Senior Regulatory Counsel, Americas

Overview

A global financial technology organization is seeking a Senior Regulatory Counsel to manage regulatory matters across the Americas region. This role focuses on advising on complex regulatory issues related to payments and financial services, including licensing, money transmission, and cross-border product offerings. The position involves supporting licensing, registration, and ongoing compliance obligations by designing and implementing appropriate controls and collaborating closely with Regulatory Compliance and other control functions.

Responsibilities

• Handle regulatory legal issues related to the business across the Americas.
• Provide strategic advice on existing licenses/registrations and potential future license applications to support regional scaling.
• Monitor, report, and influence trends and developments in payments and financial services regulation in the Americas.
• Collaborate with Product Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Risk, and Financial Crime Compliance teams to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including money transmission, stored value, FX, remittance, and card issuing rules.
• Support Product, Strategy, Management, and Commercial teams on new market entry and regulatory license expansion.
• Provide timely, pragmatic regulatory legal advice and risk assessments to senior stakeholders.
• Manage external legal counsel and consultants in the Americas to ensure high-quality, cost-effective support.
• Utilize AI and other tools to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the Regulatory Legal team.
• Advise on ongoing regulatory compliance obligations and submission of regulatory reports and filings.
• Support government relations outreach to legislators and regulatory agencies in key Americas markets.

Requirements

• Qualified lawyer with at least 8 years of relevant post-qualification experience.
• Strong regulatory experience in fintech, reputable law firms, or financial institutions, ideally with exposure to payments, e-money, FX, remittances, and/or card issuing in the Americas.
• Proven success advising on regulatory matters, handling submissions, filings, and regulatory strategy, including direct engagement with regulators in key Americas jurisdictions.
• Deep understanding of the financial services regulatory environment in the Americas, particularly payments, remittance, FX, issuing, and digital financial services.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to work cross-functionally and build trust.
• Proactive, results-driven, and ownership-oriented with a track record of managing multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Ability to explain complex legal topics to non-lawyers and provide business-relevant solutions.
• Collaborative team player comfortable managing ambiguity and thriving in fast-paced environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Combination of private practice and in-house experience.
• Experience supporting expansion into new markets and launching new regulatory licenses in fintech, payments, or financial services.
• Knowledge of consumer and commercial regulatory matters, including state money transmitter licensing (MTL) and federal prudential regulators, with familiarity in regulations such as Reg E, UDAAP, and TILA.
• Experience using or developing RegTech, LegalTech, or AI tools to enhance legal functions.
• Experience with Canadian payment processing and money services business, including familiarity with RPAA, Fintrac, and provincial financial licensing.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $200,000 - $280,000

Location

• Americas region (specific location details not provided)

Additional Information

• The organization is committed to equal opportunity employment and values diversity.
• Applicants requiring accommodations due to disability or special needs are encouraged to request assistance.
• The employer does not request sensitive personal information or payments during the application process.
• All official communications will come from the organization's official email domain.
• The organization does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters without prior agreement.