Director, KYC

Posted:
3/4/2026, 1:24:29 AM

Location(s):
Foster City, California, United States ⋅ California, United States

Experience Level(s):
Expert or higher ⋅ Senior

Field(s):
Legal & Compliance

As Tipalti continues to dominate the global finance automation space, we are seeking a visionary Director of KYC and Compliance Onboarding. This is a pivotal leadership role designed to transform our compliance operations from a defensive function into a strategic engine for global growth.

Reporting to the VP of Customer Onboarding, you will lead the evolution of our onboarding architecture to support our next phase of hyper-growth. You are a customer-centric leader who believes that rigorous compliance and a frictionless user experience are not mutually exclusive. Your mission is to build a "best-in-class" KYC process that is recognized by our customers and partners as the most seamless in the fintech industry.

Responsibilities

  • Strategic Vision & Roadmap: Own the vision for Tipalti’s KYC/KYB future. You will design a "painless" onboarding journey that eliminates traditional compliance bottlenecks while maintaining ironclad regulatory integrity.
  • Operational Standardization: Drive absolute consistency across our global team of KYC analysts. You will design and enforce a Global Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that ensures uniform decision-making, quality, and speed, regardless of the analyst’s location.
  • Customer-Centric Compliance: Champion the customer at every stage of the compliance lifecycle. You will constantly iterate on the "Customer Journey" to reduce friction, simplify documentation requests, and improve transparency.
  • Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Act as a high-impact partner to Sales, Onboarding Management, Product, and Legal. You will bridge the gap between commercial urgency and regulatory requirements, ensuring all teams are aligned on a unified "Go-Live" strategy.
  • Tech Strategy & Execution: Lead the evaluation, selection, and high-velocity implementation of advanced RegTech tools (Id verification, Registries, Data sources, risk-scoring engine etc). You will move beyond "tools as a service" to "tools as a solution," ensuring deep integration into our existing ecosystems.
  • AI & Automation Leadership: Spearhead the transition to an "Always-On" monitoring environment. Use AI to automate identity verification and business entity checks, significantly reducing "Time-to-Green" for our customers.
  • Quality Assurance Framework: Implement a robust QA and feedback loop to identify variances in analyst performance and drive continuous improvement through training and process refinement.
  • Performance Analytics: Establish executive-level KPIs focusing on onboarding velocity, customer satisfaction (CSAT) during compliance, and automated pass rates.

Requirements

  • Customer-First Mindset: A proven track record of designing compliance processes with the end-user in mind. You don't just "enforce" policy; you solve for the customer experience.
  • Process Engineering Mastery: Exceptional ability to take complex, fragmented workflows and turn them into scalable, standardized global processes.
  • Visionary Leadership: The ability to articulate a clear "North Star" for what modern, automated KYC should look like in a multi-billion dollar fintech.
  • Exceptional Execution: 12+ years in Compliance or FinCrime, with a demonstrable history of successfully deploying large-scale technical solutions and third-party integrations (like Trulioo, Alloy, etc.).
  • Technology & Innovation: Demonstrated experience implementing automation tools to enhance and drive customer experience. Must possess a Technology-first/AI-first mindset when approaching compliance and KYC workflows.
  • Cross-Functional Influence: The ability to navigate complex internal organizations, gaining buy-in from Sales and Operations to drive compliance initiatives forward.
  • Global Regulatory Mastery: Deep knowledge of international AML/KYC standards (US, UK, EU, etc.).
  • Certifications: CAMS or CFE certification is desired.

Why Join Us?

  • Lead the Industry: You will be at the forefront of the "Resilience Era" of compliance, building systems that stop mistakes before they happen.
  • Scale Fearlessly: We are a late-stage, well-funded powerhouse where your work directly impacts our ability to onboard enterprise-grade clients.
  • Impact: At Tipalti, compliance is the department that makes "yes" possible for our customers globally.

The anticipated base pay rate for this position is 161,500-231,000 USD annually. 

Our Mission

Our mission is to elevate how finance teams operate in the global economy. We empower our customers to scale faster and smarter by removing the complexities of doing global business and accelerating their finance operations efficiency. We are the AI-powered platform that automates finance.

Tipalti is fueled by a commitment to our customers and a desire to build lasting connections. Our client portfolio includes high-velocity businesses such as Amazon Twitch, GoDaddy, Roku, WordPress.com, and ZipRecruiter. We work hard for our 99% customer retention rate which is built on trust, reliability and innovation. Tipalti means we handled it" - a mission to which we are constantly committed.

Accommodations
Tipalti champions inclusive teams, in which every voice counts. We are committed to recruiting diverse candidates with varied personal experiences and abilities. We welcome applications from candidates belonging to historically underrepresented or disadvantaged groups, and maintain an equitable Talent Acquisition process that is free from discrimination.

As an equal opportunities employer, Tipalti complies with employment and human rights laws across the various jurisdictions in which we operate. Should you require reasonable adjustments or accommodations during the recruitment process, including access to alternate formats of materials, meeting spaces, or other accommodations that could better enable your full participation, please reach out to [email protected] for assistance.

AI Use 
We may use artificial intelligence and automated systems (collectively "AI") to screen, assess, and select candidates during our recruitment process. This includes resume screening, skills assessment, and candidate matching. You have the right to request human review of any automated decision. For more information about how we collect and use personal data and information during recruitment, please refer to our Job Candidate Privacy Notice. For additional questions about our use of AI during our recruitment process, you can contact [email protected].

Privacy
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TipaltiJob Candidate Privacy Notice | Tipalti

www.tipalti.com/privacy/job-candidate-privacy-notice/