Regulatory Compliance Manager

As a Regulatory Compliance Manager at VALR, you research complex financial services laws globally and translate them into concrete legal strategies that enable the exchange to operate compliantly across multiple jurisdictions. You work closely with Product, Engineering and executive leadership to assess regulatory risk, draft legal opinions, and keep VALR ahead of fast-evolving crypto and financial services regulation.

What you'll do

• Research complex financial services laws globally, including payment frameworks, data privacy and crypto, virtual and digital asset regulation.
• Draft clear legal opinions and risk assessments on how existing and emerging laws apply to current operations and new products, covering product viability, licensing thresholds and multi-country operational risk.
• Analyse ambiguous or fast-evolving laws and turn them into concrete legal strategies for product design.
• Translate legal findings into practical, plain-language guidance for Product, Engineering and other non-legal teams.
• Track bills, consultation papers and updates from financial regulators, central banks and government bodies.
• Identify regulatory shifts early and assess their strategic and operational impact on VALR.
• Prepare regular horizon-scanning reports and briefs for executive leadership to inform long-term strategy.
• Draft and coordinate VALR's responses to regulatory consultations and industry comment submissions.
• Develop, record and manage Compliance Risk Management Plans (CRMPs) for the VALR Group.
• Support engagement with regulators including the FSCA, FIC, CIMA, MFSA, CMA and CBK on information requests, regulatory returns and licence conditions.
• Support regulatory inspections, audits and inquiries by compiling sound documentation and compliance records.
• Update compliance policies, frameworks and procedures to reflect newly enacted laws and regulations, and track their implementation across the business.
• Train internal teams on upcoming regulatory changes to build a strong culture of compliance.

What you bring

• At least 5 years' legal and/or compliance experience, preferably at a crypto asset service provider, fintech, tech-focused financial institution or the financial services practice of a top-tier law firm.
• A Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree or equivalent legal qualification.
• Strong knowledge of financial services regulation relevant to VALR, including crypto asset and VASP regulation, digital payments, banking-as-a-service, open banking, AML/CFT and data protection laws.
• Proven track record of drafting formal legal opinions that balance legal compliance with business agility.
• Exceptional research skills using legal databases and primary regulatory sources to uncover nuanced legal positions.
• Ability to analyse ambiguous, newly drafted or fast-evolving regulation and extract concrete business impacts.

Nice to have

• A professional compliance certification through the Compliance Institute Southern Africa or an international equivalent.
• Experience across VALR's jurisdictions and regulators: South Africa (FSCA, FIC), Kenya (CMA, CBK), Malta (MFSA) and the Cayman Islands (CIMA).

What we offer

• Competitive salary aligned with industry standards, plus discretionary bonuses recognising your impact on VALR's growth.
• Annual professional development allowance alongside scheduled company training sessions.
• Preferential Tier 5 trading fees on VALR with no monthly trading volume required.
• Work from anywhere with secure, stable internet connectivity.
• Flexible leave options in addition to statutory leave required by your country.
• Lunch provided when working from our Johannesburg Head Office.
• Mac laptop and a discretionary allowance for home office equipment, yours to keep after three years.

About VALR

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Johannesburg, VALR is a global crypto exchange backed by Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Fidelity's F-Prime Capital. Licensed by South Africa's FSCA with regulatory approval in Europe, VALR serves over 1.7 million registered users and 2,000 corporate and institutional clients, offering Spot Trading, Spot Margin, Perpetual Futures, Staking, Lending, Borrowing, OTC services, VALR Invest, Crypto Bundles and VALR Pay.