Director, Compliance Monitoring and Oversight

Airwallex • New York, NY

14d

About The Position

As the Director of Compliance Monitoring and Oversight, you will be the global architect of Airwallex’s "Second Line of Defense" assurance function. You will lead a small, high-performing international team responsible for validating the effectiveness of our financial crime controls across all regions and products.
While we have a robust foundation in place, this role is about taking our assurance capabilities to the next level. You will be responsible for maturing our global monitoring framework to ensure it is scalable, data-driven, and aligned with the complexities of our rapidly expanding footprint. You will move beyond box-ticking to provide strategic insights on control health to the Board and Senior Management, helping the business grow safely and sustainably.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in Compliance Assurance, Internal Audit, or Regulatory Testing within the financial services or fintech sector
• Significant experience managing international teams, with a track record of developing senior talent (e.g., managing managers)
• You can see the big picture. You know how to pivot a monitoring program from a manual, transactional model to a strategic, risk-based assurance model
• Deep understanding of testing methodologies (design effectiveness vs. operating effectiveness), sampling strategies, and root cause analysis
• Exceptional executive presence. You are comfortable presenting "bad news" constructively to C-level executives and driving consensus on remediation
• Experience working across multiple regulatory jurisdictions (e.g., US, UK/EU, APAC) and understanding the nuances of differing regulatory expectations

Nice To Haves

• Previous experience in a Big 4 or Internal Audit function is highly desirable
• Experience with SQL, Tableau, or other data visualization tools to drive continuous monitoring initiatives
• Relevant professional certifications (e.g., CIA, CAMS, ICA Diploma in GRC)

Responsibilities

• Global framework strategy: Own the strategic evolution of the Compliance Monitoring and Oversight framework. You will refine our global methodology for testing, sampling, and reporting to ensure it remains best-in-class and responsive to new regulatory expectations
• Team leadership: Lead, mentor, and develop a global team of monitoring specialists. You will foster a culture of curiosity, rigor, and objective challenge
• Annual assurance planning: Design and execute the Annual Compliance Monitoring Plan. You will utilize a dynamic, risk-based approach to prioritize testing activities across high-risk products, jurisdictions, and operational processes
• Insight & reporting: Translate complex testing results into high-impact, actionable intelligence. You will provide regular reporting to the FCC and company leadership, highlighting trends, systemic issues, and remediation progress
• Stakeholder partnership: Act as a strategic partner to Regional MLROs and First Line Operational leads. You will ensure that monitoring findings are constructive, clearly understood, and that remediation plans are practical and effective
• Data-driven assurance: Drive the transition towards continuous monitoring and automated testing. You will champion the use of data analytics to identify risk trends that manual sampling might miss
• Regulatory readiness: Ensure the monitoring program is audit-ready at all times and capable of standing up to scrutiny from top-tier global regulators (e.g., FCA, AUSTRAC, NY DFS, MAS)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed