We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Head of Compliance and Financial Crime to lead our second line of defence across the Group. Under the Central Bank of Ireland’s Fitness & Probity Regime the role is designated as PCF-12 (Head of Compliance) and PCF-52 (Head of AML and CTF) and is subject to prior regulatory approval. While these PCF responsibilities apply to the Irish regulated entity, the successful candidate will operate at a Group level, providing oversight, leadership, and coordination of compliance and financial crime frameworks across all regulated entities, including Ireland, the UK, and the US. The individual will act as a key control function holder, providing independent oversight, constructive challenge, and expert guidance to the Boards and senior management teams across the Group.
About Aave Labs
Aave Labs is a software technology company, renowned for building innovative web3 products based on blockchain technologies. Founded by Stani Kulechov, we’ve developed the battle tested Aave Protocol, the Aave-native stablecoin GHO, and Lens, a decentralized social networking protocol. With strategic acquisitions including the metaverse app, Sonar, and Family crypto wallet, Aave Labs is dedicated to realizing a people-powered internet that benefits everyone.
How you can make an impact in respect of the Irish regulated entity:
- Serve as the approved PCF-12 (Head of Compliance) and PCF-52 (Head of AML/CTF).
- Maintain overall responsibility for the firm’s compliance and AML/CTF frameworks.
- Ensure the firm complies with all applicable Irish and EU regulatory obligations.
- Provide formal Compliance and Financial Crime reporting to the Irish Board.
- Act as primary regulatory liaison with the Central Bank of Ireland in respect of compliance and financial crime matters.
- Ensure robust implementation of AML/CTF controls, including business-wide and customer risk assessments; CDD/EDD frameworks; ongoing monitoring and transaction monitoring; suspicious activity reporting; and sanctions compliance.
How you can make an impact across all regulated Group entities:
- Contribute towards the design, implementation, and continuous enhancement of a Group-wide compliance and financial crime framework, ensuring alignment with applicable regulatory requirements in Ireland, the UK, and the US.
- Promote consistent standards, governance principles, and control frameworks across jurisdictions, while accommodating local legal and regulatory nuances.
- Oversee the Group Compliance Plan, including regulatory reporting obligations, monitoring and testing programmes, and remediation tracking.
- Provide consolidated management information and thematic reporting to Group leadership and relevant Boards.
- Act as an escalation point for first line teams across jurisdictions, including the Financial Crime and Support teams.
- Support regulatory engagement and examinations across all jurisdictions, including coordination of responses and remediation activities.
- Partner with Product, Operations, Engineering, and Legal teams to ensure regulatory requirements are embedded into new products, market expansion initiatives, and operational processes.
- Support global expansion efforts by assessing regulatory implications and building scalable control frameworks.
- Monitor and assess global regulatory developments ensuring proactive implementation of new requirements.
- Foster a strong culture of compliance, integrity, and financial crime awareness across the organisation.
- Lead Compliance and Financial Crime training programmes across jurisdictions.
- Maintain strong working relationships with regulators, law enforcement, auditors, and external advisors across Ireland, the UK, and the US.
- Mentor and develop members of the Compliance and Financial Crime teams.
Let's connect if you have:
- Bachelor’s degree in law, finance, business, or related field (professional certifications such as ACAMS, ICA, or equivalent highly desirable).
- Minimum 10 years’ experience in senior compliance and/or financial crime roles within regulated financial services.
- Demonstrable experience in payments and/or cryptoasset businesses across multiple jurisdictions.
- Experience interacting directly with regulators and Boards.
- Strong knowledge of Irish, EU, UK, and US regulatory frameworks applicable to payments and/or cryptoasset service providers.
- Experience performing a PCF or equivalent senior regulatory control function is highly desirable.
- Strong leadership capability, with the ability to operate both strategically and hands-on.
- Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
- A pragmatic, commercially aware problem-solver with a builder mindset.