Compliance Lead for MEA

We’re just at the beginning of our story and we’re growing at an incredible pace. We won’t stop until anyone, anywhere can send, spend and receive money wherever they are, whatever they’re doing. There’s still heaps to do and we can’t do it alone. To help us achieve this, we are looking for an experienced Compliance Lead to act as the Compliance Director for the high-growth Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, providing the strategic leadership needed to protect our customers as we scale our products across diverse new jurisdictions.

What immediate impact you will have

• Strategic Oversight: Provide strategic leadership and act as the Compliance Director for the high-growth MEA region, including Israel, UAE, South Africa. Later focus will be on markets like Nigeria, Turkey, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
• Licensing & Expansion: Oversee the launch of full capabilities in licensed markets (Israel, UAE, and South Africa) while managing and supporting licensing requirements in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
• Team Establishment: Take the lead in building and establishing the required second-line (2LOD) operational teams across the MEA region from the ground up.
• Governance & Reporting: Oversee the localisation of compliance frameworks and report to the Board of Directors on the health of financial crime and regulatory compliance across the MEA region.
• MEA Champion: Support regional Compliance Officers (COs) by establishing overarching trust and communication with regulators. You will act as the spokesperson for the MEA region, networking with local peers to find opportunities to expand Wise's reach. You will receive and translate information into strategic insight, action to decide how to manage regional risks, and support the communication of product changes primarily within the company.

This role will give you the opportunity to

• Develop an in-depth knowledge of Wise’s business globally and get to know many teams across the company as you liaise with them to help them understand complex regional regulatory frameworks.
• Help keep compliance right at the heart of our product developments and new initiatives by horizon-scanning for new regulatory developments in the Middle East and Africa and sharing these with the teams.
• Ensure operational excellence by maintaining our regulatory licenses and applications across the region, and establishing scalable 2LOD operational teams to support these new markets.