Principal – Compliance & Regulatory Lead

About the role

The Principal: Compliance & Regulatory will act as Cellulant’s regulatory authority in Ghana, ensuring stability in high‑intensity enforcement environments while supporting disciplined expansion across common‑law and civil‑law jurisdictions. The role blends regulatory engagement, multi‑jurisdiction harmonisation, and business‑enabling compliance architecture.

Key responsibilities

• Build and maintain high‑frequency engagement models with central banks, financial intelligence units and sector regulators, leading pre‑consultations for new products.
• Design regulatory roadmaps for new country entries, lead end‑to‑end licensing applications and provide “grey‑space” risk analyses for the Executive Committee.
• Localise Group AML/CFT, data‑protection, safeguarding and outsourcing frameworks, conduct periodic compliance health checks and own the regional reporting calendar.
• Participate in early product design forums, review cross‑border settlement models and approve compliance positioning for pilots and phased rollouts.
• Maintain a regulatory change tracker, conduct impact assessments for new directives, and develop crisis playbooks for license suspensions or investigations.

Required profile

• 8–10+ years in regulatory affairs, legal or compliance within fintech, payments or banking.
• Proven experience securing PSP or equivalent licences in East Africa and engaging with central banks such as the Central Bank of Kenya.
• Strong understanding of AML/CFT, data‑protection and payments regulation.
• Degree in Law, Finance or related field; professional certifications (CAMS, ICA) preferred.
• Demonstrated regulatory diplomacy, structured risk assessment and executive‑level advisory capability.

What we offer

• Competitive, performance‑based compensation benchmarked against market data.
• Clear career levels and role titles with transparent progression paths.
• Generous personal time off and medical & life insurance benefits (where permitted).
• Opportunity to shape regulatory strategy for a leading African payments platform.