Compliance Manager — Authorised Payment Institution

We are an FCA-authorised payment institution delivering Open Banking payment services (PIS and AIS permissions) to businesses throughout the UK. Operating as a lean, remote-first team, we offer a unique opportunity for a Compliance Manager to take full ownership of the compliance function. This role is pivotal to our operations, providing direct support to the CEO and acting as the primary liaison for regulatory matters. As the business grows and expands into new products and jurisdictions, there is significant scope to develop and shape the compliance framework.

Key Responsibilities

Regulatory Compliance:
You will maintain and enhance the compliance monitoring plan, conducting periodic reviews and reporting findings to senior management. Ensuring adherence to the Payment Services Regulations 2017, including conduct of business rules and operational and security risk obligations, will be central to your role. You will prepare and submit regulatory returns such as REP017, REP018, and annual returns accurately and on schedule. Additionally, you will monitor regulatory developments—including consultations, policy statements, and FCA communications—and translate these into actionable compliance measures.

Financial Crime:
Supporting the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), you will help maintain the AML/CTF framework, including business-wide risk assessments, customer risk methodologies, and KYC/KYB onboarding standards. Oversight of transaction monitoring processes, quality assurance of alert handling, and escalation management will be part of your duties. You will also maintain Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) procedures, support internal SAR reviews, and coordinate submissions to the National Crime Agency (NCA). Keeping policies up to date across AML, sanctions, anti-bribery, fraud (including APP fraud reimbursement), tax evasion facilitation, and proliferation financing is essential.

Policies, Training, and Governance:
You will own the compliance policy suite, drafting, reviewing, and maintaining documents with clear version control. Delivering compliance and financial crime training to staff and maintaining training records will be your responsibility. You will support governance processes by preparing management information, board reports, and compliance dashboards. Maintaining the regulatory breach register, complaints log (DISP), and conflicts of interest register also falls within your remit.

Operational:
Conducting compliance due diligence on partners, agents, and third-party providers and managing ongoing outsourcing oversight in line with regulatory expectations will be key. You will support client onboarding escalations and handle complex KYB cases. Assisting with safeguarding reconciliations oversight and audit preparation is required. Additionally, you will contribute to new product approval reviews from a regulatory perspective.

Required Qualifications

- Minimum of 2 years’ compliance experience within a regulated payments or e-money firm (PI, EMI, or similar).
- Strong working knowledge of Payment Services Regulations 2017, Electronic Money Regulations 2011, FCA Handbook (especially SUP, SYSC, DISP), and the Payment Services and Electronic Money Approach Document.
- Practical experience with AML/CTF frameworks under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, including KYB/KYC, transaction monitoring, and SARs.
- Proven ability to prepare regulatory returns accurately and on time.
- Ability to work independently, taking initiative to draft, decide, and deliver compliance activities without extensive team support.
- Excellent written English skills, comfortable drafting policies and regulatory correspondence clearly and precisely.

Preferred Qualifications and Benefits

- Experience working specifically with Open Banking, PIS, and AIS business models.
- Familiarity with safeguarding audit processes.
- Exposure to the emerging UK cryptoasset regulatory regime or stablecoin compliance.
- Relevant compliance qualifications such as ICA, CISI, or equivalent.
- Experience in startup or scale-up environments, demonstrating adaptability and proactive problem-solving.

This full-time remote role offers a competitive salary range of 125,000 to 140,000 PKR per month and the chance to be a key player in a dynamic, growing organisation at the forefront of payment services innovation.