Senior Director, AML & Sanctions, Governance & Policy

ABOUT AIRWALLEX Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 200,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,200 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$8 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. About the Team The Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) team at Airwallex is a strategically vital function operating under a clear Three Lines of Defense model. As the independent second line, FCC owns the global AML/CTF program, sanctions framework, risk assessment methodology, and governance infrastructure across all global entities. As Airwallex scales into new markets and deepens its engagement with global regulatory bodies, we are building a world-class compliance organization capable of managing complex financial crime risks at scale. This is an environment where you will tackle high-impact challenges, shape global fintech risk strategies, and help establish foundations for long-term growth. What you'll do As Senior Director, AML & Sanctions, Governance & Policy, you will shape and scale Airwallex’s global financial crime policy and risk based program, establish risk appetite and design global risk assessment processes, and define governance frameworks, ensuring compliance is a strategic enabler of growth. You will establish the baseline core compliance standards while guiding regional adaptations, oversee definition of controls across the FCC control framework, strengthen executive risk reporting, oversee risk-informed product engineering, and defend the integrity of the platform before global regulators and institutional partners. You will work closely with the Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer, Global Head of FCC and senior leaders across the business to turn complex compliance trends into clear action, and shape strategic priorities and initiatives while scaling a high-performing, multi-disciplinary global team. This role is based in the US or EMEA. Responsibilities: - Lead the evolution and maintenance of Airwallex's Global Core FCC Policy Framework, ensuring the compliance baseline meets the expectations of global regulators while supporting business growth and regional scalability. - Lead the definition and oversight of the FCC governance model and risk management framework, including establishment of risk appetite incorporating business strategy, establishing the risk management framework, including risk acceptance & governance structure, and overseeing design and execution of the enterprise