North America Expansion Lead

Job Description

Job Description

Nium, Global Leader in Payments

 

Nium, the global leader in real-time, cross-border payments, was founded on the mission to deliver the global payments infrastructure of tomorrow, today. With the onset of the global economy, its payments infrastructure is shaping how banks, fintechs, and businesses everywhere collect, convert, and disburse funds instantly across borders.  

Its payout network supports 100 currencies and spans 220+ markets, 100 of which in real-time. Funds can be disbursed to accounts, wallets, and cards and collected locally in 35 markets. Nium's growing card issuance business is already available in 34 countries. Nium holds regulatory licenses and authorizations in more than 40 countries, enabling seamless onboarding, rapid integration, and compliance – independent of geography. The company is co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore. 

The Role 

We're looking for a driven North America Expansion Lead to own Nium's regulatory licensing strategy across the United States and Canada. You will lead Nium's efforts to obtain, activate, and operationalise its US Money Transmission Licence (MTL) programme, pursue crypto-specific licences and variations on a state-by-state basis, and support Nium's integration with Canada's real-time payment infrastructure. 

This is a high-impact, execution-focused role that sits at the intersection of regulatory strategy, licensing operations, and cross-functional delivery. You will collaborate closely with Legal, Compliance, Product, Treasury, Tech, Ops, and Commercial teams to deliver successful market launches across North America. We’re looking for individuals with a regulatory background (be that legal or compliance) who have a hands-on operator / product mindset.  

What You'll Own 

Working with the Head of Global Expansion, you will execute Nium's North America licence roadmap across four core workstreams: 

1. US Money Transmission Licences (MTLs) 

• Lead the end-to-end strategy and application process to obtain outstanding US MTLs, with a particular focus on securing licences in California and New York. 

• Manage regulator relationships, respond to examiner queries, and drive applications to completion with minimal delay. 

• Track and manage all MTL applications across states, maintaining a live view of status, timelines, risks, and costs. 

• Coordinate with external counsel and internal stakeholders to ensure application quality and completeness. 

2. MTL Activation and Operationalisation 

• Transition states currently operating under a bank partner programme onto Nium's own MTL as licences are obtained, working cross-functionally to ensure operational readiness. 

• Define and execute the activation playbook for each state, covering compliance obligations, product configuration, treasury requirements, and go-live processes. 

• Identify and resolve blockers to  operationalisation, including bond requirements, net worth obligations, reporting cadences, and agent registration. 

• Maintain a clear state-by-state activation tracker and report progress to the Head of Global Expansion and senior leadership. 

3. Crypto-Specific Licences and Variations 

• Identify states where Nium's product suite requires a crypto-specific licence or a variation to an existing MTL (e.g. BitLicence in New York, virtual currency transmitter endorsements). 

• Lead applications and regulatory engagement for crypto licence variations on a state-by-state basis, working closely with Legal and Product. 

• Monitor evolving US state-level crypto licensing requirements and proactively assess impact on Nium's licensing posture. 

• Engage with regulators on the regulatory treatment of stablecoins and digital asset transmission where relevant to Nium's roadmap. 

4. Canada – Real-Time Rails and Interac Integration 

• Support Nium's integration with Payments Canada's Real-Time Rail (RTR) and the Interac network, working alongside Product and Tech to navigate regulatory and membership requirements. 

• Engage with Payments Canada, Interac, and relevant Canadian regulators to understand access models, participation requirements, and compliance obligations. 

• Coordinate internal readiness for Canadian real-time payment capabilities, ensuring alignment across Legal, Compliance, Treasury, and Product. 

• Identify and manage any licensing or registration requirements arising from expanded Canadian payment capabilities. 

Across all workstreams: 

• Track budgets, risks, and timelines, and report on a periodic basis to the Head of Global Expansion and senior leadership. 

• Build strong relationships with state and federal regulators across the US and Canada. 

• Contribute to Nium's broader global licensing strategy and share North America market intelligence with the wider expansion team. 

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of experience in the legal, compliance, or consulting space, with direct exposure to US financial services regulation. 

• Proven experience managing US state money transmission licence applications — from preparation and submission through to approval. 

• Strong understanding of US MTL frameworks, including state-specific requirements, surety bonds, net worth obligations, and examination processes. 

• Experience with crypto or virtual currency licensing at the state level (e.g. New York BitLicence, or equivalent) is highly desirable. 

• Familiarity with Canadian payment systems, including Payments Canada, Interac, and the Real-Time Rail, is a strong advantage. 

• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-workstream licensing programmes in a fast-moving environment. 

• Experience working directly with regulators, including managing examiners and responding to regulatory queries. 

• Strong commercial and project management skills, with the ability to drive execution across cross-functional teams. 

• Experience in fintech, payments, e-money, cards, or stablecoins is strongly preferred. 

About You

Nium is a fast-moving and flat organisation. We have a growing presence in North America and are at a pivotal stage of our US licensing journey. To be successful in this role you should be comfortable operating in ambiguity and taking ownership of decision making. In addition, you should be: 

• Hands-on with a “whatever it takes” attitude 

• Execution-focused and highly accountable 

• Comfortable navigating regulatory complexity across multiple US states simultaneously 

• Commercially minded and data-driven 

• Able to influence across global and regional teams 

• Excited to build in a fast-moving, high-growth environment 

Salary ranges are dependent on a variety of factors, including skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location. Certain roles may offer additional incentives including but not limited to equity and bonus. Your recruiter is happy to share more information about the salary range 

Location  

This role is based in our San Francisco or New York offices. We are open to applications from Canada with the appropriate experience. Travel is required and essential for this role, including to state regulators across the US and to Canada. 

Salary 

This is a manager / senior manager level role with a salary range of $130,000 – $180,000 USD depending on experience and location. 

What we offer at Nium

 

We Value Performance: Through competitive salaries, performance bonuses, sales commissions, equity for specific roles and recognition programs, we ensure that all our employees are well rewarded and incentivized for their hard work. 

We Care: The wellness of Nium’ers is our #1 priority. We offer medical coverage along with 24/7 employee assistance program, generous vacation programs including our year-end shut down. We also provide a flexible hybrid working environment (3 days per week in the office). 

We Upskill Ourselves : We are curious, and always want to learn more with a focus on upskilling ourselves. We provide role-specific training, internal workshops, and a learning stipend. 

We Constantly Innovate : Since our inception, Nium has received constant recognition and awards for how we approach both our business and talent opportunities. Check out CNBC World’s Top Fintech Companies 2024.

We Celebrate Together : We recognize that work is also about creating great relationships with each other. We celebrate together with company-wide social events, team bonding activities, happy hours, team offsites, and much more!  

We Thrive With Diversity : Nium is truly a global company, with more than 33 nationalities, based in 18+ countries and more than 10 office locations. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.  

For more detailed region-specific benefits:  -perks  

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Nium provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status. In addition to federal law requirements, Nium complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. Nium expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status. 

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.