Virtual Assets Compliance Lead

Reporting to the Head of Financial Crime Compliance, the role holder will lead Safaricom’s financial crime compliance strategy for virtual assets, taking ownership of compliance and ensuring that AML/CFT/CPF controls are embedded at the point of design and product build not as an afterthought for all products and partnerships. It works closely with the next-generation fintech and cross-border remittances teams to ensure deployment fit-for-purpose compliance monitoring tools and build internal capabilities that keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital assets landscape. The role is the bridge between innovation and regulatory credibility: enabling growth while protecting Safaricom’s license to operate with the CBK, CMA and FRC. The role acts as a trusted product advisor, the role ensures that all new features and third-party integrations meet regulatory standards from inception, championing a compliance-by-design deployment of any virtual assets partnerships or products across the business. It also sets the enhanced due diligence framework governing virtual asset partnerships and customers, ensuring that Safaricom’s exposure in this space is well-understood, well-managed, and credible to regulators. The role also has an accountability for Risk, Governance & Control Ownership, to embed and maintain effective risk, governance, compliance, and control practices within the function by proactively identifying and mitigating operational, regulatory, financial, people, technology, and reputational risks. Ensure adherence to internal policies, regulatory requirements, audit actions, and enterprise governance frameworks while driving accountability, ethical practices, and a strong controls environment across all areas of responsibility.