Director, Regulatory Legal

Airwallex; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A global fintech platform is seeking a Director of Regulatory Legal to lead their EMEA operations. This role involves advising on regulatory issues, supporting compliance, and managing the legal team. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in fintech regulation and a proactive approach to risk management. Join a dynamic team and contribute to the future of global banking.

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with 12+ years of post-qualification experience.
• Strong regulatory experience gained in the fintech industry.
• Deep experience with the regulation of EMIs in the UK.
• Proactive, results-driven, and take ownership of your work.

Responsibilities

• Provide regulatory advice to commercial and compliance stakeholders.
• Support license acquisition and expansion efforts.
• Manage the EMEA Regulatory Legal team.

Skills

Qualified lawyer

Strong regulatory experience

Stakeholder management

Strong communication skills

Strong drafting skills

Education

12+ years post-qualification experience

Tools

LegalTech/RegTech tools

Job description

As Director, Regulatory Legal responsible for the rapidly expanding EMEA region, you will be a valuable member of the global legal team and provide leadership for our growing EMEA business and navigating its increasingly complex regulatory landscapes. You will be supporting our regulatory strategy and advising on complex regulatory issues in the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East. As steward of our licenses, you will coordinate closely with our Regulatory Compliance, Risk and FCC teams to ensure we are compliant with our licensing and other regulatory requirements. This dynamic role is ideal for someone who enjoys wearing multiple hats and solving complex issues for our clients, is detail oriented, willing to take on challenges and changes, obsessively curious and intellectually honest, thrives on taking actions and delivering impactful results, and aims to inspire and be inspired.

Responsibilities

• Provide actionable regulatory advice to commercial, product and compliance stakeholders on a broad range of regulatory matters throughout the EMEA region to drive product and commercial growth
• Find ways to mitigate legal and regulatory risks while progressing business objectives
• Support license acquisition and expansion efforts
• Advise on manuals, policies and procedures to ensure compliance with laws and regulations in the regions in which AWX operates while identifying opportunities to create efficiencies
• Ensure an effective working relationship with our regulators
• Manage the EMEA Regulatory Legal team

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with 12+ years of post-qualification experience
• Strong regulatory experience gained in the fintech industry, reputable law firms or financial institutions
• Deep experience with the regulation of EMIs in the UK
• Sound knowledge of the financial services regulatory environment in EMEA
• Strong stakeholder management skills and ability to deal with a range of internal and external stakeholders
• Proactive, results-driven, and take ownership of your work
• Ability to multi-task and a team player with strong communication skills
• Strong drafting skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience using AI or deploying LegalTech/RegTech tools to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the legal function
• Experience working with stakeholders across the globe and on cross-border payments issues
• Experience advising on MiFID and consumer regulatory matters
• Experience in EU or Middle East financial regulation
• Foreign language knowledge is a plus (French, Dutch and/or Arabic)

Company Overview

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 150,000 businesses worldwide - including Brex, Rippling, 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 1,800 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$6.2 billion and backed by world-leading investors including Visa, Airtree, Blackbird, Sequoia, DST Global, Greenoaks, Salesforce Ventures, Lone Pine, and Square Peg, 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 . 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 Legal, Risk & Compliance (LRC) team at Airwallex is a collaborative group of legal minds and risk management experts. We're passionate about safeguarding Airwallex's operations, fostering a culture of compliance and ethical conduct, and ensuring we navigate the global financial landscape with integrity. We provide expert guidance and support to all areas of the business, proactively identifying, mitigating, and managing legal and financial risks.