Head of Compliance

About us
We are a fintech founded by a team of global entrepreneurs who have built, scaled and exited technology-driven financial services companies across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. Between us we have launched digital lenders, insurers and payment platforms in more than ten countries, raised institutional capital from tier-1 venture funds and international banks, and sat on the boards of institutions supervised by European and Latin American regulators. We are now building our next company in Guyana, together with a group of leading Guyanese business figures as local partners.

Guyana is the fastest-growing economy on the planet, and most Guyanese still manage their money in branches, on paper, in cash. We are building the institution that closes that gap: mobile-first payments, savings and credit for individuals and SMEs, run to international standards.

We are in the pre-launch phase. The founding capital has been committed and the technology partners are selected. We held our pre-application meeting with the Bank of Guyana in September 2026 and we plan to file the license application under the Financial Institutions Act 1995 in November. The Compliance Officer is named in that application.

The mission

We are hiring the person who will build the compliance function of a licensed financial institution from a blank page, and then run it. You will be the Compliance Officer appointed under section 19 of the AML/CFT Act 2009 and section 14 of the AML/CFT Regulations 2010, at management level, with a Personal Declaration Sheet filed with the Bank of Guyana. Your name and your track record go into the licence application, and the regulator will assess both against its fit and proper criteria.

Most compliance officers inherit a programme that someone else wrote for systems designed decades ago. You will write this one yourself, for an institution that onboards customers on a phone and monitors transactions with automated rules. You will have a direct line to the Board, and behind you a sponsor group that includes senior risk and compliance executives from one of the largest banking groups in the world.

What you will own

1. The license application. Write the AML/CFT section of the filing, starting with the institutional risk assessment and the compliance manual. Answer the Bank of Guyana’s questions on the programme during the review.
2. The programme. Design customer due diligence, sanctions and PEP screening, transaction monitoring and record keeping for a digital institution, to the standard of the AML/CFT Act 2009, the 2010 Regulations and Supervision Guideline No. 13.
3. Reporting. Receive internal reports, decide which ones become suspicious transaction reports and file them, with the threshold reports, to the Financial Intelligence Unit.
4. Technology. Choose and configure the identity verification, screening and monitoring tools with the CTO. You set the rules and the thresholds, and you own the alert queue.
5. Regulators. Act as the institution’s liaison with the Bank of Guyana and the FIU on compliance matters. Prepare on-site inspections and lead them.
6. Board and products. Report to the Board on how the programme performs. Sign off new products and high risk business lines before they launch.
7. People. Train every employee and director. Hire a Deputy of similar standing, as Supervision Guideline No. recommends, and the first analysts.

About you

• Financial sector background. At least 7 years in compliance, AML/CFT, internal audit or supervision inside a licensed or regulated financial institution in Guyana or the Caribbean: a commercial bank, a non-bank licensed under the FIA, an insurer, a money transfer agency, the Bank of Guyana or the FIU. At least 3 of those years in a management or senior compliance role. This is a hard requirement, because the Bank of Guyana will review your employment record.
• You have held the pen. You have written or rewritten AML/CFT policies, run an institutional risk assessment, filed suspicious transaction reports and sat across the table from Bank of Guyana examiners during an inspection.
• Fit and proper. A clean regulatory, credit and criminal record. You will complete a Personal Declaration Sheet and provide references from two financial institutions you have dealt with in the last two years.
• Certified. CAMS, an ICA diploma or an equivalent qualification. If you do not hold one yet, you complete it within 12 months at our cost.
• Independent. You say no to a founder or a General Manager when the law requires it, and you put it in writing. When a compliant route to yes exists, you find it fast.
• Comfortable with technology. Electronic KYC, API-driven screening, rule-based monitoring and case management. You do not need to code. You need to question a vendor and tune a rule set.
• Builder. On day one there is no manual and no system. You have started things before, or you have wanted to for years.
• Guyana. You live in Guyana or you are ready to move back. You know the FIU, the Bank Supervision Department and how compliance works here in practice. Georgetown, on site, full-time.

What we offer

• A head-of-function seat at a new financial institution, named in its licence application, with the programme built to your design.
• Independence by design: a direct reporting line to the Board and its Risk and Compliance Committee.
• Compensation above the local banking market for the role, and participation in the company’s long-term incentive plan.
• A certification and training budget, and daily work with executives who have run compliance and risk at global scale.

Before you apply
Two things to be clear about. First, this is a pre-launch company and the licence is not yet granted. We need to confirm the Compliance Officer by mid-October so the application can name you; the start date and the transition from your current role are agreed case by case, and every conversation is confidential. Second, the role carries personal statutory responsibility, and the Bank of Guyana will review your record before it reviews ours.

REF S.C