Lead Compliance Manager

Motive’s Financial Products team operates a fast-growing commercial lending and spend management program (Motive Card) built on partnerships with issuing banks and card networks. The program already spans the US & Canada with further international expansion planned. We’re hiring a Lead  Compliance Manager to build and own the compliance function for this business end-to-end — from policy development through hands-on execution — as it scales into new products, segments, and markets.

Reporting to the Head of Risk, Financial Products, you will be the senior-most dedicated owner of AML/BSA, sanctions, KYC/KYB, and lending-compliance programs that today are stitched together across Product, Legal, Risk Ops, and Engineering. You will manage the compliance relationship with our issuing bank and network partners across every market we operate in, translate regulatory requirements into policy and control design, and ensure those controls actually operate — not just exist on paper — across a multi-geography, multi-partner program. As Motive enters new markets, you will define what compliance needs to look like there before launch, not after.

What You'll Do:

• Own and maintain Motive’s AML/BSA, Sanctions, and KYC/KYB policies and procedures across all markets where Motive operates — today the US & Canada, with more markets on the roadmap — keeping them current with local regulatory requirements and issuing bank/network requirements
• Design, implement, and monitor controls for sanctions and PEP screening, transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity escalation, including named Compliance Officer/Designee responsibilities where required by regulation or bank partners
• Serve as the primary compliance point of contact and relationship owner for issuing bank and card network partners in each market, including compliance reviews, exams, audits, and remediation commitments
• Partner with Risk, Legal, Underwriting, Product, and Engineering to embed lending-compliance requirements into new products and markets before launch
• Lead internal and third-party compliance audits and exams, driving findings to closure and maintaining audit-ready documentation and evidence across all jurisdictions
• Monitor regulatory developments across commercial lending, AML/sanctions, and payments in each market Motive operates or plans to enter, and translate them into actionable policy and control updates
• Build and run the governance structure for the compliance program — reporting, escalation paths, risk committees — giving leadership clear visibility into program health, and establish the playbook for evaluating compliance requirements ahead of entry into any new market
• Build out the compliance function as it scales, including hiring and managing future team members as scope grows

What We're Looking For:

• 8+ years of experience in compliance, audit, or risk management within lending, payments, or financial services, including direct ownership of AML/BSA, KYC/KYB, sanctions, and PEP programs
• Hands-on experience managing compliance relationships with issuing banks, card networks, or other regulated financial partners, including audits and remediation
• Multi-jurisdiction compliance program experience, including Canada and UK/EU required; additional international experience (e.g., Mexico or other Latin American markets) a strong plus
• Working knowledge of the regulatory frameworks governing commercial lending, AML/sanctions, and payments across North America and Europe (e.g., BSA, FinCEN, FINTRAC/PCMLTFA, OFAC sanctions, UK/EU AML and data protection regimes)
• Proven ability to both write policy and operationalize it — building controls, procedures, and monitoring that hold up under audit, not just documentation
• Experience partnering cross-functionally with Legal, Risk, Product, and Engineering to launch compliant products in new markets
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent Motive credibly to external regulators, auditors, and bank partners, and to advise senior leadership on compliance risk

San Francisco, California 163000 - 225000 USD
U.S. metropolitan areas: Los Angeles, San Diego, New York City Area, Seattle, Washington D.C. 142000 - 195000 USD
Other locations in the United States 142000 - 195000 USD