Head of Compliance

About the role

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Head of Compliance based in the United States. This is a hands-on compliance leadership role within a fast-moving, crypto-native environment operating at the intersection of digital assets and regulated finance.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate the existing compliance framework, identify gaps in adoption, execution, and geographic coverage, and lead initiatives to mature the program into a scalable, well-embedded operating model.
• Develop and maintain clear, actionable, and auditable Standard Operating Procedures that translate compliance policies and regulatory requirements into consistent day-to-day practices.
• Partner with Product and Operations teams to identify compliance requirements, define appropriate controls, and establish guardrails before launching new products, markets, or business lines.
• Own daily compliance operations, ensuring policies, procedures, regulatory requirements, and service-level commitments are consistently applied.
• Manage transaction monitoring activities, including reviewing, investigating, documenting, and dispositioning alerts generated by the transaction monitoring environment.
• Collaborate closely with Risk, Product, Operations, and Compliance stakeholders on monitoring logic, thresholds, system design, escalation procedures, and control effectiveness.
• Support complaints submitted to regulatory authorities, coordinating timely, accurate, and appropriately documented responses.
• Partner with Sales and onboarding teams to ensure new customers and business relationships meet applicable compliance and risk standards.
• Support law enforcement inquiries and information requests, ensuring appropriate documentation, escalation, and coordination with relevant legal stakeholders.
• Lead internal investigations into suspicious activity and prepare and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in accordance with applicable requirements.
• Assess compliance risks associated with geographic expansion and adapt policies, procedures, and controls to address evolving regulatory and operational requirements.
• Manage complex onboarding structures, including nested or multi-layer relationships involving integrators and external partners.
• Train, mentor, and develop junior compliance professionals while building a strong and scalable compliance function.
• Promote a culture of accountability, sound judgment, operational rigor, and continuous improvement across the organization.

Requirements

• Proven experience building, scaling, or significantly maturing a compliance program, ideally within crypto, fintech, payments, banking, or broader financial services.
• Demonstrated ability to manage compliance operations at scale, including complex or nested onboarding flows involving integrators, partners, or other third parties.
• Strong hands-on expertise across AML, KYC, and KYB frameworks, controls, and regulatory requirements.
• Direct experience working with transaction monitoring systems, including alert review, investigation, escalation, and disposition.
• Demonstrated experience conducting suspicious activity investigations and preparing or filing SARs.
• Strong understanding of digital assets, blockchain transactions, and the distinctive compliance risks associated with crypto-native financial activity.
• Track record of meeting compliance SLAs while maintaining strong documentation, consistency, and auditability.
• Ability to assess emerging risks, including those associated with geographic expansion, new products, and evolving business models.
• Strong ability to write clear SOPs and translate complex regulatory requirements into practical, repeatable processes and controls.
• Excellent judgment and decision-making skills, with the confidence to make timely calls in ambiguous, sensitive, or high-stakes situations.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, particularly when working with Risk, Product, Operations, and Sales teams.
• Exceptional attention to detail, organizational skills, and ability to operate independently in a rapidly changing environment.
• Highly adaptable, proactive, and comfortable building processes and structures where established playbooks may not yet exist.

Benefits

• $180,000–$220,000 annual salary.
• High-ownership leadership opportunity within an early-stage organization.
• Opportunity to build and shape a compliance program from the ground up rather than simply operate an established framework.
• Exposure to the convergence of crypto infrastructure, regulated finance, stablecoins, and cross-border payments.
• Significant influence over compliance strategy, operational controls, and the development of new business lines and markets.
• Fully remote, globally distributed working environment.
• Opportunity to work closely with Product, Engineering, Risk, Operations, Sales, and senior leadership.
• Opportunity to mentor and build a growing compliance function.
• Fast-paced environment offering substantial autonomy, decision-making responsibility, and professional growth.