Senior Regulatory Counsel, Americas

Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide with fully integrated solutions to manage business accounts, payments, spend management, treasury, and embedded finance at a global scale. Founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 innovators across 27 offices globally. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by leading investors, Airwallex is building the global payments and financial platform of the future.

About the role

The Legal, Risk & Compliance (LRC) team at Airwallex is a collaborative group of legal minds and risk management experts. We safeguard Airwallex's operations, foster a culture of compliance and ethical conduct, and ensure we navigate the global financial landscape with integrity. We provide expert guidance and support to all areas of the business, proactively identifying, mitigating, and managing legal, compliance, and financial risks.

As Senior Regulatory Counsel, you will be responsible for regulatory matters across the Americas region, focusing on complex regulatory issues relating to payments and financial services, including licensing, money transmission, and cross-border product offerings. You will support licensing, registration, and ongoing compliance obligations in relevant Americas markets, partnering closely with Regulatory Compliance and other control functions. This role is based in San Francisco.

Responsibilities

• Handle regulatory legal issues across the Americas and provide strategic advice to cross-functional stakeholders regarding existing and future licenses/registrations to ensure scalable growth in the region.
• Monitor, report, and influence trends and developments in payments and financial services regulation in the Americas, anticipating changes that may impact business operations or strategic objectives.
• Partner 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.
• Support local and global Product, Strategy, and Management teams, as well as regional Commercial teams, on new market entry and expansion of regulatory licenses in the Americas, providing regulatory mapping and licensing advice for new products and features.
• Liaise with senior Airwallex stakeholders globally, providing timely, pragmatic regulatory legal advice and risk assessments on business initiatives impacting the Americas region.
• Manage external legal counsel and consultants in the Americas, ensuring high-quality, cost-effective support aligned with Airwallex's business drivers and risk appetite.
• 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, including 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, helping to shape policy and regulatory approaches relevant to the business.

Requirements

• Qualified lawyer with 8 years of relevant post-qualification experience.
• Strong regulatory experience 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, handling regulatory submissions, filings, and regulatory strategy in financial services or payments, including direct engagement with regulators in key Americas markets (e.g., federal and state/provincial regulators).
• Strong understanding of the financial services regulatory environment in the Americas, particularly as it 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 who embraces managing ambiguity and thrives in fast-paced, evolving environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• A mix of private practice and in-house experience.
• Experience supporting expansion into new markets and launching new regulatory licenses 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.

Pay

Compensation range: $142K - $215K