Head of Compliance Operations and Financial Crimes

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Head of Compliance to build, mature, and lead our compliance program in a fast-paced, crypto-native environment. This role will partner closely with the product and engineering teams in order to automate the existing program into a scalable, highly embedded into the day-to-day operations of the business. This is a hands-on leadership role: the ideal candidate is a decisive operator who can write SOPs, work cross-functionally with Product and Ops to design guardrails for new business lines, manage a compliance program at scale (including nested onboarding flows with integrator/partner relationships), and mentor others — all while combining deep AML/KYC/KYB expertise with a strong international regulatory background.

Key Responsibilities

• Program Build-Out & Maturity: Evaluate the existing compliance program, identify gaps in adoption and execution, and scale it into a program that is well-used, well-understood, and embedded across the business. This includes evaluating the risks associated with new geographic areas, and enhancing the existing program to account for those findings.

• SOP Development: Write clear, actionable Standard Operating Procedures that translate policy into repeatable, auditable day-to-day practice.

• Product & Ops Partnership on New Business Lines: Partner with Product and Operations to identify compliance requirements for new initiatives before they launch.

• Day-to-Day Compliance Operations: Own and manage the organization's daily compliance activities, ensuring consistent application of policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.

• Transaction Monitoring & Alert Disposition: Review, investigate, and disposition alerts generated by the transaction monitoring system (built and maintained by the Risk team), ensuring timely and well-documented decisions.

• Cross-Functional Partnership with Risk: Work closely and collaboratively with the Risk, Compliance, Product and Operations teams to align on system design, alert logic, thresholds, and escalation processes.

• Complaints Management: Support the handling of complaints filed with regulatory bodies, ensuring timely, accurate, and well-documented responses.

• Sales & Customer Onboarding Support: Partner with the Sales team on customer onboarding to ensure new relationships meet compliance and risk standards from day one.

• Law Enforcement Requests: Support law enforcement inquiries and requests, ensuring appropriate handling, documentation, and legal coordination.

• Investigations & SAR Filing: Lead internal investigations into suspicious activity and prepare and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in accordance with regulatory requirements.

• Team Development: Train, mentor, and develop current and future junior compliance team members, building a strong bench of compliance talent.

Qualifications

• Proven experience building or significantly maturing a compliance program from the ground up, ideally within crypto, fintech, or financial services.

• Track record of meeting compliance SLAs and operating with strong, auditable rigor.

• Experience managing a compliance program at scale, including nested/multi-layer onboarding flows involving integrator or partner relationships

• Strong, hands-on knowledge of AML, KYC, and KYB frameworks and regulatory requirements.

• Direct experience with transaction monitoring systems and alert disposition/investigation processes.

• Demonstrated experience conducting investigations and filing SARs.

• Crypto-native — deep familiarity with digital assets, blockchain transactions, and the unique compliance challenges of the crypto industry.

• Highly decisive, with the judgment to make timely calls in ambiguous or high-stakes situations.

• Ability to write clear, effective SOPs and translate policy into practice.

• Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills, particularly with Risk, Product, Ops, and Sales teams.

• Excellent judgment, attention to detail, and ability to operate independently in a fast-moving environment.