Senior Regulatory Counsel, Americas

You will be primarily responsible for regulatory matters across the Americas region. This role will have a strong focus on advising on complex regulatory issues relating to payments and financial services, including licensing, money transmission and related requirements, and supporting cross-border product offerings. You will be responsible for supporting our licensing, registration and ongoing compliance obligations in relevant Americas markets by helping to design and implement appropriate measures and controls, and by partnering closely with Regulatory Compliance and other control functions.

Responsibilities

Be responsible for handling regulatory legal issues relating to our business across the Americas, and for providing strategic advice to cross-functional stakeholders relating to our existing licenses/registrations and potential future licence applications in the region; Monitor, report, and influence trends and developments in payments and financial services regulation in the Americas; Partner closely with Product Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Risk and Financial Crime Compliance teams to ensure robust compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including money transmission, stored value, FX, remittance and card issuing rules in relevant markets; Support local and global Product, Strategy, and Management teams and regional Commercial teams on new market entry and expansion of regulatory licence(s) in the Americas; Liaise with senior Airwallex stakeholders globally, providing timely, pragmatic regulatory legal advice and risk assessments on various business initiatives impacting the Americas region; Manage external legal counsel and consultants in the Americas; Leverage AI and other tooling to enhance the scale, efficiency and effectiveness of the Regulatory Legal team; Provide legal advice on Airwallex's regulatory compliance obligations with respect to ongoing regulatory compliance and submission of regulatory reports and filings in relevant Americas jurisdictions; Support government relations outreach to legislators and regulatory agencies in key Americas markets

Requirements

Qualified lawyer with 8 years of relevant post-qualification experience; Strong regulatory experience gained in the fintech industry, reputable law firms and/or financial institutions, ideally with exposure to payments, e-money, FX, remittances and/or card issuing in the Americas region; Deep experience and demonstrated success advising on regulatory matters and handling regulatory submissions, filings and regulatory strategy in financial services or payments, ideally including direct engagement with regulators in key Americas markets; Strong understanding of the financial services regulatory environment in the Americas, particularly as relates to payments, remittance, FX, issuing and digital financial services; Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally and build trust with business, legal, compliance and external counsel stakeholders; Proactive, results-driven, and ownership-oriented, with a clear track record of managing multiple priorities and deadlines; Ability to influence, explain complex legal topics to non-lawyers, and frame business-relevant solutions; Collaborative team player, embraces managing ambiguity, and thriving in fast-paced, evolving environments

Nice to have

A mix of private practice and in-house experience; Experience supporting expansion into new markets and launching new regulatory licences in the fintech, payments, or financial services sectors; Experience advising on consumer and commercial regulatory matters, including state money transmitter licensing (MTL) requirements and oversight by federal prudential regulators, with familiarity in regulations such as Reg E, UDAAP, and TILA; Experience using, deploying or developing RegTech, LegalTech or AI tools to enhance the legal function; Canadian payment processing and money services business experience including familiarity with RPAA, Fintrac and provincial financial licensing