Compliance Associate

Black Pen Recruitment; Remote; ZAR 500 000 - 700 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services recruitment agency is seeking a Compliance Associate to manage compliance and risk management strategies. The role involves collaborating with regulatory leads, ensuring adherence to South African regulations, and conducting merchant onboarding. Candidates should have a bachelor's degree and at least 8 years of experience in compliance roles within fintech or related financial sectors. This is a remote position with a focus on internal and regulatory reporting.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 8 years’ experience in compliance in fintech, banking, or financial services.
• Strong understanding of South African payments regulations.
• Proven track record in risk management and compliance reporting.

Responsibilities

• Manage merchant onboarding process and conduct screening.
• Monitor regulatory changes and ensure compliance.
• Report mandatory compliance reports to stakeholders.

Skills

Compliance work in fintech

Regulatory expertise

Data analysis and reporting

Communication with clients and teams

AML controls design

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Law, Finance, or Business

Tools

Analytics tools/programming

SQL

Job description

Our client is a leading financial infrastructure platform focused on enabling seamless, secure digital payments across Africa. It provides modern API-driven solutions that empower businesses to collect, manage, and move money more efficiently. The company is committed to expanding financial access, improving transaction reliability, and helping businesses scale their digital payment capabilities across multiple markets.

Role Overview

The Compliance Associate will play a key role in assisting with the development, implementation, and execution of the risk management and compliance strategy. Through effective collaboration with the Compliance & Regulatory Lead, you will play a key role in solving compliance related issues, and will be responsible for ensuring that our client complies with all relevant regulatory requirements and internal policies.

Job Type: Full time/Permanent

Location: South Africa

Workplace: Remote

Requirements

• Education & Experience – Bachelor’s in Law, Finance, Business (or similar) plus 8 years’ compliance work in fintech, banking, gaming, or broader financial services.
• Regulatory Expertise – In-depth grasp of South African payments regulation (FIC Act, POPIA) and hands‑on KYC/AML onboarding, periodic reviews, and escalations.
• Training & Reporting – Proven ability to craft compliance training and produce high‑quality regulatory reports (e.g., to the FIC); strong risk‑management track record.
• Technical Skillset – Skilled in designing AML/CTF controls and internal rules; comfortable with data analysis and reporting.
• Personal Attributes – Integrity, discretion, ownership mindset, and clear communication with clients, merchants, and cross‑functional teams.
• Broader Reg-Framework – Exposure to FAIS, B-BBEE, Card Scheme rules, and SARB TPPP/System‑Operator/Screen Scraping directives.
• Data Analytics Fluency – Comfort with analytics tools/programming for sharper risk insights.
• Professional Credentials – CAMS or similar AML certification (or willingness to earn).
• Fintech Product Insight – Working knowledge of payment tech, APIs, and related fintech offerings to spot compliance gaps early.

Responsibilities

• Merchant Onboarding & Screening – Own the full onboarding workflow: gather documentation, run CDD/EDD checks, maintain screening systems, and elevate high‑risk cases.
• Regulatory Compliance – Monitor regulatory changes, refresh policies and training, and ensure company practices stay aligned with law.
• Risk Management – Assign merchant risk ratings, update risk registers, run gap analyses, and report breaches to Compliance leadership.
• Regulatory & Internal Reporting – File mandatory reports (e.g., FIC, SARB) and deliver KYC insights to internal stakeholders.
• Stakeholder Liaison – Serve as the primary contact for KYC queries from merchants and internal teams.
• Tech-Driven Controls – Partner with Product/Tech to integrate compliance tools and build SQL-based AML/CTF monitoring rules.
• Data Protection – Conduct vendor impact assessments and enforce client/vendor adherence to data‑privacy obligations.
• Process & Policy Governance – Document compliance procedures and audit ongoing adherence to internal policies and external requirements.