Head of Compliance, MLRO

Lorum; Dubai; On-site; AED 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible vacation policy

Employee stock ownership (ESOP)

Flexible working and autonomy

Pay it forward days

Wellness days

Job summary

Lorum is seeking an experienced MLRO to lead regulatory affairs for its DFSA-regulated Dubai entity. You will own money-laundering escalations, suspicious activity reporting, and policy governance, collaborating with Compliance Operations to manage risk.

You’ll join a global compliance group, contributing to a unified framework while focusing on UAE obligations. This role suits someone who learns a business first and builds robust controls within a shared framework.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in senior compliance, including MLRO exposure.
• Direct experience with DFSA or UAE Central Bank preferred.
• Clear, risk-based AML/CTF and sanctions judgement.
• Ability to shape compliance across regulated groups.

Responsibilities

• Be the DFSA/ Dubai regulator liaison and MLRO for UAE entity.
• Set policy with Compliance Operations and assess risk across products.
• Maintain AML/CTF and sanctions governance, risk assessments, and monitoring.
• Lead a group workstream and report to group legal/compliance leadership.

Skills

Senior compliance

MLRO experience

Regulatory liaison DFSA/CB UAE

Payments AML/CTF knowledge

Education

CAMS or similar certification

Job description

The structural conflict at the centre of correspondent banking is not technological. It is economic. Banks earn revenue from their balance sheets: they lend deposits, capture FX spreads, and hold funds as long as it is rational to do so. Clearing, the act of releasing funds quickly and predictably, competes directly with those economics. An institution designed to lend has a structural incentive to hold deposits; an institution designed to clear has an incentive to release them. When one institution does both, clearing loses. The result is unpredictable settlement, trapped capital, and a correspondent network shrinking by design.

Why Lorum

Lorum was founded on a different premise: clearing as the business, not a byproduct. The model has been operational since 2023 and grew 55x in 2025, with USD clearing now the majority of volumes alongside a growing treasury offering. We have applied for a U.S. national trust bank charter. The people we hire now will build the clearing and treasury infrastructure it unlocks.

The role

You’ll be the MLRO for our DFSA-regulated Dubai entity and main point of contact, owning money-laundering escalations, suspicious activity reporting, policies and governance. It’s a key hire in our next stage of compliance investment: learn the business, its risks and controls, then decide where improvement matters most.

You’ll also join our heads of compliance in Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore and the US to build one group framework, leading a workstream suited to your strengths. Compliance Operations handles case reviews and alerts and escalates wider issues to you. No direct reports to start. This role suits someone who learns a business before shaping it, not someone who wants to run an entity solo or import a previous firm’s framework.

You’ll report to Hartwig Gerhartinger, Group Chief Legal, Risk and Compliance Officer.

Day-to-day responsibilities

• Be the DFSA’s go-to for questions, reviews and inspections, handle DFSA and DIFC notifications and regulatory reporting, and own money-laundering escalations and suspicious activity reporting.
• Set what we do and don’t allow, turn it into usable policy with Compliance Operations, and push back on client, transaction, product and business risk.
• Maintain Dubai’s AML, CTF and sanctions policies, risk assessments and governance, and run the monitoring plan through to closed actions.
• Advise on new products, outsourcing and expansion, report to local and group committees, and lead a group workstream.

Success in the first 3 to 12 months

First 3 months

• You really understand what we do, the money-laundering risks and the controls in place, and you can tell us where they work and where they could be better.
• Escalations, suspicious activity reporting and regulator contact have moved over to you from interim cover.
• You’re handling general DFSA and DIFC notifications and regulatory reporting.

6 to 12 months

• You've laid out where the entity stands against UAE regulatory expectations, and you're delivering the improvements that matter most, not chasing every single one.
• The line on what is and isn't permitted is clear, agreed with Compliance Operations, and applied the same way every time.
• You're leading a group workstream, and Dubai runs on the group framework.

Ideal Candidate

Must Haves

• 5+ years in senior compliance, including time in the MLRO seat or as a substantive deputy MLRO at a regulated firm.
• You've dealt directly with the DFSA or the Central Bank of the UAE.
• You know money-laundering risk in payments and make clear, risk-based calls on AML/CTF, sanctions and suspicious activity.
• You want to shape compliance across all of Lorum’s regulated entities

What matters most to us is what you actually did in the MLRO seat, ideally at a fintech, payments or banking firm. You don't need line management experience or a personal profile with the DFSA. We care more that you're calm and credible with regulators and leadership, and happy building inside a shared group framework rather than running Dubai on your own terms.

Nice to haves

• You've run local compliance within a group and improved frameworks in a growing business.
• Experience with both the DFSA and the Central Bank of the UAE, or across multiple jurisdictions.
• ICA, CAMS or similar qualifications.

How we work (attitudes & behaviours)

• You do your homework. You get the full picture and the root cause before pulling other people in.
• You come with solutions, not just a list of problems.
• You build on how we do things at Lorum, rather than importing what worked somewhere else.
• You're comfortable starting as a standalone and owning your outcomes without someone setting the agenda.
• You work closely with your peers in other jurisdictions and with leadership, and you'll push back and escalates when it's needed.
• You keep up with a changing regulatory landscape and adapt your approach as obligations change.
• Flexible vacation policy
• Employee stock ownership (ESOP)
• Flexible working and autonomy
• Pay it forward days - we offer 2 annual pay it forward days where you can take time to volunteer for a charitable cause that is important to you.
• Wellness days - we believe you can only work your best when you feel your best, and we know working at Lorum is intense, so we offer 3 wellness days every quarter where you can take time to re-energize