Description

An institutional digital-asset financing and treasury platform, backed by a tier-1 global bank and a leading hedge fund manager, is seeking a Head of Compliance and MLRO for its founding team in Abu Dhabi. Operating within the ADGM jurisdiction, this tech-first business provides regulated USD and stablecoin lending against digital-asset collateral alongside curated tokenized investment opportunities. Reporting directly to the CEO, the successful candidate will build the compliance and financial crime functions from the ground up, serving as a critical voice in securing and maintaining the platform's FSRA Category 3C and 4 permissions, including Virtual Asset endorsements.

The primary mandate focuses on driving the remaining workstreams of the FSRA authorization process in coordination with external counsel and senior leadership. Upon receiving licensing, the role transitions to designing and implementing a comprehensive, institutional-grade AML/CFT, sanctions, and transaction monitoring framework. A key commercial challenge involves taking group-standard policies from the shareholder bank and adapting them into a proportionate, nimble framework optimized for a deal-by-deal SPV lending model. This requires balancing absolute regulatory rigor with the operational velocity of a startup, establishing controls that safely facilitate business growth without compromising institutional credibility. Additionally, the mandate includes selecting, onboarding, and managing external vendors for screening, KYC/KYB, and outsourced compliance support, while maintaining ultimate accountability within the firm.

Candidates must possess twelve-plus years of financial services compliance and MLRO experience, with a proven track record of managing build-from-scratch frameworks or startup licensing regimes. Direct experience navigating authorization processes with major regulatory bodies such as the FSRA, DFSA, FCA, or MAS is required. Essential technical skills include robust AML/CFT expertise, practical knowledge of transaction monitoring, and experience overseeing outsourced compliance vendors. The ideal professional exhibits a commercially astute mindset, capable of acting as a trusted advisor to the executive board on regulatory strategy and product expansion. Prior experience within the ADGM ecosystem, exposure to blockchain analytics tools like Chainalysis or TRM, and a background in bank-sponsored joint ventures are highly advantageous.

The position offers a competitive base salary, performance bonuses, meaningful equity, and full relocation support to Abu Dhabi