Senior Governance Risk & Compliance Regional Specialist

HOW YOU'LL MAKE IMPACT As the regional anchor for Airwallex s security compliance function, you ll connect requirements in the UAE with our wider global Information Security programme. You ll work with government and regulatory bodies, customers, partners, vendors and internal teams, providing clear security information and helping Airwallex manage its external security relationships, while supporting our regional entities and making sure their needs are heard by the global team. You ll work with significant autonomy, drawing on your project management experience to move work forward without relying on prescribed methods. And you ll treat security and compliance as disciplines to improve continuously, not boxes to tick. - Design, implement and monitor security controls, policies and procedures across international regulatory compliance, data privacy, risk and security governance. - Use AI and automation to streamline compliance work, including reporting, communications, metrics, dashboards and evidence management. - Build and maintain security documentation and evidence artefacts that support internal and external stakeholders. - Develop subject-matter expertise across regional security compliance requirements while contributing to the wider global Information Security programme. - Apply practical security judgment to complex cloud environments and work independently across engineering, legal and business teams. - Evolve our compliance operating model as we scale across new markets and regulations. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR ESSENTIALS - 7+ years of cybersecurity experience, with a proven ability to work and execute independently. - Deep knowledge of relevant compliance and control frameworks such as PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and similar standards, with a strong understanding of what makes a successful information security audit. - Strong understanding of information security concepts, practices and solutions, with the confidence to work closely with engineering teams and discuss technical topics fluently. - Experience creating and maintaining security policies, including adapting policies to meet complex regulatory requirements. - Working understanding of complex cloud environments and their impact on security and compliance operations. - Working understanding of financial services or payments. - Experience managing, implementing and monitoring security controls, including preparing for and supporting successful information security audits. - Ability to work independently, manage projects and execute security and compliance tasks with a high degree of autonomy. - Strong communication skills and confidence acting as a regional contact for regulators, customers, partners and vendors.. PREFERRED - Prior experience in the Fintech industry. - Knowledge of security compliance specific to the finance industry or the UAE. - Understanding of financial services and/or payments. - Experience applying AI and automation to compliance, security operations, reporting, or communications. - An industry-leading security degree or certification, such as a BS or MS in Cybersecurity, CISSP, CEH, or CISA. - Experience using project management skills to deliver initiatives without being bound to traditional solutions or methodologies. YOU'LL THRIVE HERE IF - You own the outcome and you don't wait for permission to fix what's broken. - You have a passion for solving the complex challenges of high-growth startups/ scale ups, and for thinking creatively about solved problems. - You're comfortable with ambiguity. Give you a problem, not a prescription, and you'll run with it. - You can execute independently and hold yourself to a high standard even when no one is watching. Quality and accountability aren't external expectations, they're internal ones. - You've operated in a compliance-heavy environment and know how to move fast without cutting the corners that matter. - You enjoy working closely with people across multiple countries and time zones as part of one connected, global team, including flexing your hours occasionally to make that connection work.