Regulatory Counsel, Israel & ME

About the team

Airwallexs Regulatory Legal team is a highimpact collaborative group that plays a central role in enabling our expansion and success across the regions were present in. We support Airwallexs 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 youll 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 youll do

You will be based in either the United Arab Emirates or Israel with responsibility for regulatory legal support across the Middle East . This role will focus on advising on complex regulatory issues relating to payments and financial services in key Middle Eastern markets supporting both local activities and crossborder product offerings.

You will support the buildout and maintenance of our licensing and registration portfolio in the region by helping to implement appropriate measures and controls and working closely with Regulatory Compliance 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. This dynamic role is ideal for someone who enjoys wearing multiple hats and solving complex issues and blockers for our clients is detailoriented willing to take on challenges and changes obsessively curious and intellectually honest thrives on taking actions and delivering impactful results and aims to inspire and be inspired.

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for handling regulatory legal issues relating to our business in the Middle East and for providing strategic advice to crossfunctional stakeholders relating to existing licences/registrations and potential future licence applications in key Middle Eastern markets.

• Monitor report and analyse trends and developments in payments and financial services regulation across the Middle East 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 ensure robust compliance with applicable laws and regulations in the region.

• Support local and global Product Strategy and Management teams and regional Commercial teams on new market entry and expansion of regulatory licence(s) in the Middle East including regulatory mapping and licensing advice.

• Liaise with senior Airwallex stakeholders globally providing timely pragmatic regulatory legal advice and risk assessments on business initiatives impacting the Middle East.

• Manage external legal counsel and consultants in the region ensuring high-quality costeffective support aligned with Airwallexs 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 Airwallexs regulatory compliance obligations with respect to ongoing regulatory compliance and submission of regulatory reports and filings in relevant Middle Eastern jurisdictions partnering with the Regulatory Compliance team to support timely and accurate filings.

• Support government relations outreach to legislators and regulatory agencies in key Middle Eastern markets (e.g. central banks financial services regulators and freezone regulators) helping to shape policy and regulatory approaches relevant to the business.

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with around 68 years of relevant postqualification experience (P3 level).

• Strong regulatory experience gained in the fintech industry reputable law firms and/or financial institutions with a focus on payments emoney FX remittance and/or card issuing in Middle Eastern markets.

• A mix of private practice and inhouse 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 central banks financial services regulators and/or freezone regulators in the Middle East.

• Strong understanding of the financial services regulatory environment in the Middle East 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 crossfunctionally and build trust with business legal compliance and external counsel stakeholders.

• Proactive resultsdriven and ownershiporiented with a clear track record of managing multiple priorities and deadlines.

• Fluent in English with strong drafting and negotiation skills; additional languages used in the region (e.g. Arabic ) are an advantage.

• Ability to influence explain complex legal topics to nonlawyers and frame businessrelevant riskbalanced solutions.

• Collaborative team player embraces managing ambiguity and thriving in fastpaced evolving environments.

• Experience using deploying or developing RegTech LegalTech or AI tools to enhance the legal function is ideal but not mandatory.

Additional information

At Airwallex youll have the ability to make an impact in a rapidly growing global fintech. We want you to share in our success which is why youll be offered a competitive salary plus valuable equity within Airwallex. We also like to ensure we create the best environment for our people by providing a collaborative open office space with a fully stocked kitchen. We organise regular team building events and we give our people the freedom to be creative.

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Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit qualifications competence and talent. We dont 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.