Regulatory Counsel, EMEA

About Airwallex Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 676,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own. We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full. About the team Airwallex’s Regulatory Legal team is a high‑impact, collaborative group that plays a central role in enabling our expansion and success across the regions we’re present in. We support Airwallex’s continued growth by providing expert legal guidance on regulatory matters, partnering closely with Product Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Financial Crime Compliance, and other teams to deliver innovative financial products compliantly and at scale. This is a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment where you’ll work alongside committed colleagues, engage in strategic projects with global reach, and have direct influence on business-critical decisions. We value curiosity, ownership, and the ambition to drive outcomes in a complex, ever-evolving regulatory landscape. What you’ll do You will be based in London or Amsterdam , with responsibility for regulatory legal support across EMEA , with a particular focus on the EU/EEA regulatory framework. Experience with the UK payments regime is also desirable. This role will focus on advising on complex regulatory issues relating to payments services in Europe, including licensing, pasporting, conduct and prudential requirements, and supporting cross‑border product launches. You will support the build‑out and maintenance of our licensing and registration portfolio in EMEA by advising on regulatory requirements, legal risk and licensing implications, and by partnering closely with Regulatory Compliance, Global Expansion & Licensing Strategy and other control functions. You will be a valuable member of the global legal and compliance team and will have the opportunity to support a rapidly growing business and the management team to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. This dynamic role is ideal for someone who enjoys wearing multiple hats and solving complex issues and blockers for our clients, is detail‑oriented, willing to take on challenges and changes, obsessively curious and intellectually honest, thrives on taking actions and delivering impactful results, and aims to inspire and be inspired. Responsibilities Be responsible for handling regulatory legal issues relating to our business in EMEA, with a focus on EU/EEA markets, and for providing strategic advice to cross‑functional stakeholders relating to existing licences/registrations, passporting, branch structures and potential future licence applications in the region. Monitor, report, and analyse trends and developments in payments and financial services regulation in Europe (e.g. PSD2/PSD3, EMI regimes, AML/CTF), actively identifying and anticipating changes that may impact business operations or strategic objectives. Partner closely with Product Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Risk and Financial Crime Compliance teams to advise on applicable EU, EEA and local laws and regulations, and to embed regulatory requirements into product design and operations. Support local and global Product, Strategy, and Management teams and regional Commercial teams on new ma