Risk and Compliance Officer

At Paymentology, we're redefining what's possible in the payments space. As the first truly global issuer-processor, we give banks and fintechs the technology and talent to launch and manage Mastercard and Visa cards at scale - across more than 60 countries.

Our advanced, multi-cloud platform delivers real-time data, unmatched scalability, and the flexibility of a network of regional hubs. It's this global reach and innovation that sets us apart.

We are seeking a hands-on Risk & Compliance Officer with experience in South African regulatory requirements, AML/CFT controls, and practical risk management. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working cross-functionally, translating complex regulatory and risk requirements into clear, actionable processes, and strengthening monitoring and control frameworks.

This dual-responsibility role will play a key part in strengthening local compliance execution while helping to build and embed a structured risk management approach across our South Africa business. You will work closely with the Legal & Compliance team and partner with stakeholders across the organisation, contributing to the continued growth of our South Africa operations.

• Act as the primary compliance contact for Sponsorbanks, supporting day-to-day operation of Paymentology's local compliance framework.
• Interpret and implement partner banks' Risk Management and Compliance Programme (RMCP) requirements, ensuring alignment with applicable legislation and regulatory frameworks.

• Conduct and oversee KYC and KYB processes for cardholders, corporate clients, and partners, including onboarding, beneficial ownership verification, sanctions, PEP, and adverse media screening.
• Lead onboarding risk assessments in line with global standards and risk appetite, including enhanced due diligence where required.

• Perform periodic reviews (monitoring & testing) to assess compliance and risk programme effectiveness and identify improvements.
• Maintain accurate compliance records and prepare clear, structured reports for senior management, clients, and regulators.
• Support documentation requests to demonstrate the effectiveness of compliance controls.
• Support the development and embedding of a structured risk management framework for South Africa.
• Identify, assess, document, and monitor key risks across compliance, operational, third-party, resilience, and regulatory domains.
• Contribute to the implementation of a proactive Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework.
• Maintain risk registers, issue logs, and remediation trackers, ensuring clear ownership, timelines, and status updates.
• Track regulatory findings, internal actions, and control improvements.

• Map risks to controls and assess control design and effectiveness.
• Partner with business teams to strengthen documentation and close control gaps, ensuring solutions are practical and aligned with the business model.

• Support risk activities related to business continuity, disaster recovery, incident management, and third-party dependencies.
• Coordinate remediation actions, evidence gathering, and documentation improvements aligned with ERM initiatives.
• Support implementation of agile compliance risk management systems aligned with Paymentology policies.

• Provide practical guidance and deliver training on compliance and risk requirements, ensuring teams understand and embed controls in daily operations.

• Contribute to wider Legal & Compliance and business initiatives, including policy updates, framework enhancements, and cross-functional projects.
• Prepare and maintain audit-ready documentation across risk and compliance activities.

• 4-6 years' experience in compliance, financial crime, risk management, or related roles within banking, payments, fintech, or another regulated environment.
• Strong knowledge of South African regulatory frameworks (e.g. FIC Act, NPS Bill), particularly AML, CFT, KYC/KYB, and risk management.
• Practical experience in risk assessments, compliance monitoring, issue management, and remediation.
• Familiarity with international financial crime frameworks (FATF, EU AML Directives, OFAC) preferred.
• Experience with compliance tools (e.g. sanctions screening, AML monitoring, GRC systems) preferred.
• Proven experience implementing RMCPs and conducting due diligence and policy rollouts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office (especially Excel and PowerPoint) and a willingness to leverage AI tools for efficiency.
• Strong stakeholder management and ability to operate effectively in complex, ambiguous environments.
• Ability to translate regulatory requirements into practical, operational controls.
• Strong organisational and project management skills.
• This is a hybrid role, x2 days in the Johannesburg office per week.

At Paymentology we value making a difference to the lives of the people who work for us and who live in the communities where we operate. You can look forward to working with a diverse, global team where Paymentologists at all levels play an important part in our global mission to advance the world through payments and make a difference on a global scale.