Compliance Team Manager

Overview

We are seeking an experienced compliance professional to lead our compliance team’s efforts to support our rapidly growing fintech business in Tokyo. You will be responsible for managing our compliance team, developing and maintaining our compliance framework and supporting business operations.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to the Chief Legal Officer, your key responsibilities will include:

• Develop, implement and maintain compliance programmes and internal policies aligned with Japanese laws & regulations in the fintech industry (e.g., Instalment Sales Act, AML/CFT, Payment Services Act, APPI).
• Manage and lead regulatory registrations, liaison with regulatory authorities, and inspections/audits (ISMS, PCI DSS, Privacy Mark, Credit Card Handling Registration, Prepaid Payment Instrument Issuer Registration, etc.).
• Act as a key compliance advisor across business units (product, operations, treasury, legal, verification, marketing, sales) to ensure compliance is efficiently built into our product design process.
• Conduct risk assessments and monitoring, oversee controls, audit readiness, internal investigations, and ensure remedial actions when needed.
• Provide semiannual compliance reports to the Board and executive team covering key areas of activity of the compliance team. 
• Supervise compliance training, documentation projects, and implementation of new compliance management tools or software. 
• Monitor regulatory changes, interpret their impact on the business and propose/implement changes to processes and controls.
• Manage a compliance team of 7 individuals (and growing) and ensure continuous improvement in the compliance function (mentoring, capability building).
• Collaborate with global external partners and affiliates to ensure consistent implementation of compliance standards and efficient cross-border alignment.
• Represent the company in responding to compliance due diligence requests from overseas partners, investors, and financial institutions, ensuring accurate, transparent, and timely communication.

Requirements

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Law, Finance, Business, or related field.
• Significant compliance experience in a regulated environment in Japan (preferably related to financial services / fintech / banking) (10+ years).
• Experience working in or dealing with a government ministry or agency (preferably any of the following: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan Payment Services Association, the Financial Services Agency, the Japan Consumer Credit Association, Local Finance Bureau).
• Demonstrated experience of designing/implementing compliance programmes, controls, and delivering business value through compliance.
• Excellent communication skills in Japanese (native/near-native) and business-level English.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally and efficiently, influence stakeholders, think analytically, and manage complexity.
• Ability to work from our Tokyo office at least one day per week under our hybrid work model.

Preferred / Nice to Have

• Experience working within a fast-growing company or startup/scale-up in the fintech space.
• Deep understanding of the Japanese financial regulations applicable to fintech and payment business (e.g., Instalment Sales Act, AML/CFT, Payment Services Act, APPI) or equivalent senior-level regulatory experience within a closely related regulated financial services sector.
• Japanese Legal Qualification (Bengoshi)

Benefits

Why Join Us

• Join a rapidly growing fintech company.
• Take on new registration projects and advise on new product development in an innovative environment.
• We value diversity, collaboration, and integrity — and we’re looking for someone passionate about doing compliance the right way and enabling growth responsibly.

Benefits

• At Komoju, we embrace remote work while also offering office space for those who prefer in-person collaboration
• 10 days regular vacation, additional 5 days summer, and 5 days winter vacation
• Paid birthday holiday
• Budget for self-learning allowance, to ensure our employees’ skills remain current
• Access to the O’Reilly Learning Platform
• Language training for Japanese/ English
• Office lunch

Bachelor’s degree in Law, Finance, Business, or related field. Significant compliance experience in a regulated environment in Japan (10+ years), preferably financial services/fintech/banking. Experience working in or dealing with a government ministry or agency (METI, JPSA, FSA, JCCA, Local Finance Bureau). Demonstrated experience of designing/implementing compliance programmes and controls. Excellent communication skills in Japanese (native/near-native) and business-level English. Proven ability to work cross-functionally and efficiently, influence stakeholders, think analytically, and manage complexity. Ability to work from the Tokyo office at least one day per week.