Director, Government Affairs

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 150,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, 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 1,800 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$6.2 billion and backed by world-leading investors including Visa, Airtree, Blackbird, Sequoia, DST Global, Greenoaks, Salesforce Ventures, Lone Pine, and Square Peg, 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. 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 Legal, Risk & Compliance (LRC) team at Airwallex is a collaborative group of legal professionals and risk management experts. We're passionate about safeguarding Airwallex's operations, fostering a culture of compliance and integrity, and ensuring we navigate the global financial landscape responsibly. The team provides expert guidance and proactive support across all areas of the business—identifying, mitigating, and managing legal and financial risks to enable sustainable growth. What you'll do You will be Airwallex's first dedicated government affairs leader globally ex-China, responsible for building and executing a comprehensive government relations and public policy strategy across our priority markets. You will cultivate high-trust relationships with key government officials, financial regulators, central banks, and legislative bodies, providing senior leadership with direct insight into regulatory priorities and emerging policy trends. You will proactively advocate for Airwallex's interests, shape policy dialogues, and help foster a favorable environment for fintech innovation. This is a unique opportunity to build a new function with significant impact and visibility, reporting directly to the Chief Legal, Risk & Compliance Officer (CLRCO), with the potential to build a team as the function grows. This role is based in Singapore. Responsibilities: Cultivate and maintain high-level, trusted relationships with government officials, financial regulators, central banks, and legislative bodies across Airwallex's priority markets Act as the primary conduit for regulatory and political intelligence, providing senior leadership with a direct view into regulators' priorities, identifying emerging policy trends, and analyzing top-of-mind issues to proactively manage and mitigate political and policy risk Develop and execute comprehensive government affairs strategies to advocate for Airwallex's interests, proactively shaping policy and regulatory dialogues, representing the company's position in key forums, public consultations, and direct engagements Represent Airwallex in industry associations and public consultations to advocate for the company's policy positions and build its profile Work closely with internal legal, compliance, product, and executive teams to analyze and develop the company's positions on key issues, translating complex technical and regulatory information into clear policy recommendations and business insights for executive leadership As the first hire in this function, establish foundational processes, reporting, and best practices for government affairs at Airwallex, with the potential to build and lead a team as the function scales Who you are We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory. Minimum qualifications: 12+ years of progressive experience in government affairs, public policy, regulatory affairs, or financial sector lobbying, with at least 6 years spent working with or within financial regulatory bodies, central banks, or government ministries in key global or regional markets (e.g., APAC, EMEA, North America)Demonstrated deep understanding of the financial services or fintech regulatory landscape, including knowledge of