Compliance Officer, Payments & Digital Assets at Paystack

Company: Paystack | Job Title: Compliance Officer, Payments & Digital Assets | Location: Lagos | Employment Type: Full-time (Remote)

Paystack is a technology company that provides payment solutions for ambitious businesses. Its mission is to help merchants across Africa receive payments from customers anywhere in the world. The company’s modern payments gateway is used by thousands of businesses in Nigeria and other African markets.

About the Role

Paystack is seeking an experienced Compliance Officer with knowledge of payment systems, cross-border flows and digital asset infrastructure, particularly as they relate to AML/CFT/CPF and regulatory requirements.

The successful candidate will support and build the operational compliance infrastructure as Paystack expands into cross-border and stablecoin-powered money movement. The role sits at the intersection of traditional payment processing and emerging stablecoin infrastructure.

The officer will own four interconnected areas: merchant onboarding compliance and KYB/KYC operations, FSCA CASP and FICA compliance for the South African entity, Travel Rule implementation, and transaction monitoring across multi-corridor stablecoin and fiat flows.

The role will involve close collaboration with Product, Engineering, Legal and licensed partners to ensure that the compliance programme is operationally executable and regulatory defensible.

This Role Is Right for You If

• You have worked in a regulated financial services environment dealing with virtual assets.
• You are comfortable building compliance processes, writing SOPs, designing monitoring frameworks and configuring compliance tools.
• You understand how stablecoins, virtual assets and cross-border payment rails interact with AML/CFT obligations.
• You can engage credibly with regulators, licensed partners and auditors.

What You Will Own

Merchant Onboarding Compliance and KYB/KYC Operations

• Own the KYB/KYC programme for business merchants across different tiers, including Enhanced Due Diligence.
• Manage and continuously refine merchant onboarding workflows across different jurisdictions and licensed entities.
• Conduct and sign off on KYB reviews, periodic client reviews, risk assessments and EDD assessments, including reviews of multi-jurisdictional merchants, complex ownership structures and offshore holding arrangements.
• Develop and maintain operational SOPs, checklists and decision frameworks used by the compliance team.
• Manage compliance screening and verification tools, including configuration, escalation paths and quality assurance.
• Define and track compliance SLAs.

FSCA CASP Compliance, South Africa

• Own the operational implementation of the South African CASP entity’s FICA compliance programme.
• Design and document the CASP’s FICA CDD process, including KYB data ingestion, independent CASP-level validation and FICA sign-off.
• Ensure the CASP operates as an independently defensible accountable institution under FICA.
• Maintain POPIA-compliant data-handling procedures for South African merchant KYB data flowing between CASP and GS platform systems.
• Manage the CASP’s FIC reporting obligations, including suspicious activity reports, cash threshold reports and other regulatory submissions.
• Prepare the CASP for FSCA supervisory engagement, maintain records, respond to regulatory queries and ensure the programme remains audit-ready.

Travel Rule Implementation

• Own the end-to-end implementation of Travel Rule compliance for Global Stack’s VASP-to-VASP transfers.
• Assess applicable thresholds, counterparty identification and data transmission requirements across jurisdictions.
• Evaluate and implement a Travel Rule solution such as Notabene, Sygna or an equivalent platform.
• Coordinate vendor selection and technical integration with Product and Engineering teams.
• Define the operational playbook for Travel Rule compliance, including data collection, transmission, counterparty VASP verification, exceptions and unhosted wallet transactions.
• Monitor regulatory developments across relevant markets and international frameworks, including FATF and the EU TFR.
• Coordinate with licensed partners on Travel Rule data-sharing obligations.
• Develop a framework for Counterparty Risk Assessment and data privacy during PII transmission.

