AML/CTF Compliance Officer (MLRO), Australia

Location: Australia resident (Sydney or Melbourne preferred; other AU cities considered) · Full-time · remote-within-AU OK

Entity: HitPay Payment Solutions Pty Ltd - AUSTRAC remittance reporting entity (IND100852288-001)

Parent: HitPay Payment Solutions Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Reports to: Group Head of Compliance (Kok Pin Ong from Oct 2026) for oversight; you are the AUSTRAC-designated AML/CTF compliance officer for the Pty Ltd (group HoC is not the AU named officer)

Level: Mid-career named AML/CTF Compliance Officer (MLRO) - not a group CCO / Head of Compliance seat

About HitPay

HitPay is a full-stack payments platform for SMEs. In Australia we operate through HitPay Payment Solutions Pty Ltd, enrolled with AUSTRAC as a remittance service provider / reporting entity (IND100852288-001). Group licences also include MAS MPI (Singapore), BNM (Malaysia), BSP (Philippines), FinCEN MSB (US), and DIA FSP (New Zealand). Compliance is lean and AI-assisted: automation does first-pass work; humans own the decisions that matter.

The role

You will be designated as the AML/CTF compliance officer for HitPay Payment Solutions Pty Ltd under the AML/CTF Act s26J (and related Rules) - the AUSTRAC-facing named officer for our Australian remittance reporting entity. Market search title is often MLRO; Enrolment and AUSTRAC paperwork use AML/CTF compliance officer - this role is both.

You own the AU AML/CTF program day-to-day: CDD/EDD, monitoring escalations, SMR judgment and filings, AUSTRAC Online / enrolment / ABPF hygiene, training, and management reporting. You report into group Head of Compliance for oversight and consistency with other licences - but you are the AU named officer of record for the Pty Ltd, not a deputy doing paperwork for someone else in Australia.

Australia residency is a hard statutory gate under s26J(3) where designated services are provided at or through an Australian permanent establishment. Overseas remote is not viable for the named seat. Sydney/Melbourne preferred; other Australian cities are considered.

This is a mid-career second-line seat: hands-on financial crime / AML program ownership in payments, remittance, MSB-equivalent, or fintech - ready to be named - not a junior TM analyst, and not an ultra-senior Chief Compliance / empire-building CCO role. AFSL/ACL experience is not required for this remittance RE seat.

What you’ll own

AML/CTF program (Australia)

• Maintain HitPay Australia’s AML/CTF program against the AML/CTF Act and AUSTRAC Rules: CDD/EDD, ongoing CDD, monitoring standards, record-keeping, tipping-off, and staff training.
• Keep AU policies and procedures current; close gaps before an examination finds them.
• Advise Product, Ops, and Sales on AU-specific ML/TF risk for new products, corridors, partners, and customer types.

Named officer / SMRs

• Single escalation point for suspicion from Ops / Financial Crime; evaluate internal escalations.
• Final determination on Suspicious Matter Reports (and other AUSTRAC reports as applicable) with documented rationale - including reasoned decisions not to file.
• Independence to escalate to Group Head of Compliance / CEO / board when needed.

AUSTRAC relationship, enrolment & ABPF

• Day-to-day AUSTRAC engagement for the AU entity: correspondence, RFIs, examinations, and the reporting calendar (including annual compliance reporting and IFTI/TTR as applicable).
• Own AUSTRAC Online enrolment / ABPF hygiene for HitPay Payment Solutions Pty Ltd (officer details, material changes, information requests) - not only SMRs and exams.
• Support fit-and-proper documentation, including a National Police Certificate / NPHC or foreign equivalent issued within 6 months for Enrolment update.
• Keep Australia permanently examination-ready.

Group coordination

• Solid-line oversight from Group Head of Compliance; align AU standards with group frameworks without owning other jurisdictions’ licences as primary.

What you’ll bring (must-have)

• Australia resident (hard statutory gate under s26J(3) if AU permanent establishment - stronger than work rights alone).

• 4-8 years (approx.) hands-on AML/CTF in remittance, payments, fintech, or MSB-equivalent - not only bank retail KYC ops.

• Willing to be the named AML/CTF compliance officer on AUSTRAC Enrolment for HitPay Payment Solutions Pty Ltd and to provide a National Police Certificate / NPHC or foreign equivalent issued within 6 months for fit-and-proper / ABPF update.
• Hands-on SMR (or STR) drafting and decisioning - can defend file-or-not in writing.
• Working knowledge of the AML/CTF Act, AUSTRAC Rules/guidance, and AU typologies (scams, mules, remittance misuse).
• Management-level authority in practice: escalate, influence product/ops, report to management/board.
• Clear written judgment; documentation-first habit.
• Existing right to work in Australia.

Nice to have

• Prior named MLRO / AML CO on an AUSTRAC remittance or payments reporting entity.
• Prior AUSTRAC RFI / enrolment remediation experience.
• Remittance corridors / cross-border / PayTo-adjacent familiarity.
• CAMS or AU equivalent.
• Sanctions/screening tooling; TM calibration with ops/eng.
• Exposure to multi-entity group models (reporting into regional HoC).

Hard skips

• Not (and will not be) an Australia resident / no path to AU residency for designation.
• Unwilling to be named on Enrolment or to complete police-check / fit-and-proper process.
• Pure policy/advisory only - never filed SMRs or run an RE program.
• Pure first-line TM / investigator IC with no program or filing ownership.
• Only unrelated-sector AML with no payments/remittance transferability.
• Demands CCO / board seat / “build a 20-person org” for this mid-career named-officer seat.
• Treating AFSL Responsible Manager / ACL credit as the core of the seat (out of scope unless product expands).

Interview

Founder + compliance screen → AML/AUSTRAC case discussion (program + SMR judgment + fit-and-proper) → offer.

Founder + compliance screen, then AML/AUSTRAC case discussion (program + SMR judgment + fit-and-proper), then offer.