Global Sanctions Manager

Airwallex; Oregon; Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex is seeking a Senior Sanctions Compliance professional to lead the global sanctions program as a second-line expert. You will partner with Risk Product and technology to design controls, manage lists, and oversee investigations for complex sanctions cases.

This role requires 7+ years of experience, strong analytical skills, and the ability to operate across multiple geographies. Dallas office three days per week.

Qualifications

• 7+ years sanctions experience in fintech or financial institutions.
• Strong knowledge of US sanctions and related regimes.
• Experience implementing sanctions controls with tech teams.
• Strong project management in fast-paced settings.
• Ability to assess complex transactions and products.
• Self-directed with global collaboration ability.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Own Airwallex's sanctions program as second-line SME for complex matches.
• Maintain procedures and oversee first-line controls with dashboards.
• Collaborate with Risk Product and tech to design sanctions controls.
• Translate developments into practical training and updates.
• Lead responses to banking partners on sanctions inquiries.
• Work from Dallas office three days a week.

Skills

Sanctions expertise

US sanctions knowledge

Project management

Analytical thinking

Independent yet collaborative

Education

Juris Doctor / law degree

Advanced certifications (CAMS/CGSS)

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 2,700 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

Own Airwallex's global sanctions compliance initiatives as the second-line subject matter expert for complex sanctions matches, special investigations, potential block-and-reject reporting, and sanctions-related escalations.

Maintain global sanctions procedures and provide effective oversight of first-line sanctions controls, while using management information and dashboards to monitor the health and effectiveness of the program.

Partner with Risk Product and technology teams to design, evaluate, tune, and optimize product-specific sanctions controls, screening technologies, list management systems, and case management platforms.

Translate global sanctions and export-control developments into practical control enhancements, targeted training, written regulatory updates, and clear guidance for teams across Airwallex.

You’ll also lead responses to banking partners and other external stakeholders on sanctions inquiries and due diligence reviews.

You'll work from our Dallas, Texas office three days a week.

What we're looking for

Essentials

• 7+ years of relevant experience, preferably at a fintech, payments company, or large financial institution specializing in sanctions
• Demonstrated understanding of US sanctions and industry best practices relating to economic sanctions; knowledge of sanctions regimes outside the US is a plus
• Experience operationalizing sanctions controls in collaboration with technology teams, including managing sanctions lists
• Strong project management skills and the ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to understand and assess a wide range of complex commercial transactions and products
• A self-directed approach, with the ability to work independently while collaborating across a global program
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to provide practical recommendations and solutions to audiences across different geographies

Preferred

• Juris Doctor, relevant master's degree, and/or advanced specialized industry certifications such as CGSS or CAMS
• Experience assessing sanctions frameworks and recommending enhancements to strengthen a program, including designing and scaling sanctions programs
• Experience interacting with external stakeholders such as regulators or financial institution partners on sanctions matters

You’ll thrive here if

• You own the outcome and you don't wait for permission to fix what's broken.
• You're comfortable with ambiguity. Give you a problem, not a prescription, and you'll run with it.
• You enjoy working closely with people across multiple countries and time zones as part of one connected, global team, including flexing your hours occasionally to make that connection work.
• You've operated in a compliance-heavy environment and know how to move fast without cutting the corners that matter.
• 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.

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.