Head of Compliance

What You'll Own
The sanctions program. Screening standards, escalation and decisioning, recordkeeping, and reporting – end to end, with a clear and documented rationale for every design choice.

Policies, procedures, and risk assessment. The written foundation of the program, built for our unique defi-rails architecture rather than inherited from a template. You will be able to explain that architecture, and what it does and does not implicate, to counterparties who have never seen one.

Vendors and tooling. Selection, implementation, and ongoing management of blockchain analytics and screening providers, held to measurable performance rather than to their sales decks.

Compliance by design. Working with Engineering, Product and Customer Success early enough that controls live inside the product, not around it. You will be in the room when rails are designed, offering critical insight and guidance.

Outside advisors. Directing compliance support and specialist advisors – setting the questions, owning the answers, and deciding what gets built in-house versus bought.

What We're Looking For
Eight or more years in compliance, including meaningful time at a leading crypto or decentralized finance (DeFi) company, a digital asset exchange, or a financial institution with a serious digital assets practice.

Working command of Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions requirements as applied to on-chain activity – practical and current, not theoretical.

Direct experience with non-custodial or self-custody product architectures, and a clear point of view on how compliance obligations attach to them. This one is a requirement, not a preference.

Fluency with blockchain analytics tooling and on-chain investigation – you can work a chain of transactions yourself rather than waiting on a vendor's report.

A policy mindset. You can write the standard, defend it under pressure, and tell the difference between a rule, a norm, and a vendor's default setting.

Excellent written communication. The output of this job is largely documents that other people act on.

Comfort as the first and only compliance hire, with the ambition to build a function rather than maintain one.

Nice to Have
Experience standing up a compliance program from zero at an early-stage company.

Exposure to money transmission, money services business (MSB) registration, or state licensing frameworks.

Regulatory, enforcement, or policy experience – at an agency, a trade association, or in private practice.

Familiarity with card scheme rules and the compliance surface of fiat payment rails.