Senior Manager, Strategy & Operations (6-month FTC)

ABOUT AIRWALLEX 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 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, 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 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, 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.   ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE 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 https://www.airwallex.com/us/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 Regulatory & Compliance team helps Airwallex grow responsibly as a global financial platform. Operating within the Strategy & Operations Office of Regulatory & Compliance, we serve as the central strategic engine driving group-wide transformation, regulatory growth, and operational scaling. We work at the intersection of business strategy, regulatory requirements, technology, and execution. It’s a team for structured, highly analytical, and commercially minded problem-solvers who thrive on tackling complex, high-stakes challenges in a fast-moving, hyper-growth environment. What you’ll do This is a high-visibility, group-wide role within the Regulatory & Compliance Strategy & Operations Office, responsible for shaping and executing Airwallex’s strategic priorities globally. Reporting to the Head of Strategy & Operations (Regulatory & Compliance), you will own and drive critical strategic initiatives—from global market expansion and operating model redesigns to cutting-edge AI and automation initiatives across compliance workflows. As an ex-strategy consultant, you will bring rigorous problem-solving, structured frameworks, and executive-level stakeholder management to bridge the gap between high-level regulatory strategy and operational execution. You will partner closely with Global Leadership, Product, Engineering, Risk, and Regional Operations to ensure our regulatory infrastructure scales efficiently alongside our business expansion. Note: This is a 6-month fixed-term contract role, with the possibility of becoming permanent, subject to business needs. Candidates must be available to start immediately. Responsibilities: - Strategic Project Leadership: Own and drive end-to-end execution of group-wide strategic projects, including new market expansion strategies, global regulatory licensing roadmaps, and cross-functional operating model redesigns. - Compliance Transformation & Automation: Partner with Product, Data Science, and Engineering to identify, architect, and deploy AI-driven tools, automation workflows, and scalable tech infrastructure across regulatory and compliance operations. - Operating Model & Strategy Architecture: Diagnose operational bottlenecks and design modern, scalable 1LOD/2LOD interaction models, governance structures, and global compliance frameworks. - Executive & Group-Wide Alignment: Act as a trusted strategic advisor to senior leadership, preparing board-level presentations, strategic business cases, and quantitative decision frameworks for the Chief Regulatory & Compliance Officer and Global Executive Team. - Cross-Functional Execution: Mobilize matrixed project teams across Legal, Compliance, Product, Engineering, Finance, and Operations to deliver high-priority strategic mandates on time and within budget. - Performance & Metrics Governance: Define, track, and optimize key strategic metrics, operational efficiency benchmarks, and ROI on major compliance transformation investments. Who you are You have a 'founder's mentality'—you are equally comfortable debating high-level strategy with the C-suite as you are rolling up your sleeves to build a new process from scratch. Minimum qualifications: - 6–8+ years of total professional experience, with a minimum of 4+ years at a top-tier strategy consulting firm. - Demonstrated experience delivering strategic projects within financial services, global payments, fintech, or technology platforms. - Exceptional problem-solving skills, with a proven ability to structure ambiguous strategic questions into clear hypotheses, analytical frameworks, and operational roadmaps. - Strong quantitative and analytical capabilities, with a track record of translating complex data into actionable executive insights. - Superior communication, storytelling, and executive presence, with experience influencing C-suite stakeholders and matrixed global teams. Preferred qualifications: - Advanced degree (e.g., MBA or Master’s in Finance, Economics, or Business). - Deep domain familiarity with global payments infrastructure, cross-border flows, digital wallets, or multi-jurisdictional licensing regimes. - Hands-on experience leading digital transformation, process automation, or AI implementation within financial operations or compliance. APPLICANT SAFETY POLICY: FRAUD AND THIRD-PARTY RECRUITERS To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com http://airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com http://careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page. 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. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY 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.