APAC Regional Sanctions Officer-SG/MY/HK

Ant Group; Singapore; On-site; SGD 200,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

ANT Group in Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong is seeking a seasoned regional sanctions compliance officer to lead APAC programs across jurisdictions. The role requires Mandarin and English fluency and deep experience in sanctions and AML within financial services.

You will design regional frameworks, manage regulatory examinations (e.g., MAS), and drive cross-functional adoption of controls with business, operations and tech teams to enable compliant market entry and product rollout.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of sanctions and/or AML compliance in financial services or payments.
• Deep understanding of APAC regulatory landscape and enforcement across key markets.
• Experience handling regulatory inquiries or examinations (e.g., MAS) with stakeholders.
• Proven track record building compliance programs in emerging markets.
• Knowledge of STR/SAR governance and high‑risk case adjudication.
• Strong cross‑cultural communication and matrix leadership.
• Commitment to compliance integrity with pragmatic, business‑enabling recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Oversee sanctions compliance across APAC including Singapore, Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
• Serve as primary contact for regulatory examinations by authorities including MAS.
• Establish controls in emerging markets to enable market entry and product rollout.
• Localize global policies to jurisdiction-specific procedures and standards.
• Oversee STR/SAR lifecycle for APAC team, including investigations and remediation.
• Partner with business, operations and technology to embed controls in processes.

Skills

APAC sanctions experience

Regulatory examinations

Multi-jurisdictional compliance

STR/SAR governance

Cross-cultural leadership

Job description

The role can be based in Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong — whichever works best for you. Mandarin and English fluency is required, as the role interfaces with both local regulators and the global compliance team.

Responsibilities:

• Act as the principal regional sanctions compliance officer overseeing sanctions compliance across APAC jurisdictions (Singapore, Malaysia, and broader Southeast Asia), responsible for formulating and operationalizing the regional sanctions compliance framework
• Serve as the primary point of contact for regulatory examinations, inquiries, and enforcement actions by authorities including the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), managing evidentiary documentation and driving regulatory engagement strategies
• Establish sanctions compliance control frameworks in emerging markets (e.g., Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia) — encompassing screening protocols, risk assessment methodologies, and internal control framework — to enable accelerated market entry, business expandion, and product rollout
• Adapt and localize the Group's global compliance policies and AI-driven reg into jurisdiction-specific, executable procedures and standards that reflect local regulatory expectations and commercial conventions
• Oversee the full lifecycle management of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for APAC sanctions team — encompassing threshold calibration, internal investigations, report authoring, and post-submission remediation — while striking an optimal balance between risk mitigation and business enablement
• Partner cross-functionally and cross-culturally with business, operations, and technology teams across the APAC region to embed compliance controls into front-end business processes and ensure effective execution.

Requirements:

• Minimum 8 years of experience in sanctions and/or AML compliance, with demonstrated depth in the financial services or payments sector
• Sophisticated understanding of the regulatory landscape and enforcement dynamics across key APAC markets (with particular emphasis on Singapore), coupled with proven multi-jurisdictional compliance management capability
• First-hand experience managing high-stakes regulatory inquiries or examinations (e.g., MAS), demonstrating exceptional stakeholder negotiation skills and resilience under intense regulatory scrutiny
• Demonstrated track record of building compliance programs from the ground up in emerging markets, successfully enabling business launch in previously unregulated or under-regulated environments
• Working knowledge of STR/SAR governance frameworks, with the analytical rigor and decision-making acumen to adjudicate complex, high-risk cases
• Exemplary cross-cultural communication and matrix leadership capabilities, with a proven ability to influence and drive compliance adoption across business teams in the absence of direct reporting lines
• Strong commitment to compliance integrity coupled with a constructive, solutions-oriented mindset — capable of safeguarding regulatory boundaries under significant pressure while delivering pragmatic, business-enabling recommendations