Compliance Lead - Canada

Your responsibilities will include

• Regulatory Liaison & Horizon Scanning: Act as a primary point of contact for Canadian regulators (such as Bank of Canada, FINTRAC and CIRO) and banking partners. You are responsible for "horizon scanning"—identifying upcoming changes in Canadian regulatory and financial crime (FinCrime) legislation (e.g., the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act) and advising product teams on how these changes impact Wise's roadmap.
• Fincrime Framework Oversight: Develop, implement, and maintain the Second Line of Defense (2LoD) policies and procedures for regulatory and FinCrime compliance requirements for the Canadian market. This includes overseeing KYC (Know Your Customer), EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence), and transaction monitoring controls to ensure they effectively mitigate risks without creating unnecessary friction for customers.
• Compliance Advisory: Collaborate directly with Product Managers and Engineers and Product Compliance teams to ensure new features or payment rails are "compliant by design." You would provide expert guidance on how to integrate regulatory and FinCrime controls into the user journey while maintaining the speed and transparency Wise is known for.
• Monitoring & Independent Testing: Support and oversee regular monitoring and testing of the firm’s regulatory and financial crime controls to evaluate their effectiveness. This includes managing internal audits, tracking remediation plans for any identified gaps, and providing comprehensive reporting to the Board of Directors on the health of the Canadian compliance program.

About you