Head of Licensing, Compliance and MLRO

Volume Payments; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful equity in the company

Work from home or offices in London/Kr

Remote-working budget

Quarterly exotic retreats

24 days holiday

30 day ‘work from anywhere’ policy

Free lunch on Wednesdays

Job summary

Volume Payments in London seeks an experienced Head of Compliance & MLRO to own the regulatory, compliance, and financial crime framework as we scale a high-growth payments and remittance platform.

You’ll combine deep FCA expertise with a pragmatic, commercial mindset, acting as both a strategic leader and hands-on operator, delivering AML/KYC, risk assessments, audits, and regulatory communications while enabling growth across product, engineering, operations, and partnerships.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business or related field.
• At least 10 years of relevant work experience.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to multi-task, organize, and prioritize work.

Responsibilities

• Build Volume’s end-to-end FCA compliance framework (PSRs, AML, KYC, Consumer Duty, DPA).
• Act as the firm’s MLRO, with full responsibility for AML/CTF, SAR decision-making and reporting to the NCA.
• Lead financial crime risk assessments (EWRA, BWRA, CRA) and oversee transaction monitoring and investigations.
• Manage FCA and regulatory communications, acting as the firm’s primary compliance representative.
• Own KYB standards and onboarding risk decisions, including higher-risk merchants and business models.
• Work closely with safeguarding partners to align risk appetite and controls.
• Develop and maintain compliance policies, controls, and governance frameworks.
• Support the Risk Management Framework, including 2nd Line of Defence monitoring and testing.
• Deliver clear AML and risk reporting to senior management and the Board.
• Lead audits, regulatory reviews, and remediation actions.
• Build and deliver compliance training across the business.
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Operations, Sales, and Partnerships to embed compliance by design.

Skills

MLRO experience

FCA compliance

Payments fintech

Regulatory risk

Policy development

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business or related field

Job description

Founded by Mastercard and WorldRemit former executives, with early employees from Google, Uber, American Express, HSBC and Deliveroo. Volume (www.getvolume.co.uk) is a London-based payments startup on a mission to move money seamlessly around the world

Our mission is to create a universal checkout on the Internet enabling online shoppers to pay and businesses to get paid quickly, easily, conveniently, and eventually for free with just one click

Faster than Apple Pay, Volume is the only payment method that allows consumers to pay in one-click using their bank app and businesses to eliminate payment intermediaries such as Stripe, PayPal, card networks and their extortionate hidden fees

Our Culture

We don’t follow the traditional corporate or start-ups model but empower our people to own their work end-to-end. The challenge is not for everybody, we are entirely mission-driven with a fully autonomous team culture. You decide the strategy, you move the metric, we help to achieve your goals

What you can expect from us

• Meaningful equity in the company
• Work from home or from our incredible offices in London and Krakow
• A one-off remote-working budget to help you set up your home office
• Quarterly exotic retreats in fabulous locations
• 24 days holiday as standard
• 30 day ‘work from anywhere’ policy
• Free lunch If you choose to work from the office on Wednesdays

Head of Compliance & MLRO

We’re looking for an experienced Head of Compliance & MLRO to own Volume’s regulatory, compliance, and financial crime framework as we scale a high-growth payments and remittance platform.

You’ll combine deep FCA expertise with a pragmatic, commercial mindset, acting as both a strategic leader and hands-on operator.

What you’ll do

• Build Volume’s end-to-end FCA compliance framework (PSRs, AML, KYC, Consumer Duty, DPA).
• Act as the firm’s MLRO, with full responsibility for AML/CTF, SAR decision-making and reporting to the NCA.
• Lead financial crime risk assessments (EWRA, BWRA, CRA) and oversee transaction monitoring and investigations.
• Manage FCA and regulatory communications, acting as the firm’s primary compliance representative.
• Own KYB standards and onboarding risk decisions, including higher-risk merchants and business models.
• Work closely with safeguarding partners to align risk appetite and controls.
• Develop and maintain compliance policies, controls, and governance frameworks.
• Support the Risk Management Framework, including 2nd Line of Defence monitoring and testing.
• Deliver clear AML and risk reporting to senior management and the Board.
• Lead audits, regulatory reviews, and remediation actions.
• Build and deliver compliance training across the business.
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Operations, Sales, and Partnerships to embed compliance by design.

What we’re looking for

• Proven experience as MLRO or senior compliance leader in payments, fintech, or EMI, in a early stage startup;
• Strong understanding of FCA expectations in regulated, high-growth environments.
• Comfortable assessing and managing higher-risk merchants, corridors, and jurisdictions.
• Commercially minded, practical, and confident making risk-based decisions.
• Able to act as an enabler of growth — not a blocker.

We’d especially love to speak with you if

• You have worked for a fast-growing Fintech company
• You have experience in account-to-account or merchant acquiring or payment industry
• You have previously successfully worked in a remote & distributed team

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business or a related field
• At least 10 years' of relevant work experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to multi-task, organize, and prioritize work