Head of Compliance & Regulation

How Ya Doing; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

How Ya Doing is seeking a Head of Compliance & Regulation to lead the company’s regulatory, licensing and risk management strategies as it scales globally. The role focuses on payments, cross-border money movement, crypto and MoR operations, with an early priority on the UAE licence application, starting in Q4 2026.

Based in South Africa, with Cape Town preferred, the role will drive regulatory engagement, framework development, and cross-functional alignment to ensure compliant growth across

Qualifications

• 8-12+ years in compliance, regulatory or risk roles within fintech, payments, crypto or financial services.

Responsibilities

• Regulatory & Licensing: Lead regulator engagement, licensing, approvals and ongoing reporting across jurisdictions, including leading the UAE licence application.
• Compliance Framework: Own and evolve the end-to-end framework covering payments, MoR, AML, CFT, sanctions, transaction monitoring and data protection.
• Operational Alignment: Define compliant operating models for collections, payouts, domestic acquiring and cross-border flows, and embed requirements into APIs and product design.
• Risk & Oversight: Oversee KYC, merchant due diligence, statutory tax/VAT compliance and high-risk exposure assessments.
• Stakeholder Management: Act as primary contact for regulators, banking partners, PSPs and external advisors.

Skills

Regulatory strategy

Risk management

Cross-border payments

Stakeholder management

AML/CFT

Payments regulation

Crypto compliance

Job description

How Ya Doing (HYD) is partnering with a leading global fintech scale-up to find their next Head of Compliance & Regulation.

The Role

You’ll lead the company’s compliance, regulatory and risk management strategy, making sure the business scales compliantly across payments, cross-border money movement, crypto and Merchant-of-Record (MoR) operations globally. A key early priority is leading the company’s UAE licence application, starting in Q4 2026.

Location: South Africa-based (Cape Town preferred)

Key Responsibilities

• Regulatory & Licensing: Lead regulator engagement, licensing, approvals and ongoing reporting across jurisdictions, working with central banks and payment authorities. This includes leading the UAE licence application.
• Compliance Framework: Own and evolve the end-to-end framework covering payments, MoR, AML, CFT, sanctions, transaction monitoring and data protection.
• Operational Alignment: Define compliant operating models for collections, payouts, domestic acquiring and cross-border flows, and embed requirements into APIs and product design.
• Risk & Oversight: Oversee KYC, merchant due diligence, statutory tax/VAT compliance and high-risk exposure assessments.
• Stakeholder Management: Act as primary contact for regulators, banking partners, PSPs and external advisors.

What You’ll Bring

• 8-12+ years in compliance, regulatory or risk roles within fintech, payments, crypto or financial services.
• Deep knowledge of payments regulation, cross-border money movement, MoR models, domestic acquiring and multi-country regulatory frameworks. Emerging markets experience is a strong advantage.
• Hands-on experience with AML, CFT, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and statutory compliance.
• An independent, pragmatic decision-maker who can scale compliance in a high-growth environment, with strong cross-functional communication skills.

Nice to Have

• Exposure to stablecoin or crypto compliance frameworks.
• Experience with mobile money ecosystems.
• Professional compliance certifications, e.g. CCEP.