Transaction Monitoring

• Design and operate the transaction monitoring framework for multi-corridor stablecoin and fiat payment flows covering on-ramp, FX conversion, USD/USDC custody and off-ramp payouts.
• Configure and manage monitoring rules, including volume-based triggers, corridor anomalies, structuring patterns, geographic drift and nested account behaviour.
• Reconcile KYC data with on-chain transactions to identify nested activities or potentially illegal flows.
• Conduct daily alert triage, investigate flagged transactions and make or escalate SAR filing decisions.
• Develop operational procedures for monitoring heterogeneous payment rails and understanding the compliance implications of stablecoin settlement, USDC custody flows and fiat off-ramp disbursements.
• Calibrate monitoring rules to reduce false positives without compromising detection.
• Produce regular transaction monitoring performance reports for senior leadership.
• Coordinate with partners on shared client monitoring obligations and suspicious activity reporting.

Compliance Programme Management

• Own and maintain the Global Stack KYB/AML Programme document and Operational Playbook.
• Update compliance documentation as regulations, products and partner requirements evolve.
• Build and maintain a regulatory matrix tracking the compliance status of Global Stack activities in each market.
• Flag regulatory changes requiring legal review or programme updates.
• Support legal counsel with jurisdiction-specific regulatory engagements.
• Support internal audits, external regulatory reviews and partner compliance assessments.
• Support the governance cadence, including quarterly KYB programme reviews, annual partner compliance audits and FATF plenary updates to restricted jurisdiction lists.

Payments and Financial Crime Controls

• Manage complex onboarding involving high-risk merchant KYB/EDD assessments, including complex ownership structures and offshore holding companies.
• Centralise communication with Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and oversee the triage and filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs).
• Proactively audit processes and coordinate regulatory examinations across different jurisdictions to identify and mitigate potential risks.

Requirements

• Minimum of 7 years’ compliance operations experience in a regulated financial services environment, including payments, fintech, crypto/VASP or banking.
• Direct, hands-on experience implementing AML/CFT programmes, including writing SOPs, configuring monitoring tools and filing SARs.
• Working knowledge of FSCA CASP regulation and FICA compliance obligations, or demonstrable experience with an equivalent VASP/crypto regulatory regime such as EU MiCA, UK FCA, US FinCEN or Canada FINTRAC.
• Experience with transaction monitoring in crypto, stablecoin or cross-border payments environments.
• Understanding of blockchain transactions, USDC flows and fiat payment rails and their different monitoring requirements.
• Familiarity with Travel Rule requirements, FATF Recommendation 16, VASP-to-VASP transfer obligations and at least one Travel Rule solution.
• Experience conducting KYB/EDD reviews for business clients, including multi-jurisdiction operations, offshore holding companies and fintech clients with end-user distribution.
• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to produce compliance documentation for regulators, partners and auditors.

Strongly Preferred

• Experience in a multi-jurisdiction African compliance environment, particularly Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya or Ghana.
• Practical experience with Sumsub, Chainalysis, Elliptic or equivalent KYC/blockchain analytics tools.
• Exposure to stablecoin infrastructure, including USDC settlement, USD custody and stablecoin-to-fiat conversion.
• Experience building compliance programmes within an early-stage or scaling fintech environment.
• CAMS, ICA or equivalent professional compliance qualification.

What This Role Is Not

• This role is not primarily focused on card network compliance, chargeback management or consumer dispute resolution.
• It is not primarily a policy-writing role.
• It is not designed for someone who needs a mature team and established processes to be effective.
• The successful candidate will need a builder’s mindset, deep compliance expertise and the credibility to engage with regulators and cross-functional stakeholders.

Why This Role

• Be the first dedicated compliance operations hire for a product at the forefront of stablecoin-powered global payments.
• Have direct access to senior leadership and influence how the compliance programme is designed and resourced.
• Build an FSCA CASP compliance programme and gain hands-on experience in one of Africa’s active VASP regulatory environments.
• Work closely with licensed infrastructure partners and local payout providers across multiple markets.
• Benefit from competitive compensation and opportunities for professional growth.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package and benefits.
• 13th-month bonus.
• TSG equity compensation.
• Full medical coverage.
• Wellbeing stipend.
• Generous leave and sabbatical policies.
• Hybrid working environment.
• Smart and supportive colleagues invested in your growth.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should click here to apply online.

Application Closing Date: Not Specified