitoring, Screening workflows, Onboarding workflows, Data literacy, Automated GRC systems, Dashboards, Technology-enabled tools > Shape and scale Airwallex’s global financial crime policy, risk-based program, and governance frameworks. Lead the evolution of the FCC policy framework, oversee risk assessment methodologies, and build a high-performing global compliance team to support strategic growth. ## Job description ## ABOUT AIRWALLEX Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. ## ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. ## About the Team The Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) team at Airwallex is a strategically vital function operating under a clear Three Lines of Defense model. As the independent second line, FCC owns the global AML/CTF program, sanctions framework, risk assessment methodology, and governance infrastructure across all global entities. As Airwallex scales into new markets and deepens its engagement with global regulatory bodies, we are building a world-class compliance organization capable of managing complex financial crime risks at scale. This is an environment where you will tackle high-impact challenges, shape global fintech risk strategies, and help establish foundations for long-term growth. ## What you'll do As Senior Director, AML & Sanctions, Governance & Policy, you will shape and scale Airwallex’s global financial crime policy and risk based program, establish risk appetite and design global risk assessment processes, and define governance frameworks, ensuring compliance is a strategic enabler of growth. You will establish the baseline core compliance standards while guiding regional adaptations, oversee definition of controls across the FCC control framework, strengthen executive risk reporting, oversee risk-informed product engineering, and defend the integrity of the platform before global regulators and institutional partners. You will work closely with the Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer, Global Head of FCC and senior leaders across the business to turn complex compliance trends into clear action, and shape strategic priorities and initiatives while scaling a high-performing, multi-disciplinary global team. This role is based in London. Responsibilities: - Lead the evolution and maintenance of Airwallex's Global Core FCC Policy Framework, ensuring the compliance baseline meets the expectations of global regulators while supporting business growth and regional scalability. - Lead the definition and oversight of the FCC governance model and risk management framework, including establishment of risk appetite incorporating business strategy, establishing the risk management framework, including risk acceptance & governance structure, and overseeing design and execution of the enterprise risk assessment - Define the methodology, thresholds, and data-scoring models used to identify and mitigate financial crime risks globally, partnering with Product, Data Science, and Engineering executives to embed automated compliance controls into the proprietary platform. - Translate complex compliance data, issues, and audit findings into clear, decision-useful reporting for executive leadership and the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee, establishing clear protocols for material risk escalations. - Oversee the strategy for regulatory examination defense and disclosure governance, ensuring the team delivers uniform, legally defensible evidence portfolios to global regulators and external clearing partners. - Drive a unified, risk-aware compliance culture across the organization by establishing the strategic vision for global financial crime training and capability building from engineering to sales teams. - Support the Global Head of FCC and Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer in setting and overseeing strategic FCC program priorities and continuous improvement initiatives - Build and lead a high-performing global second line team of compliance attorneys, quantitative risk modelers, policy writers, and governance managers, supporting Airwallex’s growth with technology-enabled compliance oversight. ## Who you are We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory. Minimum qualifications: - Bachelor’s degree in Law, Criminology, Public Policy, Finance, Business Administration, International Relations, or a related analytical field. - CAMS certification or an equivalent globally recognized compliance credential (e.g., ICA International Diploma in AML). - 12 to 15+ years of experience in AML, Sanctions, and Financial Crime Compliance within financial services, fintech, payments, or banking. - At least 5+ years leading a global or multi-jurisdictional compliance policy, governance, or risk methodology function at a senior level. - Proven experience designing enterprise-wide risk assessment frameworks and maintaining highly centralized global policies with localized regional addenda. - Demonstrated experience preparing risk papers and leading the defense during high-stakes regulatory examinations and internal or external audits. - A high-ownership, pragmatic approach, with excellent written communication and stakeholder management skills to influence cross-functional executives and board audiences. Preferred qualifications: - Advanced degree such as a Juris Doctor (JD), Master of Laws (LLM), or a Master’s degree in Regulatory Compliance or Financial Crime. - Advanced professional designations such as CAMS-Audit, CGSS (Certified Global Sanctions Specialist), or CAMS-RM (Risk Management). - Deep fintech and payments experience, including a strong understanding of cross-border payment mechanisms, virtual accounts, multi-currency wallets, or multi-entity regulated groups. - Experience partnering directly with Product, Data Science, and Engineering teams to hardcode policy thresholds into automated transaction monitoring, screening, and onboarding workflows. - Strong data literacy and a clear bias toward digital modernization, including the use of automated GRC systems, dashboards, and technology-enabled tools to improve compliance office efficiency. ## APPLICANT SAFETY POLICY: FRAUD AND THIRD-PARTY RECRUITERS To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com http://airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com http://careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page. Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary. ## EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. ## About Airwallex ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Airwallex is a financial technology company building a unified global payments and banking platform that helps businesses manage cross-border payments, treasury, spend, and financial operations through proprietary infrastructure, software, and AI. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series G) - **Headquarters**: Dual headquarters in Singapore and San Francisco, USA; founded in Melbourne, Australia - **Founded**: 2015 - **Founders**: Jack Zhang (CEO), Lucy Liu, Max Li, Xijing Dai, and Ron Li ## Core Business - Primary industry: Financial Services / Payments / Fintech Infrastructure - Target customers: B2B, primarily serving SMBs, scaling enterprises, digital platforms, and marketplaces globally - Mission or purpose statement: "Build the future of global banking" — they aim to replace legacy, fragmented banking systems with a borderless, intelligent, real-time financial operating system for modern businesses. ## Products & Services - **[Business Accounts]**: Multi-currency global accounts to receive, hold, and manage funds in 20+ currencies, with local account details for key markets. - **[Payments]**: Global payment acceptance via 160+ local payment methods, low-code checkout, and programmatic payout capabilities to 200+ countries. - **[Spend / Corporate Cards]**: Multi-currency corporate and employee cards with customisable spend controls, designed for global teams. - **[Expense Management]**: A platform to track, control, and reconcile global business expenses, including employee reimbursements. - **[Billing & Subscription Management]**: A billing platform for usage-based and subscription pricing models, supporting AI companies and complex revenue workflows. - **[Platform APIs]**: API-first infrastructure enabling businesses to embed financial services (accounts, payments, FX, card issuing) into their own products. - **[FX & Treasury]**: Interbank foreign exchange rates and tools to intelligently manage currency risk across markets. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: US$11 billion (latest valuation in 2025, following a fresh investment round). - **Key Metric**: US$1.8 billion in total funding raised; Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) surpassed US$1 billion by 2025. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Series G investors include prominent global venture capital firms (specific names not listed in source but backed by top-tier VCs); serves over 200,000 businesses including TikTok, Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, and SHEIN. - **Growth Signals**: - US$287 billion in global payments processed (USD). - 92% of transfers settled same-day, 50% processed instantly. - Over 85 financial licenses and registrations globally. - Team of ~2,300 people across 27 offices internationally. - Dual-headquarters model (Singapore + San Francisco) adopted in 2025 to support next phase of growth. ## Competitive Advantages - Proprietary, API-first infrastructure built from scratch (not riding legacy banking rails), enabling faster, cheaper, and more transparent cross-border transactions. - Unified platform combining banking, payments, spend management, billing, and FX — reducing the need for multiple vendors. - Deep AI integration across the platform to automate financial operations and provide intelligent insights. - Extensive regulatory licensing (85+ licenses) across major markets, creating a high barrier to entry. - Strong network effects: serves both direct businesses and platforms/marketplaces that embed Airwallex into their offerings. ## Strategic Focus - Continue scaling the platform to support the rapid growth of AI-native companies and usage-based business models (highlighted by the launch of their global billing platform). - Expand the dual-headquarters presence to tap into the largest tech talent markets (San Francisco and Singapore). - Invest heavily in AI to build "interconnected, intelligent financial systems where money, data, and decisions move together." - Deepen product capabilities to automate financial operations end-to-end for global businesses. ## Why Work Here - High-growth, ambitious environment: described as "the most ambitious work of your career" by the company; founded in 2015 and already processing $287B in payments. - Global impact and scale: work on infrastructure used by 200,000+ businesses, from startups to enterprises like TikTok and SHEIN. - Hybrid/office culture: 27 offices globally (Melbourne, Singapore, San Francisco, London, Shanghai, Amsterdam, and more) offering opportunities to work across teams and locations. - Engineering-driven culture: heavy emphasis on building proprietary technology, AI, and developer-first products. - Notable perks: opportunity to work on a modern financial stack, exposure to cutting-edge AI/Fintech intersection, and a diverse, international team of "2,200 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech." ## Sources 1. [airwallex.com - Who We Are](https://www.airwallex.com/en-eu/who-we-are) 2. [airwallex.com - Global Platform](https://www.airwallex.com/global) 3. [careers.airwallex.com](https://careers.airwallex.com/) 4. [LinkedIn - Airwallex](https://www.linkedin.com/company/airwallex) 5. 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