Building the Future of Crypto

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Kraken is a mission-focused company rooted in crypto values. As a Krakenite, you’ll join us on our mission to accelerate the global adoption of crypto, so that everyone can achieve financial freedom and inclusion. For over a decade, Kraken’s focus on our mission and crypto ethos has attracted many of the most talented crypto experts in the world.

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As a fully remote company, we have Krakenites in 70+ countries who speak over 50 languages. Krakenites are industry pioneers who develop premium crypto products for experienced traders, institutions, and newcomers to the space. Kraken is committed to industry-leading security, crypto education, and world-class client support through our products like Kraken Pro, Desktop, Wallet, and Kraken Futures.

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The team

Payward is seeking a Head of Global Capital Markets Compliance to lead the governance, oversight, and integrity of trading and market activities across its global exchange, broker, and capital markets operations spanning securities and crypto markets. The position offers the opportunity to shape the evolution of global digital asset market structure and capital markets infrastructure within a rapidly developing regulatory landscape.

The role reports to the Global Chief Compliance Officer, with responsibility for providing clear oversight, escalation, and subject matter leadership across trading and market integrity globally.

This role has primary responsibility for regulated entities and trading venue obligations, while operating with a global remit across the U.S., EU, Asia, LATAM, Canada, emerging markets, and other international jurisdictions.

You will act as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to senior leadership, playing an integral role in shaping Payward’s global trading, market structure, and capital markets strategy. This is a senior, accountable second-line leadership role, responsible for ensuring robust regulatory alignment while enabling business growth and expansion.

This person will ensure the capital markets compliance program remains risk-based, scalable, and defensible across all jurisdictions in which Payward operates. The position works closely with Regional Compliance Officers, Legal, product and engineering teams, and operational stakeholders to ensure frameworks are operationally executable and aligned with evolving regulatory expectations.

The right person must be a “systems thinker” who deploys technology solutions including automation of everything possible consistent with regulatory requirements to scale the capital markets Compliance program as a risk based, operationally effective, data driven machine.

This is suited to a high-caliber compliance leader with deep expertise in market structure and trading regulation, capable of operating at the intersection of regulation, product, and global business strategy in a fast moving environment.

The opportunity

Lead the design and integration of a firmwide markets compliance framework, developing and maintaining a comprehensive understanding of the firm’s evolving capital markets ecosystem, including the interdependencies between trading venues, liquidity provision, custody, and listings, and ensuring a consistent, auditable approach to market structure, conflicts of interest, and market integrity across products, entities, and jurisdictions.

Global Capital Markets Compliance Leadership

• Own compliance coverage across global capital markets activities, including:

  • Trading venues and exchange operations

  • Broker and OTC trading

  • OTC Derivatives

  • Spot markets (digital assets and securities)

  • Tokenization and digital securities

  • Listings and issuer-related processes

• Provide strategic oversight of market structure, trading conduct, and capital markets frameworks

• Act as compliance lead supporting trading venue development, including alignment with FCA expectations for MTFs and similar market infrastructures

• Lead and develop a global Markets Compliance team, providing direction, oversight, and prioritization across regional and functional coverage

• Partner closely with Enterprise Risk and Market Risk functions to ensure integrated oversight of market, liquidity, and conduct risks across the firm.

Strategic Advisory & Business Partnership

• Act as a trusted advisor to leadership on trading, market structure, and capital markets strategy

• Provide commercially aligned guidance to support product innovation and global expansion

• Play a key role in business structuring decisions, including entity design, operating models, and jurisdictional expansion

• Ensure regulatory considerations are embedded in strategic planning, product development, and market expansion

Entity-Level Governance & Regulatory Oversight

• Lead and oversee entity-level compliance frameworks across regulated entities

• Ensure appropriate governance, escalation, and control frameworks for trading and market conduct

• Provide independent second-line challenge to trading and capital markets activities

• Manage regulators including CBI, FCA, SEC, CFTC, and other global authorities

• Ensure appropriate compliance resourcing and expertise supporting regulated activities

Market Integrity & Surveillance Oversight

• Oversee market abuse and trading conduct risk global frameworks including:

  • Market manipulation

  • Insider trading

  • Spoofing and layering

  • Wash trading

  • Conflicts of interest

• Ensure surveillance and monitoring frameworks remain aligned with evolving regulatory expectations

• Oversee continued enhancement of surveillance governance and regulatory reporting frameworks, including emerging European requirements

• Review thematic trends and surveillance outputs to drive control improvements and risk identification

• Maintain oversight of escalation and governance processes relating to market abuse

Regulatory Frameworks & Global Coverage

Ensure compliance across key regimes, including:

• Europe / UK: MiFID II / MAR (market conduct and surveillance), MiCA (market abuse in crypto-assets). FCA trading venue frameworks (including MTF expectations), Engagement with Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and FCA

• United States: SEC, CFTC, NFA

• Global: VARA (UAE), MAS (Singapore), BMA / DABA (Bermuda), CIRO / UMIR (Canada)

  • Support expansion into emerging markets, ensuring scalable and consistent compliance frameworks

Product, Listings & Market Development

• Lead compliance input into:

  • New trading products and market structures

  • Tokenization and digital securities

  • Listings and issuer frameworks

• Ensure market integrity, disclosure, and regulatory controls are embedded from inception

Conflicts of Interest, Information Barriers, Internal Investigations

• Manage conflicts of interest globally including vendor solutions

• Oversee and maintain information barriers including wall crossing procedures

• Lead internal investigations working closely with Employee Relations

Skills you should HODL

• 10+ years in markets, trading, or capital markets compliance

• Senior leadership roles within exchanges, broker-dealers, or trading platforms

• Deep expertise in MiCA, MiFID II / MAR, FCA trading venue / MTF frameworks

• Strong working knowledge of SEC / CFTC / NFA & global regulatory environments across APAC, Middle East, and emerging markets

• Strong understanding of order book dynamics, trading mechanics, market microstructure, capital markets lifecycle (including listings), information barriers to manage price sensitive information

• Familiarity with surveillance technologies and data-driven monitoring frameworks

• Proven ability to lead global compliance programs

• Ability to operate as a senior advisor and influence executive stakeholders

• Experience managing complex, multi-jurisdictional regulatory environments

• Strong background in:

  • Trading venues/market infrastructure

  • Market structure

  • Market abuse frameworks

  • Conflicts management

  • Information barriers to manage material nonpublic information

Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Kraken is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate all Krakenites for their diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions and unique perspectives. We hire strictly based on merit, meaning we seek out the candidates with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills considered the most suitable for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgable about crypto!

We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments are designed to evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Assessment results are considered alongside other relevant information, such as experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.

As an equal opportunity employer, we don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind. Whether that’s based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state or local laws.

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