UK Chief Compliance Officer

About this role

We're looking for an experienced and commercially minded Chief Compliance Officer to lead our UK compliance function for a fast-growing global payments business. This is a unique opportunity to shape the compliance strategy of an innovative organisation operating at the forefront of the payments industry, partnering with senior leaders to support growth while maintaining the highest regulatory and ethical standards. You'll play a pivotal role in building trusted relationships with regulators, influencing strategic business decisions, and fostering a strong culture of compliance across the organisation. If you're an inspiring compliance leader with deep UK regulatory expertise and a passion for enabling business success in a dynamic international environment, we'd love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee the UK compliance function, ensuring the firm maintains an effective compliance framework that meets all applicable UK regulatory requirements, including those relating to payment services, consumer protection, and financial crime.
• Serve as the primary liaison with UK regulators, managing regulatory relationships, inspections, reporting obligations, and the implementation of new regulatory requirements.
• Provide strategic compliance advice to executive leadership and business stakeholders, enabling commercial objectives while ensuring regulatory risks are appropriately identified, assessed, and managed.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously enhance compliance policies, monitoring programmes, training, governance processes, and reporting to support a strong culture of compliance across the organisation.
• Collaborate with global compliance, legal, risk, and operational teams to ensure consistent compliance standards, effective management of cross-border regulatory issues, and successful delivery of strategic business initiatives.

Key Experience

• Significant senior compliance leadership experience within the UK financial services sector, ideally in payments, electronic money, banking, fintech, or other regulated financial institutions.
• Deep knowledge of the UK regulatory framework, including FCA requirements, the Payment Services Regulations, Electronic Money Regulations, Consumer Duty, anti-money laundering, sanctions, and financial crime obligations.
• Demonstrated experience engaging with regulators, managing regulatory examinations, and leading responses to regulatory change within a complex regulated environment.
• Proven ability to influence executive stakeholders, lead high-performing compliance teams, and embed a strong compliance culture across a global organisation.
• Excellent strategic, analytical, and communication skills, with the ability to balance regulatory requirements with commercial objectives in a fast-paced international business.

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