Senior Compliance Manager

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Compliance Manager to join Lean and build the compliance framework for a strategic new offering focused on stablecoin-based payments infrastructure. Reporting to the Chief Legal Officer, you will play a critical role in ensuring the product is developed and scaled in line with regulatory standards across multiple jurisdictions. This is a hands-on and strategic role where you will partner closely with leadership, legal, product, and commercial teams to embed compliance into every stage of development and rollout.

About Lean

Lean is the leading financial infrastructure provider in the Middle East. We power some of the region’s largest companies with APIs that enable payments, account verification, financial data access, and other critical financial infrastructure.

What started as the region’s pioneering Open Banking platform and quickly became the de facto leader in account aggregation and payment initiation in the region is now becoming something bigger: a multi-product infrastructure company powering payments, data, and lending across MENA.

We’ve processed billions of dollars in transactions. We’re trusted by 350+ clients - from Binance and Careem to Etisalat - and backed by General Catalyst, Sequoia, and Shorooq. Our $67.5M Series B was just the beginning. We’re expanding into new markets, opening offices, acquiring businesses, and building capabilities that didn’t exist here before.

Responsibilities

• Develop and update compliance policies and procedures in line with applicable rules and industry best practices
• Prepare and execute a compliance monitoring plan to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements
• Conduct periodic compliance training and awareness sessions for employees and management
• Act as liaison with regulators on compliance related matters
• Ensure compliance with reporting obligations and communicate relevant regulatory directives and circulars internally
• Maintain monitoring processes to identify, report, and address compliance breaches
• Record and escalate breaches to senior management, the Board, and regulators where required
• Conduct compliance reviews and submit findings to senior stakeholders and regulators
• Conduct compliance risk assessments and advise on mitigation strategies
• Monitor regulatory developments in financial services and translate them into operational requirements
• Collaborate with the Legal Counsel to ensure compliance and legal functions are aligned
• Foster a culture of accountability and transparency through training and awareness initiatives
• Lead compliance workstreams for product launches, partnerships, and market entries

MLRO Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain AML policies and procedures that meet evolving regulatory requirements
• Conduct AML risk assessments and identify key risk areas
• Oversee client onboarding and due diligence processes, ensuring appropriate risk ratings and file reviews
• Support background checks and screening processes
• Act as the main point of contact with regulators on AML matters
• Receive, assess, and escalate suspicious activity reports (SARs/STRs) and file reports with relevant authorities when required
• Provide AML training to staff and ensure new directives and sanctions are communicated internally
• Conduct semi-annual AML assessments and report findings to senior management and regulators

What we’re looking for

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in compliance, at least 3 years spent in the crypto/digital asset space
• Strong expertise in AML, KYC, sanctions, and transaction monitoring frameworks
• Experience engaging regulators, auditors, and financial institutions at a senior level
• Ability to operationalize compliance in a fast-growing business
• An analytical, pragmatic, and commercially aware approach
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with a keen eye for detail
• Self-motivated, detail-oriented, and adaptable in a fast-paced environment

NB. While we think the above experience could be important, we’re keen to hear from people that believe they have valuable experience to bring to the role. If you identify with the team and mission, but not all of our requirements, then please still apply!!

Why Join us?

We’re building the financial infrastructure for MENA. Not as a slogan, as a fact.

Since 2019, we’ve become the first regulated Open Banking and Open Finance company operating across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. We’ve processed billions of dollars. We connect millions of accounts. We enable companies like Binance, Careem, and Etisalat to build products that were previously impossible in this region.

Our recent $67.5M Series B from General Catalyst and Sequoia isn’t just validation: it’s fuel. We’re expanding into new markets, launching new products, and setting the pace for what financial innovation looks like in MENA.

We solve hard problems. We move fast. We hold ourselves to a high standard. And we’re looking for people who’ve done this before to help us do it right.

If you’re motivated by building something that lasts, not just something that scales, Lean is where you need to be.

Not only do we offer competitive salaries, private healthcare, and flexible office hours, but we also insist that every member of the team hold a meaningful equity stake in the business to ensure long-term alignment. We'd love you to join us for this journey!

Lean is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

When applying for a job at Lean Technologies, we will need to collect, use and share Personal Data about you with different members of our team during the application process. This may mean transferring your data to members of the team in one of our office locations worldwide outside of the country you are in. Please refer to our Privacy Notice on our website for more information about how we may use and store your Personal Data