Compliance Officer

About Us

UMO is a stealth-mode FinTech venture aiming to evolve the way people experience money by building a unified, AI-powered, yet deeply human modern money platform across fiat, crypto, and investments - subject to regulatory approvals. The platform is being designed to break down traditional barriers to money across access, assets, and experience, enabling simpler, more adaptive ways for people to interact with financial services. We are currently developing our MVP and navigating licensing requirements, with a multidisciplinary team of 100+ people representing 20+ nationalities. With our headquarters in the UAE and offices in Portugal and Ukraine, we are united behind a shared ambition and a relentless focus on serving our customers.

About this role

As a part of our team, you'll help us shape a platform that works for One — a business owner, an artist, a freelancer. In this role, you will run day-to-day compliance, AML/CFT and sanctions work for UMO in the UAE, reporting to the Chief Compliance Officer & MLRO. You will be close to the business and to our UAE regulators, including Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), and help build a compliance function that works for a regulated, multi-asset money platform from the ground up. We provide the space for you to exercise real ownership, stripping away micromanagement so you can deeply understand the business and turn regulatory rules into practical controls.

You'll take ownership of:

• Compliance Framework: Maintain and update compliance policies, procedures and the risk-control matrix; run second-line monitoring and testing; review new products and changes for compliance impact.
• AML/CFT Operations: Apply KYC and EDD standards, review high-risk customers, investigate transaction-monitoring alerts, and prepare suspicious transaction reports in goAML for the MLRO.
• Sanctions: Run and oversee screening against UAE targeted financial sanctions, UN, OFAC, EU and UK lists, handle potential matches, and advise the business on sanctions questions.
• Regulatory Liaison & Reporting: Support VARA and CBUAE licensing and ongoing obligations, prepare regulatory returns (including FATCA/CRS), respond to regulator requests, and track examination findings and remediation to closure.
• Virtual Asset Compliance: Apply FATF Travel Rule requirements and use blockchain analytics tools (Chainalysis, Elliptic, TRM Labs) to assess wallet and transaction risk.
• Training & Advice: Deliver AML and sanctions training to staff, and give clear, practical compliance advice to Product, Operations and Technology.

About you:

• Experience: 7+ years in financial services compliance, AML/CFT and sanctions, including at least 3 years at a UAE-licensed bank, fintech or virtual asset service provider.
• UAE Regulatory Expertise: Based in the UAE, with hands-on experience working with CBUAE and/or VARA. Exposure to SCA, DFSA (DIFC) or FSRA (ADGM) is a plus.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Working knowledge of the VARA rulebooks, UAE AML/CFT law, goAML, targeted financial sanctions, PDPL and FATCA/CRS.
• Investigations: You take AML, fraud and sanctions cases to a clear, well-documented conclusion.
• Product Knowledge: Exposure to digital banking, payments or fintech business models in the UAE, and an understanding of both conventional banking and virtual assets.
• Education & Certification: A degree in Law, Finance, Criminology or a related field; CAMS certification (or working towards it).
• AI-Native Mindset: Active use of AI tools such as Claude to speed up research, reviews and reporting.
• Languages: Fluent English (required).
• Culture & Communication: Open communication, transparency, mutual team respect, and an ownership mindset.

Can get you a few bonus points:

• International Experience: Compliance experience outside the UAE, such as in Canada, Africa, South America, East Asia or the wider Middle East, and familiarity with regimes like FINTRAC, SFC/HKMA, Japan FSA, Central Bank of Brazil or FIC/FSCA.
• Global Standards: Working knowledge of the FATF Recommendations and Wolfsberg principles.
• Correspondent Banking: Experience with correspondent banking due diligence and international bank relationships.
• Payments & Tokens: Experience with CBUAE stored value, retail payment or Payment Token Services regulation.
• Additional Certifications: ICA diploma or ACAMS CCAS certification.
• Arabic: Spoken and written Arabic.

The UMO Standard:

• Dynamic Work Environment: Vibrant offices and strong local teams across Lisbon, Dubai, Kyiv, and Lviv — with openness to remote for the right fit.
• Rest & Recovery: 24 days of annual leave, dedicated paid sick leave, and observance of Public Holidays to keep you at your best.
• Recharge Week: After your first year with us, enjoy two consecutive 4-day work weeks annually — a built-in reset to help you sustain peak performance for the long run.
• Full Setup: Top-of-the-line hardware and a home office stipend so you can do your best work anywhere.
• Growth Ecosystem: A dedicated learning budget and a clear, accelerated path toward executive-level leadership within the UMO ecosystem.
• Impact & Ownership: Your work directly shapes the product and company direction — not just executes it