Senior Licensing Manager

Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 150,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale.

Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 1,800 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$6.2 billion and backed by world-leading investors including Visa, Airtree, Blackbird, Sequoia, DST Global, Greenoaks, Salesforce Ventures, Lone Pine, and Square Peg, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us.

We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.

You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next.

About the team

The Legal, Risk & Compliance (LRC) team at Airwallex is a collaborative group of project owners, legal minds, and risk management experts. We're passionate about driving growth in the global financial system with integrity, growing and safeguarding Airwallex's operations, and fostering a culture of ambition and ethical conduct. We unlock growth opportunities and provide expert guidance and support to all areas of the business, proactively identifying, mitigating, and managing legal and financial risks.

What you’ll do

As part of the Licensing Team, your work will be paramount to driving our ambitious growth plans by unlocking the right to operate in new geographies. You will be working on topics that are truly strategic and top of mind for C-Suite executives: only through our continuously growing set of licenses, we gain the right to operate and the ability to build our global infrastructure. In this role, you will be working closely with the Head of Licensing, senior management, and cross-functional teams to unlock new markets and expand our product offerings across the Americas and beyond.

This is a highly strategic and visible role where your independent thinking, sharp analytical skills, strong project management abilities, and exceptional communication will be critical. You will be instrumental in translating our plans into tangible results, all while managing dynamic environments within a rapidly growing, truly global business.

While part of Airwallex’s legal team, this role does not require a legal background. Instead, we are looking for a strategic thinker and excellent operator to orchestrate these critical company-wide initiatives.

The role is based in San Francisco OR New York City.

Responsibilities

• Design and build the strategic licensing frameworks that serve as the master plan for our entry into new jurisdictions

• Orchestrate and oversee projects involving company-wide internal stakeholders such as Product, Legal, Financial Partnerships, and Commercial teams

• Manage strategy execution end-to-end, from designing operating models and crafting business plans, across preparing government filings, to securing approval for new entities and expanded scope of activities

• Own multiple, cross-functional projects and independently ensure the successful completion of challenging, complex projects

• Spearhead corporate growth through M&A by leading change-of-control processes in support of acquisitions of new entities

• Unlock new commercial frontiers through obtaining licenses in current jurisdictions to expand our permitted scope of activities

• Ensure continuous business stability by overseeing major license renewals

• Build business-critical external relationships by directly engaging with regulators, responding to queries, and responding to feedback on application materials

Who you are

We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory.

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

• A minimum of 4 years of experience in strategy or management consulting, with a proven track record of working on or leading international projects

• Exceptional organizational and project management skills

• Excellent stakeholder management abilities

• Ability to rapidly build cross-functional knowledge and drive discussions with subject matter experts

• Strong writing and communication skills, including the ability to clearly and concisely articulate technical matters

• Experience working in a fast-paced environment

• Experience working and owning projects independently to deliver results

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with banking, financial technology and/or payment businesses

• Experience with licensing applications, particularly payments, banking, or other financial licenses

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters.  Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s).  Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary. If you are approached by someone claiming to represent Airwallex, please verify with our team.

Compensation Range: $160K - $210K