Associate Director, KYC

Airwallex; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex is seeking a senior KYC Compliance Lead to oversee second-line governance for global AML/KYC frameworks. You will partner with KYC Operations, handle complex reviews, and guide risk-based decision-making for onboarding and ongoing customer reviews.

Ideal candidates have 10+ years in AML/KYC, strong leadership and regulatory engagement experience, and a track record turning policy into scalable automated workflows.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in AML/KYC, focusing on complex corporate clients or fintech.
• Proven design, governance and scale of second-line KYC frameworks.
• 3+ years leading compliance teams with rigor and improvement.
• Experience providing independent challenge across KYC/EDD and reviews.
• Experience with regulatory examinations and engagements.
• Able to review Customer Risk Acceptance docs and recommend actions.
• Oversee compliance reviews for complex corporate or platform clients.
• Advise senior commercial stakeholders on complex deals.
• Partner with Product, Data and Engineering to embed controls.

Responsibilities

• Own and elevate global KYC strategy and second-line governance.
• Oversee KYC controls and operational activities across regions.
• Develop and maintain KYC policy guidance for onboarding and reviews.
• Drive quality and risk-based decision-making for onboarding and reviews.
• Improve Customer Risk Acceptance review quality with clear recommendations.
• Advise Commercial teams on high-risk deal structures and models.
• Collaborate with Product/Data/Engineering to automate workflows.
• Maintain compliance documentation, QA and audit readiness.

Skills

AML/KYC experience

Second-line governance

Lead compliance teams

Risk-based decision-making

Regulatory engagement

Deal structure advisory

Cross-functional collaboration

Strong communication

Analytical mindset

Education

Bachelor's degree

CAMS, CFCS, CFE or equivalent

Tools

Google Workspace

Slack

Mac environments

Modern data tools

AI-assisted workflow platforms

Job description

About Airwallex

Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 675,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.

We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full.

How you'll make impact

You'll lead second-line oversight of Airwallex's global KYC, Enhanced Due Diligence and periodic review frameworks, providing independent challenge, governance and policy execution across the Financial Crime Compliance function. You'll partner with KYC Operations and Analysts to strengthen quality, consistency and risk-based decision-making across onboarding and ongoing customer reviews, while overseeing Customer Risk Acceptance reviews and sign-offs for complex and higher-risk customers.

• Own and continuously elevate Airwallex’s global KYC strategy, policy framework, and second-line governance across all operating jurisdictions.

• Own independent second-line oversight across global KYC, Enhanced Due Diligence and periodic review functional controls and operational activities.

• Own KYC policy and procedure development and maintenance, with primary authority for providing interpretive guidance and direction to first line operations and second line advisory teams on application of global and regional requirements as part of onboarding and ongoing reviews.

• Partner with KYC Operations in development and enhancement of KYC control processes, driving performance of high quality onboarding and ongoing customer reviews at the required standard, provide direction and oversight to production of meaningful management information to ensure visibility and support informed decision making for FCC senior management. Drive stronger quality, consistency and risk-based decision-making across customer onboarding and ongoing reviews.

• Improve the quality of Customer Risk Acceptance reviews by challenging risk identification, testing mitigations and producing clear, decision-ready recommendations.

• Advise Commercial and Sales teams on complex deal structures, novel business models and high-risk customer profiles.

• Partner with Product, Data and Engineering to embed regulatory controls, decision frameworks and AI-enabled improvements into scalable systems and workflows, including definition of KYC data requirements.

• Maintain high standards of compliance documentation, quality assurance and audit readiness while adapting KYC and AML standards to global regulatory and enforcement developments.

You'll primarily work remotely, aligned toour Birmingham office, with occasional in office presence in Birmingham or London to support team meetings and regulatory engagement.

What we're looking for

Essentials

• 10+ years of relevant AML/KYC experience focused on complex corporate clients, financial institutions or fintech platforms.

• A strong track record designing, managing and governing scalable second-line KYC frameworks.

• 3+ years' experience leading, mentoring or managing compliance teams, with a focus on operational rigor, analytical excellence and continuous improvement.

• Demonstrated experience providing second-line oversight, independent challenge and risk-based decision-making across KYC, Enhanced Due Diligence and periodic review activities.

• Experience supporting regulatory examination processes and engagement.

• Experience reviewing or approving Customer Risk Acceptance documentation, identifying risk, assessing mitigations and producing clear, decision-ready recommendations.

• Experience overseeing compliance reviews or walkthroughs for complex corporate, embedded finance or platform clients.

• Proven ability to advise senior Commercial and Sales stakeholders on complex deal structures, novel business models and high-risk customer profiles.

• Proven ability to partner with Product, Engineering, Data and Business stakeholders to translate compliance requirements into scalable, automated workflows.

• Strong leadership, communication and relationship management skills, with the ability to explain complex compliance decisions clearly to senior executives, regulatory authorities and external partners.

• Bachelor's degree required.

Preferred

• Experience leveraging or evaluating AI-enabled tools in compliance or KYC workflows, with an understanding of responsible implementation, regulatory defensibility and internal controls.

• Experience in FinTech, global cross-border payments, RegTech, management consulting or digital asset environments.

• CAMS, CFCS, CFE or equivalent industry certification.

• A quantitative, technical, legal or data-oriented degree.

• Familiarity with Google Workspace, Slack, Mac environments, modern data tools and AI-assisted workflow platforms.

• Experience monitoring regulatory, enforcement and industry developments across cross-border payments, global banking or digital assets.

You'll thrive here if

• You own the outcome and you don't wait for permission to fix what's broken.

• You're comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and moving quickly anyway.

• You've operated in a compliance-heavy environment and know how to move fast without cutting the corners that matter.

• You're communicating clearly and directly across cultures, and you're thoughtful about how context shifts meaning across borders.

• You connect dots across functions and hold the big picture without losing grip on the details.

Learn more about your team

Regulatory & Compliance is where we build the trust, discipline, and operational resilience required to scale a generational financial platform.

As Airwallex grows across 30+ markets, this team turns regulatory complexity into strategic control. You'll lead compliance, enterprise risk, and regulatory engagement in a way that protects the business while letting it move with conviction. Our ambition goes beyond meeting expectations: we're building a risk posture that acts as a competitive moat, grounded in ownership, proactive regulatory partnerships, and frameworks that scale globally while respecting local nuance.

It's a team for strategic operators with sharp judgment, high standards, and the confidence to execute at pace in a high-stakes environment. You'll thrive here if you can balance rigor with progress and influence across functions.

If you want to architect the benchmark for trust and resilience in global finance, your work here will have a massive impact.

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 email address. Please apply only through 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.