Senior Manager, Sanctions Regulatory Analysis

Airwallex; San Francisco (CA); On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex is seeking highly skilled Sanctions Subject Matter Experts to join our 2LoD Financial Crime Compliance team for EMEA/UK coverage. You will act as the regional escalation point for complex sanctions matches, drive investigations, and ensure compliance with reporting obligations across jurisdictions.

Ideal candidates have 7–10 years in sanctions, strong EU/UK regulatory knowledge, and a track record implementing sanctions controls within fintechs or banks.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of relevant sanctions experience.
• Experience managing sanctions alerts at L3 level and advising on blocking/restrictions.
• Understanding of EU/UK sanctions regimes; OFSI familiarity valued.

Responsibilities

• Act as in-region SME for sanctions, escalation point for complex matches.
• Own L3 investigations and determine reporting obligations.
• Provide practical sanctions guidance on cross-border flows and jurisdictional issues.
• Maintain regional sanctions procedures and ensure alignment with Global Sanctions Policy.
• Collaborate with global teams to optimize controls and screening technologies.
• Monitor sanctions developments and advise on impact to customers and products.
• Develop and deliver guidance for L2 reviewers and stakeholders.
• Liaise with banking partners and regulators on sanctions matters.

Skills

L3 sanctions expertise

Regulatory compliance

Cross-border payments

Regulatory reporting

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.

Role Overview

Airwallex is seeking highly skilled Sanctions Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to join our second line of defense (2LoD) Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) team. To support our global operations and ensure nuanced, localized oversight, we are looking for dedicated, in-region sanctions specialists across EMEA/UK.

In this role, you will act as the ultimate regional escalation point for L3 sanctions alerts to advise on complicated sanctions matches, drive sanctions investigations and efficacy of sanctions screening, determine potential reporting obligations, and assist in scaling a global sanctions program. This role requires a strategic thinker who can seamlessly translate complex regional regulatory changes into practical, scalable control enhancements across the business and multiple geographies.

Responsibilities

• Act as an in-region Sanctions Subject Matter Expert (SME) and serve as the second-line escalation point for highly complex, ambiguous sanctions matches, special investigations, and potential block-and-reject.
• Own L3 Sanctions case investigation and decisioning regionally, assessing applicable reporting, disclosure, and recordkeeping obligations.
• Provide practical, timely, and risk‑based sanctions advice on complex cross-border payment flows, indirect exposure, jurisdictional conflicts, new products and services, customer segments, commercial transactions, and geographic expansion.
• Own and maintain regional Sanctions operational procedures and provide effective second-line oversight of sanctions controls implemented by first-line teams, ensuring alignment with the Global Sanctions Policy while incorporating applicable local requirements.
• Liaise with global teams to provide actionable feedback on product-specific controls and screening technologies, leveraging in-region expertise and historical L3 escalations to ensure continuous optimization and alignment with the organization's risk appetite.
• Monitor US, regional, and international sanctions and export‑control developments, geopolitical events, and regulatory expectations, assessing their impact on customers, products, jurisdictions, lists, systems, procedures, and risk appetite.
• Develop and deliver targeted training and ongoing guidance for L2 sanctions reviewers, KYC, Operations, and other stakeholders on sanctions risk, alert adjudication, investigative research, discounting criteria, escalation standards, and documentation requirements.
• Lead responses to banking partners and other external stakeholders on sanctions-related inquiries and due diligence reviews.

Qualifications

• 7-10 years of relevant experience, preferably at a fintech, payments company, or large financial institution specializing in sanctions.
• Experience managing sanctions alerts at the L3 level, recommending blocking/freezing transactions, assessing sanctions‑related licenses and respective transactional permissibility, and managing reporting.
• History of assessing current sanctions frameworks and recommending enhancements to strengthen the program, including designing and scaling sanctions programs.
• Demonstrated understanding of in-region sanctions regulations and industry best practices pertaining to economic sanctions; knowledge of US sanctions in addition to in-region expertise is strongly preferred.
• History of executing the operationalization of sanctions controls in collaboration with technological teams, adhering to global policies, in-region procedures, and risk appetite.
• A history of interacting or supporting engagement with external stakeholders such as regulators or financial institution partners on sanctions matters.
• Expert knowledge of financial and trade sanctions within the European Union (EU) framework and UK regulations administered by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and corresponding export control bodies.
• Strong understanding of the EU/UK Blocking Statute and how to navigate conflicting regulatory obligations within European jurisdictions and the UK.
• Applican