Job Overview
We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Head of Compliance to lead the Compliance function at Atome Financial. This role is deeply embedded within the business and will partner closely with senior leadership to support Atome Financial's continued growth across Southeast Asia's rapidly evolving consumer finance and fintech landscape.
The successful candidate must be comfortable operating in a fast-moving, high-growth environment where regulatory frameworks, products, and commercial priorities continue to evolve in parallel. This role requires strong judgment, pragmatism, and the ability to balance regulatory compliance with business execution across multiple jurisdictions.
This is a highly operational leadership role requiring active engagement with teams, regulators, stakeholders, and live business issues on a daily basis. The successful candidate must be comfortable managing through ambiguity, handling escalations directly, and operating effectively in high-pressure situations requiring rapid coordination across functions and jurisdictions.
The role will oversee Atome Financial's regional Compliance organisation, including a team of approximately 17 Compliance professionals across regulatory compliance and product compliance functions throughout the region.
This role will report directly to the Group Chief Compliance Officer and work closely with Atome Financial senior leadership, Legal, Risk, Product, Operations, AML, and Group stakeholders across the organisation.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as the principal Compliance advisor to Atome Financial senior leadership, while partnering closely with Group Compliance, Legal, and Policy leadership on regional regulatory, governance, and compliance matters.
- Lead and manage the regional Compliance organisation across Atome Financial's operating markets, including oversight of approximately 17 Compliance professionals spanning regulatory compliance and product compliance functions.
- Build and maintain scalable compliance frameworks appropriate for a fast-growing regulated financial institution operating across multiple jurisdictions.
- Operate as a highly engaged and hands-on leader within the Compliance organisation, actively supporting teams through escalations, regulatory issues, operational challenges, and fast-moving business initiatives rather than managing at a distance.
- Partner extremely closely with Legal and business teams across the Group to ensure coordinated, commercially pragmatic, and regulatorily sound approaches to complex business, regulatory, and governance matters.
- Oversee regulatory compliance programs relating to consumer lending, payments, AML/CFT, conduct, outsourcing, complaints handling, consumer protection, and related financial services obligations.
- Support licensing activities, regulatory approvals, examinations, audits, inspections, and ongoing supervisory engagement across regional markets.
- Drive strong execution and operational discipline across compliance monitoring, issue remediation, governance, reporting, and escalation processes.
- Work closely with AML and operational teams to strengthen AML/CFT controls, transaction monitoring, screening, onboarding governance, investigations, and suspicious transaction reporting processes.
- Support new product launches, partnerships, embedded finance initiatives, and regional expansion activities by providing practical, risk-calibrated compliance guidance.
- Maintain oversight of regulatory developments and emerging compliance risks impacting Atome Financial's businesses and operating model.
- Partner closely with Group leadership to promote consistent compliance standards, governance expectations, and escalation frameworks across jurisdictions.
- Act as a trusted senior partner to the Group Chief Compliance Officer and broader leadership team in navigating evolving regulatory, operational, and strategic challenges across the business.
- Foster and maintain a strong team culture built around collaboration, responsiveness, accountability, sound judgment, and commercial pragmatism.
Requirements
Technical Skills & Experience
- Approximately 12+ years of Compliance, AML/CFT, regulatory, or financial crime experience within financial services, fintech, digital banking, lending, payments, or related regulated industries.
- Strong knowledge of consumer finance regulation, digital lending, BNPL, payments regulation, and AML/CFT frameworks across one or more Southeast Asian markets.
- Significant experience engaging with financial services regulators, including licensing applications, regulatory inquiries, examinations, supervisory engagement, and remediation programs.
- Experience managing regional or multi-country Compliance teams within a fast-paced regulated environment.
- Strong operational understanding of AML/CFT controls, onboarding governance, transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, suspicious transaction reporting, and compliance operations.
- Regional experience across Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
- Experience managing and developing teams, including senior Compliance personnel and country Compliance Officers.
- Experience working closely with Product, Operations, Risk, Legal, and business leadership teams in commercially driven environments.
Soft Skills
- Strong execution mindset with willingness to operate in a highly hands-on manner alongside teams during periods of pressure, escalation, or rapid business change.
- Calm, mature, and solutions-oriented under pressure, with the ability to make sound decisions in fast-moving and ambiguous situations.
- Strong interpersonal judgment and ability to build trusted relationships with senior leadership, regulators, and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Highly collaborative and team-oriented, with strong partnership instincts particularly across Compliance, Legal, Risk, Product, and business functions.
- Proven ability to lead and motivate strong existing teams while maintaining a collegial, accountable, and high-performing culture.
- Commercially pragmatic with the ability to balance regulatory obligations against operational and business realities.
- Confident communicator capable of translating complex regulatory issues for senior business stakeholders including CEO, CFO, and Board-level audiences.
- High integrity, sound judgment, resilience, and comfort navigating regulatory ambiguity in emerging markets.
