Senior Specialist: Regulatory & Compliance

About the role

Cellulant, a payments company with offices in 10 countries and a presence in over 24 countries, is hiring a Senior Specialist: Regulatory & Compliance in Nairobi. The role shapes and executes the compliance and regulatory strategy across Africa, safeguarding the company's licence to operate and engaging proactively with regulators, with a strategic focus on Kenya. It sits at the intersection of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Operations.

Key responsibilities

• Engage regulators, central banks and industry associations in Kenya and other African markets, and manage licensing, renewals and submissions
• Track regulatory developments and advise leadership on their implications for strategy, products and operations
• Represent Cellulant in industry forums and regulatory consultations
• Design and strengthen the compliance framework covering AML/CFT, consumer protection, data privacy, sanctions and cross-border payments
• Oversee compliance risk assessment and monitoring, and partner with Legal, Product and Technology teams so new products and expansions are compliant-by-design
• Develop policies aligned with FATF, GDPR, ISO and PCI-DSS, and drive governance through Board and Executive reporting
• Mentor compliance professionals and help design compliance training programmes

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Law, Finance, Economics, Business Administration or a related discipline
• 7+ years in compliance, regulatory affairs or legal roles in banking or fintech, with at least 4 years in a regional leadership capacity
• Experience managing multi-jurisdictional compliance frameworks across Africa
• Proven track record leading regulatory engagements and audits with central banks or financial regulators
• Member of a professional body such as ACAMS, ICA, CFE or ACCA

Preferred profile

• Master's degree (LLM, MBA or related)
• Certifications such as CAMS, ICA Advanced Certificate, CAFCA or a data protection supervisor certification
• Experience with RegTech or compliance automation tools, and group-level governance exposure

Required skills

• Strong understanding of Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa regulatory regimes, especially payments, data privacy, AML/CFT and digital banking
• Stakeholder management and negotiation with regulators
• Communication and influence across cultures and seniority levels
• Analytical ability to balance compliance and commercial priorities