Regulatory Counsel, EMEA

Job description

ABOUT AIRWALLEX Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. ABOUT THE TEAM Airwallex’s Regulatory Legal team is a high‑impact, collaborative group that plays a central role in enabling our expansion and success across the regions we’re present in. We support Airwallex’s 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 you’ll 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 YOU’LL DO You will be based in Lithuania, with responsibility for regulatory legal support across EMEA, with a particular focus on the EU/EEA regulatory framework and our activities supervised from Lithuania. This role will focus on advising on complex regulatory issues relating to payments services in Europe, including licensing, passporting, conduct and prudential requirements, and supporting cross‑border product launches. You will support the build‑out and maintenance of our licensing and registration portfolio in EMEA by advising on regulatory requirements, legal risk and licensing implications, and by partnering closely with Regulatory Compliance, Global Expansion & Licensing Strategy 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 detail‑oriented, 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 EMEA, with a focus on EU/EEA markets, and for providing strategic advice to cross‑functional stakeholders relating to existing licences/registrations, passporting, branch structures and potential future licence applications in the region. - Monitor, report, and analyse trends and developments in payments and financial services regulation in Europe (e.g. PSD2/PSD3, EMI regimes, AML/CTF), 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 advise on applicable EU, EEA and local laws and regulations, and to embed regulatory requirements into product design and operations. - Support local and global Product, Strategy, and Management teams and regional Commercial teams on new market entry and expansion of regulatory licence(s) in EMEA, including regulatory mapping, licensing/passporting advice and branch establishment analysis. - Liaise with senior Airwallex stakeholders globally, providing timely, pragmatic regulatory legal advice and risk assessments on business initiatives impacting EMEA. - Manage external legal counsel and consultants across EMEA, ensuring high-quality, cost‑effective support aligned with Airwallex’s 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 Airwallex’s regulatory compliance obligations with respect to ongoing regulatory compliance and submission of regulatory reports and filings in EMEA, partnering with the Regulatory Compliance team to support timely and accurate filings. - Support and, where appropriate, lead engagement with legislators and regulatory agencies in key EMEA markets (including the Bank of Lithuania and other relevant national competent authorities), including licensing discussions, supervisory engagement, RFIs, inspections, thematic reviews and policy matters relevant to the business. QUALIFICATIONS - Qualified lawyer with around 6–8 years of relevant post‑qualification experience (P3 level). - Strong regulatory experience gained in the fintech industry, reputable law firms and/or financial institutions, with a focus on EU/EEA financial services, payments, e‑money, FX, remittances and/or card issuing. - A mix of private practice and in‑house 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 EU and national regulators (e.g. central banks, financial supervisory authorities). - Deep knowledge of the European financial services regulatory environment, 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 cross‑functionally and build trust with business, legal, compliance and external counsel stakeholders. - Proactive, results‑driven, and ownership‑oriented, with a clear track record of managing multiple priorities and deadlines. - Fluent in English, with strong drafting and negotiation skills; additional European languages (including Lithuanian) are an advantage. - Ability to influence, explain complex legal topics to non‑lawyers, and frame business‑relevant solutions. - Collaborative team player, embraces managing ambiguity, and thriving in fast‑paced, evolving environments. - Experience using, deploying or developing RegTech, LegalTech or AI tools to enhance the legal function is ideal but not mandatory. APPLICANT SAFETY POLICY: FRAUD AND THIRD-PARTY RECRUITERS To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com http://airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com http://careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page. Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary. 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 don’t 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.