Compliance Manager, Japan

Job Description

At Remitly, we believe everyone deserves the freedom to access, move, and manage their money wherever life takes them. Since 2011, we've tirelessly delivered on our promise to customers sending money globally, providing secure, simple, and reliable ways to manage their money, ensuring true peace of mind. Whether it's supporting loved ones back home, growing a business across continents, or pursuing new opportunities abroad, we're not just here to move money— we're here to move our global customers forward. We're looking for builders, reimaginers, and global thinkers who want to work at the intersection of technology, trust, and transformation. If that's you and you're ready to do the most meaningful work of your career—we invite you to join over 2,800 passionate Remitlians worldwide who are united by our vision to transform lives with trusted financial services that transcend borders.

About the Role

Remitly operates in Japan as a registered Funds Transfer Service Provider under the Payment Services Act (資金決済法), supervised by the Kanto Local Finance Bureau (KLFB) on behalf of the Financial Services Agency (FSA). Reporting to the Chief Compliance Officer, Japan, the Compliance Manager is the day-to-day engine of Remitly Japan's compliance and financial crime program — owning the regulatory calendar, running AML/CFT and sanctions execution, preparing filings and regulator correspondence, and driving issues to closure. This is a hands-on execution and ownership role rather than a board-facing accountable-officer role. Its core value is translation in both directions: turning Japanese regulatory obligations into pragmatic guidance for global product and operations teams, and making Remitly's global compliance platform demonstrably compliant with FSA, KLFB, and MOF expectations. This role is hybrid, based in our Tokyo office.

You Will

Regulatory Operations & Reporting

• Own the Japan regulatory calendar end to end — KLFB and FSA periodic and ad hoc reporting, business reports, notifications of change, and statistical returns — ensuring filings are accurate and on time.
• Prepare RFI responses, inspection materials, and evidence packs; draft regulator correspondence for CCO review.
• Monitor FSA, KLFB, MOF, JAFIC, and Japan Payment Service Association developments; assess impact and drive changes into policy and process.

AML/CFT and Sanctions Program Execution

• Operate Remitly Japan's AML/CFT program under the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds (APTCP) and the FSA's AML/CFT Guidelines, covering CDD/EDD, ongoing due diligence, and transaction monitoring.
• Investigate escalated alerts and prepare Suspicious Transaction Reports for filing with JAFIC, maintaining quality, records, and timeliness.
• Own sanctions program execution, including FEFTA and Ministry of Finance (MOF) asset-freeze and economic sanctions obligations for cross-border remittance.
• Maintain sanctions list coverage and oversee sanctions and PEP screening; adjudicate or escalate potential matches and handle blocked and rejected transactions, including required reporting to MOF.
• Support the Japan financial crime and sanctions risk assessments, control effectiveness testing, and tuning of monitoring and screening thresholds with global Financial Crime teams.

Compliance Advisory & Policy

• Translate Payment Services Act obligations — user asset protection and performance guarantee deposits, remittance limits, disclosure, incident response, outsourcing management etc. — into practical guidance for product, engineering, marketing, and operations.
• Localize global policies into Japan-specific standards and maintain the Japan policy suite and control library.
• Review customer-facing terms, disclosures, marketing, and product changes for regulatory conformity; escalate material risk to the CCO.
• Support APPI data protection obligations with Legal and Privacy, and consumer protection and complaint-handling requirements.

Governance & Collaboration

• Maintain the Japan open-issues register and drive remediation to closure with clear owners and dates.
• Produce compliance and financial crime reporting, KRIs, and management information for the CCO and regional compliance leadership.
• Coordinate audits, independent reviews, and control testing; track findings to resolution.
• Deliver Japan compliance, AML/CFT, and sanctions training, and maintain records to regulatory standard.
• Partner with Legal, global Compliance, Product, Engineering, and Operations to embed Japan requirements into product and process design from the start.

You Have

• 6–8 years of compliance, financial crime, or regulatory experience in Japanese financial services — banking, funds transfer, payments, crypto assets, securities, or a regulated fintech.
• Hands-on AML/CFT operations experience: CDD/EDD, transaction monitoring, and STR preparation and filing.
• Direct sanctions program experience — screening operations, list management, match adjudication, and blocked or rejected transaction handling.
• Working knowledge of how the FSA, Kanto Local Finance Bureau, and Ministry of Finance engage a licensed financial institution, and experience preparing regulatory filings, returns, or RFI responses.
• Strong drafting and documentation discipline in Japanese, and the judgment to escalate rather than solve alone.
• Comfort working within a centrally-designed global compliance platform rather than building parallel local infrastructure.
• Native or business-level Japanese and business-level English both required.

Nice to Have

• Experience with the Payment Services Act (PSA) as it applies to Funds Transfer Service Providers, including Type I / II / III distinctions.
• Knowledge of APTCP, FEFTA, and APPI.
• Cross-border remittance or international payments experience, ideally in a multi-entity financial group.
• CAMS, or Japanese equivalents such as the AML/CFT Standard Certification (AML/CFTスタンダード資格試験) or Financial Compliance Officer (金融コンプライアンス・オフィサー).
• Exposure to a regulatory inspection (立入検査) or a registration or licensing application.

Our Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision benefits
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Mental Health & Family Forming Benefits
• Continuing education

Our Connected Work Culture: Driving Innovation, Together

At Remitly, we believe that true innovation sparks when we come together. Our Connected Work Culture fosters dynamic in-person collaboration, where ideas ignite and challenging problems find solutions faster. Under the Company's current hybrid-work expectations, employees in this position work onsite Tuesday through Thursday each week. Additional onsite attendance may be required based on business needs, and the Company may modify its hybrid-work expectations from time to time. These intentional in-office moments are vital for deepening relationships, fueling creativity, and ensuring your impact is felt where it matters most.

Remitly is an E-Verify Employer

At Remitly, we are dedicated to ensuring that our workplace offers equal employment opportunities to all employees and candidates, in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Remitly is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.