Senior Compliance Officer

Payments Canada; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Payments Canada is seeking a Senior Compliance Officer to strengthen member and corporate compliance across our payments ecosystem in Ottawa. You will guide members, coordinate with Legal, Risk and Operations, and help ensure our by-laws and regulatory obligations are met.

This role requires strong analytical thinking, excellent communication and the ability to manage multiple projects in a dynamic, public-purpose environment.

Qualifications

• Experience advising on compliance matters within financial services.
• Ability to collaborate with Legal, Operations, Risk, Finance and external stakeholders.
• Experience analyzing investigations and preparing summaries.

Responsibilities

• Provide guidance on member compliance matters to internal and external stakeholders.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve compliance issues.
• Support investigations of potential contraventions and prepare summaries.
• Manage membership applications and registrations, including eligibility checks.
• Develop and maintain compliance procedures and training materials.

Skills

Excellent communication

Risk identification

Project management

Independent and team collaboration

Analytical thinking

Job description

Payments Canada is at the forefront of the Canadian payment ecosystem. Our purpose is to make payments easier, smarter and safer for all Canadians. Every day we are working diligently to ensure your payments are cleared and settled. In 2025 alone, our systems cleared approximately $103 trillion or $411.9 billion every business day! If you are passionate about payments and want to help ensure that these financial transactions in Canada are carried out safely and securely, working with us is for you!

| Who we are

We Are a Public Purpose, Non-profit Organization Situated At The Center Of Canada’s Payment Ecosystem. We Own And Operate Payment Systems That Process Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars’ Worth Of Payment Transactions Every Business Day. We Convene Ecosystem Participants To Discuss Their Multiple And Diverse Interests And Ideas And To Navigate Industry-level Challenges. We Adhere To a Set Of Values That Are Our North Star

Inspire trust, build community and enable change

Payments Canada — where our country connects

| Our culture

With our people in mind, we have created a culture that fosters authenticity, collaboration, innovation and development. We empower one another, make meaningful contributions that not only impact the organization, but our country! We develop and nurture meaningful connections that drive innovation in our ecosystem. We are Payments Canada!

Do you want to make payments easier, smarter and safer for Canada? Join us today!

You need to work here if

• You love working with passionate, ambitious and collaborative colleagues.
• You want to be challenged and lead unique initiatives.
• You want to grow, develop and become a subject matter expert in your field.
• You want your work to make an impact in your community and country.

Come and join us — where payments meet purpose!

What we are looking for

Functioning as part of a collegial team under general supervision, the Senior Compliance Officer is responsible for:

Member Compliance

• Provide guidance and compliance advice to members and internal stakeholders with respect to member compliance matters, including inquiries escalated to the member compliance team.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Legal, Operations, Risk, Finance and external stakeholders to resolve compliance and membership matters.
• Provide guidance on escalations for potential contraventions.
• Support the investigation of potential contraventions under the Compliance By-law, including assessing evidence, corresponding with parties, preparing investigation summaries and hearing materials, and supporting compliance proceedings, where necessary.
• Manage the end-to-end membership application and registration process, including interpreting legislative and by-law requirements, assessing applicant eligibility and supporting documentation, engaging directly with applicants to resolve deficiencies, and preparing membership recommendations for Board approval.
• Participate on the operational incident review team and provide advice and guidance with respect to any necessary follow up on member operational incidents.
• Provide input and recommendations to mature the member compliance program by identifying process improvements and supporting implementation for current and future systems.
• Develop, maintain and enhance compliance procedures, process documentation and guidance material to support the member compliance program.
• Provide guidance and compliance advice with respect to the development of new by-laws and rules and by-law and rule amendments, as applicable.
• Draft supporting documentation such as training/education materials, reports to Board, correspondence, etc. as required.
• Maintain inventory of high-risk compliance requirements and supporting information.
• Maintain and update member compliance logs where applicable.
• Participate on member Working Group calls (e.g. Image and Paper Working Group, EPayments Working Group, etc.), where necessary, as the compliance subject matter expert.
• Prepare recommendations to the CEO regarding member requests for extension of the use of financial institution numbers (FINs), including working with relevant members on transition plan, follow up and subsequent closure of the FINs.
• Assist colleagues with other related tasks and/or projects, as required.

Corporate Compliance

• Where applicable, provide support on the annual executive attestation process, including working with business units to review applicable controls and coordinate with applicable executive team members for annual sign off.
• Where applicable, work with business units on plans to become compliant with legislative or regulatory requirements, including review of materials and tracking progress.
• Coordinate with applicable business units on training required under legislation.

Technical Competencies

• Understanding of legislation, regulations, and rules and their application to Payments Canada and members.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to identify risks and potential solutions.
• Ability to manage a wide range of projects and initiatives simultaneously, working effectively in an environment of change.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team to produce high quality work.
• Problem analysis and problem-solving skills.
• Information gathering and monitoring skills

Personal Competencies

• Critical reasoning and analytical thinking.
• Displays social and self-awareness.
• Develops and applies innovative solutions as appropriate.
• Ability to quickly establish and maintain credibility and respect among stakeholders, members and peers (good team player)
• Exercises a high degree of initiative and flexibility.
• Recognizes the importance of strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Committed to continuous learning and skills development.