Legal & Compliance Counsel in London

About Airwallex

Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 675,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do.

About the team

Airwallex's Regulatory Legal team is a high‐impact, collaborative group that plays a central role in enabling our expansion and success across the regions we're present in. We support Airwallex's continued growth by providing expert legal guidance on regulatory matters, partnering closely with Product Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Financial Crime Compliance, and other teams to deliver innovative financial products compliantly and at scale. This is a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment where you'll work alongside committed colleagues, engage in strategic projects with global reach, and have direct influence on business-critical decisions. We value curiosity, ownership, and the ambition to drive outcomes in a complex, ever-evolving regulatory landscape.

What you'll do

You will be based in London or Amsterdam, with responsibility for regulatory legal support across EMEA, with a particular focus on the EU/EEA regulatory framework. This role will focus on advising on complex regulatory issues relating to payments services in Europe, including licensing, passporting, conduct and prudential requirements, and supporting cross‐border product launches.

You will support the build‐out and maintenance of our licensing and registration portfolio in EMEA by advising on regulatory requirements, legal risk and licensing implications, and by partnering closely with Regulatory Compliance, Global Expansion & Licensing Strategy and other control functions. You will be a valuable member of the global legal and compliance team and will have the opportunity to support a rapidly growing business and the management team to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for handling regulatory legal issues relating to our business in EMEA, with a focus on EU/EEA markets, and for providing strategic advice to cross‐functional stakeholders relating to existing licences/registrations, passporting, branch structures and potential future licence applications in the region.
• Monitor, report, and analyse trends and developments in payments and financial services regulation in Europe (e.g. PSD2/PSD3, EMI regimes, AML/CTF), actively identifying and anticipating changes that may impact business operations or strategic objectives.
• Partner closely with Product Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Risk and Financial Crime Compliance teams to advise on applicable EU, EEA and local laws and regulations, and to embed regulatory requirements into product design and operations.
• Support local and global Product, Strategy, and Management teams and regional Commercial teams on new market entry and expansion of regulatory licence(s) in EMEA, including regulatory mapping, licensing/passporting advice and branch establishment analysis.
• Liaise with senior Airwallex stakeholders globally, providing timely, pragmatic regulatory legal advice and risk assessments on business initiatives impacting EMEA.
• Manage external legal counsel and consultants across EMEA, ensuring high-quality, cost‐effective support aligned with Airwallex's business drivers and risk appetite.
• Leverage AI and other tooling to enhance the scale, efficiency and effectiveness of the Regulatory Legal team.
• Provide legal advice on Airwallex's regulatory compliance obligations with respect to ongoing regulatory compliance and submission of regulatory reports and filings in EMEA, partnering with the Regulatory Compliance team to support timely and accurate filings.
• Support and, where appropriate, lead engagement with legislators and regulatory agencies in key EMEA markets, including licensing discussions, supervisory engagement, RFIs, inspections, thematic reviews and policy matters relevant to the business.

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with around 6–8 years of relevant post‐qualification experience.
• Strong regulatory experience gained in the fintech industry, reputable law firms and/or financial institutions, with a focus on EU/EEA financial services, payments, e‐money, FX, remittances and/or card issuing. A mix of private practice and in‐house experience is ideal but not mandatory.
• Demonstrated success advising on regulatory matters and handling regulatory submissions, filings and regulatory strategy, ideally including direct engagement with EU and national regulators (e.g. central banks, financial supervisory authorities).
• Deep knowledge of the European financial services regulatory environment, particularly as it relates to payments, remittance, FX, issuing and digital financial services.
• Experience supporting expansion into new markets and launching new regulatory licences in the fintech, payments, or financial services sectors will be advantageous.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work cross‐functionally and build trust with business, legal, compliance and external counsel stakeholders.
• Fluent in English, with strong drafting and negotiation skills; additional European languages are an advantage.
• Ability to influence, explain complex legal topics to non‐lawyers, and frame business‐relevant solutions.
• Experience using, deploying or developing RegTech, LegalTech or AI tools to enhance the legal function is ideal but not mandatory.

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don't regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.