Compliance Director & AMLCO

We are delighted to be recruiting for a Compliance Director to lead compliance for the Australian arm of a global digital finance business. Owned by a major international bank, the business is applying bank-grade compliance frameworks to a crypto and digital asset environment, so you'll be building compliance to a banking standard while working at the pace of a fast-growing scale-up.

Reporting to the Group Chief Risk & Compliance Officer and working alongside the local responsible managers and the group function (UK, EU and APAC), you'll own compliance for the Australian entity end to end. This is a genuinely hands-on role, you'll come in and do the gap analysis, blockchain investigations and framework build, not just oversee.

Your responsibilities will include

• Holding the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) role, with ultimate responsibility for AML and sanctions compliance, suspicious activity reporting to AUSTRAC, and transaction reporting.
• Developing and implementing the Australian compliance framework and regulatory strategy, ensuring adherence to AFSL obligations, ASIC and AUSTRAC requirements, and group policies.
• Owning relationships with regulators and overseeing compliance with the AFSL.
• Building and maintaining a bank-grade compliance and risk framework across anti-financial crime (AML, sanctions, fraud, ABC), data privacy, conduct, conflicts, risk management and governance.
• Leading local risk committees and contributing to board and executive-level risk reporting.
• Ensuring compliance with crypto custody standards, including asset segregation, key management, third-party risk and operational resilience.
• Conducting blockchain analytics, transaction monitoring and screening investigations. (Financial crime operations, including KYC and screening, sit with an outsourced UK team; escalations come to you.)

What skills and experience will you need

This is a senior role, so a blend of 2nd line technical financial crime expertise and the resilience to thrive in a fast-paced, small-team scale-up will set you up for success.

• Financial crime compliance experience is essential, from a second line or consulting background. This is non-negotiable for the MLRO role.
• Senior compliance experience within an AFSL-licensed financial services firm, with a track record of designing and overseeing compliance frameworks and direct engagement with ASIC, AUSTRAC and other regulators.
• A hands-on approach, comfortable being the first compliance lead in Australia and working into the detail.
• Accustomed to a bank-grade, highly regulated environment, while able to work at scale-up pace, balancing strong governance with commercial pragmatism.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, including board-level reporting.
• A genuine interest in crypto / digital assets. Direct experience is a bonus rather than a requirement, but you'll be expected to speak to the space, particularly the financial crime risks digital assets present.
• Resilience, adaptability and comfort with ambiguity, given the pace, standards and small-team environment.

Benefits

• The rare chance to build and shape a compliance function at an early stage, within a global business backed by a major international bank.
• Hybrid working (minimum 2 days in-office). Sydney CBD
• Genuine leadership exposure across compliance, risk management, risk committees and governance.
• The autonomy to manage your own time, including some flexibility around calls with UK colleagues across time zones

How to apply

If you're a financial crime compliance leader ready to build something from the ground up in the digital finance space, we want to hear from you. Apply now by submitting your CV for immediate consideration.

For a confidential chat, contact Jen Jones at Ink Recruitment on +61 (0)409 926 897.