Head of Commercial Compliance - Americas

About the Role

Nium is seeking a Head of Commercial Compliance, Americas to serve as the senior Compliance partner to our commercial organization. This role will work closely with Sales, Business Development, Partnerships, Account Management, Product, and Legal to identify regulatory considerations early and enable compliant commercial opportunities across the region. This leader will act as a bridge between the commercial organization and Nium's country compliance teams, ensuring local regulatory considerations are incorporated into commercial strategy and execution.

The successful candidate will provide practical guidance on complex enterprise relationships, particularly platforms and marketplaces that use Nium's solutions to serve their own merchants or customers. This is a commercial advisory role focused on structuring deals, entering new verticals, and supporting responsible growth. The role will also provide compliance guidance for relationships with bank partners, card networks, stablecoin networks, and other payment infrastructure partners.

This role does not directly own regulatory relationships or license-protection responsibilities. However, the successful candidate will bring a deep understanding of these areas and apply that knowledge to provide practical guidance to commercial teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior Compliance advisor to Nium's commercial leadership and go-to-market teams across the Americas.
• Engage early in the sales and business-development process to identify compliance considerations and help structure viable solutions.
• Partner closely with Sales, Business Development, Partnerships, Account Management, Product, Legal, Financial Crime Compliance, and regional Compliance teams.
• Act as the primary bridge between commercial teams and country compliance teams, connecting commercial priorities with local regulatory requirements, risk appetite, and compliance guidance.
• Advise on strategic opportunities involving platforms, marketplaces, enterprise clients, bank partners, and other complex commercial relationships.
• Provide compliance advisory support for the management of relationships with bank partners, card networks, stablecoin networks, and other payment infrastructure partners.
• Evaluate the compliance implications of two-tier business models in which Nium provides payment capabilities to a platform that serves underlying merchants, sellers, or customers.
• Support the development of compliant solutions for new verticals, customer segments, use cases, products, and payment flows.
• Provide practical guidance on AML/CTF, sanctions, KYC/KYB, customer and partner due diligence, acceptable-use requirements, licensing considerations, and payment regulations.
• Participate in customer and partner discussions when senior Compliance involvement is needed to explain Nium's requirements, controls, or proposed solutions.
• Assess higher-risk or nonstandard opportunities and recommend appropriate controls, conditions, or risk-mitigation measures.
• Coordinate the resolution of compliance questions and escalations that could affect commercial negotiations, onboarding, implementation, or launch.
• Help commercial teams understand Nium's risk appetite and identify potential compliance obstacles before significant time or resources are committed.
• Translate regulatory requirements into clear, actionable guidance for commercial and business stakeholders.
• Maintain a deep understanding of Nium's regulatory relationships and license-protection obligations, leveraging that knowledge to guide commercial decisions without directly owning those responsibilities.
• Develop scalable commercial compliance frameworks, playbooks, and decision-making standards for the Americas.
• Identify recurring barriers within the commercial process and partner with relevant teams to improve policies, controls, and workflows.
• Deliver targeted training to Sales, Business Development, Partnerships, Account Management, and other customer-facing teams.
• Provide senior leadership with visibility into material commercial compliance risks, emerging trends, significant decisions, and unresolved issues.
• Represent the Americas within Nium's broader commercial compliance and advisory framework.

Requirements

• 12+ years of progressive experience in compliance, regulatory risk, financial crime, legal, or a related function within payments, fintech, banking, or financial services.
• Significant experience advising commercial, sales, business-development, partnership, or account-management teams.
• Experience supporting or managing compliance matters involving bank partners, card networks, stablecoin networks, or other payment infrastructure partners.
• Strong knowledge of cross-border payments, money movement, payment platforms, bank partnerships, and complex B2B customer relationships.
• Experience supporting platforms, marketplaces, embedded-finance providers, payment facilitators, or other businesses with underlying merchants, sellers, or customers.
• Deep understanding of relevant compliance areas, including AML/CTF, sanctions, KYC/KYB, customer due diligence, licensing, and payments regulation.
• Experience serving as - or working closely with - an MLRO, BSA Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, or country compliance leader.
• Demonstrated ability to connect commercial teams with country compliance, regulatory, or licensing stakeholders in a regional or global organization.
• Demonstrated ability to apply regulatory knowledge to commercial opportunities and develop practical, risk-based solutions.
• Strong understanding of the regulatory environment in the United States, with meaningful exposure to Canada and/or Latin America.
• Experience supporting new products, market expansion, customer onboarding, or complex payment solutions.
• Strong executive presence and the ability to influence senior commercial and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Ability to balance commercial objectives with regulatory obligations and constructively challenge proposed activity when necessary.
• Excellent judgment, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Experience operating within a global, matrixed, and fast-paced organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with enterprise payments, marketplaces, embedded finance, payment APIs, payment facilitation, or banking-as-a-service models.
• Experience supporting large enterprise customers, financial institutions, payment partners, or complex distribution models.
• Familiarity with U.S. money-transmission requirements, FinCEN regulations, OFAC sanctions requirements, and Canadian or Latin American payment regulations.
• Experience engaging directly with external customers, bank partners, auditors, or regulators.
• CAMS, CRCM, legal qualification, or another relevant compliance certification.
• Spanish or Portuguese language capabilities are beneficial but not required.