Head of Compliance & MLRO (UAE)

Alpaca is a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure for stocks, ETFs, options, crypto, fixed income, 24/5 trading, and more. Our recent Series D funding round brought our total investment to over $320 million, fueling our ambitious vision.

Amongst our subsidiaries, Alpaca is a licensed financial services company, serving hundreds of financial institutions across 40 countries with our institutional-grade APIs. This includes broker-dealers, investment advisors, wealth managers, hedge funds, and crypto exchanges, totalling over 9 million brokerage accounts.

Our global team is a diverse group of experienced engineers, traders, and brokerage professionals who are working to achieve our mission of opening financial services to everyone on the planet. We're deeply committed to open-source contributions and fostering a vibrant community, continuously enhancing our award-winning, developer-friendly API and the robust infrastructure behind it.

Alpaca is proudly backed by top-tier global investors, including Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Unbound, SBI Group, Derayah Financial, Elefund, and Y Combinator.

We're a dynamic team of 230+ globally distributed members who thrive working from our favorite places around the world, with teammates spanning the USA, Canada, Japan, Hungary, Nigeria, Brazil, the UK, and beyond!

We're searching for passionate individuals eager to contribute to Alpaca's rapid growth. If you align with our core values—Stay Curious, Have Empathy, and Be Accountable—and are ready to make a significant impact, we encourage you to apply.

Establish and lead a “compliance-by-design” framework that keeps Alpaca’s twin ADGM licences, Category 3A (Dealing in Investments as Principal/Agent) and Category 3B (Providing Custody), in pristine regulatory standing while we scale a high-velocity, API-driven brokerage for both traditional securities and virtual assets.

• →Governance: Chair the internal Compliance Committee and deliver quarterly reports to the Board.
  
  
• →Regulatory inventory and policies: Keep a live register of all FSRA rules (GEN, COBS, PRU, AML, Virtual-Asset Guidance) and update policies within 10 days of any FSRA circular.
  
  
• →AML / CFT & MLRO: Own the AML/CFT programme, conduct annual business-risk assessments, file Suspicious Activity Reports, and ensure full “Travel Rule” compliance for VA transfers.
  
  
• →Virtual-asset controls: Maintain the Accepted Virtual Asset list, oversee blockchain-analytics, and ensure stablecoin/FRT activity meets the latest FSRA requirements.
  
  

• Education / Professional status: Bachelor’s in Law, Finance or Business PLUS a recognised compliance credential (e.g., ICA, ACAMS, CISI Global Financial Compliance).
  
  
• Professional certification: UAE Financial Rules & Regulations exam (CISI/ADGM Academy)
  
  
• Professional certification: CISI Global Financial Compliance (or equivalent)
  
  
• Experience: ≥ 7 years in compliance/AML at a broker-dealer, custodian or VASP, with ≥ 3 years in a senior regulated capacity; clean audit / enforcement record.
  
  
• Rulebook mastery: Deep knowledge of GEN, COBS, PRU, AML Rulebook (incl. Travel Rule), and FSRA Virtual-Asset Guidance.
• Independence & presence: Full-time, independent function as required by Condition 7.
  
  
• Language: Fluent in English and Arabic.

• Prior registration as Compliance Officer/MLRO with FSRA, DFSA, SCA or an equivalent top-tier regulator.
  
  
• Hands-on with chain-analytics, FATF Travel-Rule gateways and ISO 27001 / NIST cybersecurity frameworks.
  
  
• Exposure to cross-border brokerage, stablecoin/FRT programmes or tokenised securities.

• Competitive Salary & Stock Options
• Health Benefits
• New Hire Home-Office Setup: One-time USD $500
• Monthly Stipend: USD $150 per month via a Brex Card

Alpaca is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace dedicated to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce.

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