Senior Regulatory Counsel, Americas

About the role

Airwallex, the AI-native financial operating system used by more than 675,000 businesses, is hiring a Senior Regulatory Counsel for the Americas. The role advises on regulatory matters across the Americas, supports cross-border products and expansion, manages regulatory risk and leads complex regulatory workstreams with regulators in key jurisdictions. It is remote in the US, with a preference for candidates in New York or San Francisco; those based there work from the office three days a week.

Key responsibilities

• Own regulatory legal matters across the Americas, including existing licences and registrations and potential future licence applications.
• Monitor, report on and influence regulatory developments affecting payments and financial services.
• Partner with Product Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Risk and Financial Crime Compliance on requirements such as money transmission, stored value, FX, remittance and card issuing.
• Support Product, Strategy, Management and regional Commercial teams with market entry, regulatory mapping and licensing advice.
• Manage external legal counsel and consultants in the Americas.
• Advise on ongoing regulatory obligations, reports and filings, and support government relations outreach to legislators and regulators.
• Use AI and other tools to improve the scale and efficiency of the Regulatory Legal team.

Required profile

• Qualified lawyer with at least eight years of relevant experience at the Senior level (five years at the Regulatory Counsel level).
• Strong regulatory experience in fintech, reputable law firms and/or financial institutions, ideally covering payments, e-money, FX, remittances and/or card issuing in the Americas.
• Experience advising on regulatory submissions, filings and regulatory strategy, ideally with direct engagement with federal and state/provincial regulators.
• Preferred: a mix of private-practice and in-house experience, experience launching regulatory licences in fintech or payments, and Canadian payment-processing experience (RPAA, FINTRAC).

Required skills

• Strong understanding of the financial services regulatory environment in the Americas.
• Stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration.
• Preferred: familiarity with Reg E, UDAAP and TILA, and experience with RegTech, LegalTech or AI tools.