Senior Software Engineer

Building the Future of Open Finance

Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.

Before you apply, we encourage you to explore our culture page to understand what drives us and how we work.

The team

Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients.

Payward's Global Compliance team is the regulatory backbone of one of the world's most trusted and longest-standing crypto exchanges — spanning AML/KYC, sanctions, financial crime, regulatory affairs, and compliance operations across dozens of licensed entities and multiple geos.

The opportunity

You will serve as the primary architect and builder of AI-powered solutions within the Kraken Compliance team. This is a full-stack ownership role spanning opportunity identification, solution design, deployment, governance, and capability transfer. This global role will require you to work strategically to “automate everything” while building Compliance’s data driven machine across multiple jurisdictions and products (e.g. crypto, payments, futures, equities, custody, margin). Responsibilities span the following areas:

Design and deploy AI-powered Compliance solutions

• Architect and build agentic workflows using n8n, Claude API, Python, and MCP that take real actions in Compliance processes with appropriate human oversight and approval gates.

• Design and deliver solutions across priority Compliance use cases: alert pre-screening, case narrative generation, regulatory change summarization, EDD report drafting, and audit-ready documentation.

• Build scalable, automated analytics solutions that deliver high-quality, repeatable risk insights for Compliance leadership and regulators.

• Apply AI-enabled techniques for text analysis, transaction pattern recognition, and workflow automation to surface actionable signals from high-volume data.

• Build error handling, audit trails, regulatory-calendar awareness, and human-in-the-loop checkpoints into every production system before deployment.

• Ensure all automations comply with data classification requirements for customer PII, regulated financial data, and cross-jurisdictional privacy obligations including GDPR and applicable AML data retention rules.

Own governance and risk for Compliance AI systems

• Classify all automation builds by risk tier before work begins. No build goes to production without a named Process Owner, documented data flows, access controls confirmed, and regulatory impact assessed.

• Maintain audit logging and documentation for all systems touching regulated data, SAR workflows, or sanctions-adjacent processes.

• Halt or redesign builds that introduce unacceptable regulatory, legal, or data privacy risk. Own that decision and secure organizational acceptance before proceeding.

• Serve as the Compliance domain representative in contributing to governance standards, model risk management, and cross-functional build alignment across the Automate Everything initiative.

Multiply the Compliance team's capability

• Produce documentation, workflow templates, and runbooks that Compliance professionals can use and maintain without technical support.

• Train Compliance team members on AI-assisted tools and workflows deployed in production. Drive adoption, not just delivery.

• Track and report on automation impact: alert review time reduced, case throughput increased, regulatory report cycle time shortened, and analyst capacity unlocked for higher-risk work.

• Act as a force multiplier for the Compliance team, enabling investigators and analysts to focus on high-judgment, high-risk decisions through process, technology, and AI enablement.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of experience in Compliance operations, financial crime, regulatory technology, or a combined compliance and technical role with demonstrated senior-level execution.

• Strong fluency with AI and workflow automation tools, with demonstrated experience designing, deploying, and driving adoption of AI solutions within Compliance or RegTech workflows.

• Demonstrated hands-on experience designing and deploying AI-powered or automated workflows in a production environment used by others, not just experimentation.

• Deep working knowledge of anti-financial crime (e.g. AML/CFT, sanctions, transaction monitoring systems), capital markets compliance (e.g. sales and trading, market conduct, transaction surveillance, conflicts management) and data privacy frameworks.

• Systems thinker with a strong implementation mindset -- able to move from discovery to design to build to deployment to optimization without relying on external consultants.

• Proficiency with AI tooling stack: n8n, Python, Claude API/Anthropic SDK, or equivalent. Experience connecting Compliance systems via API is required.

• Strong analytical problem-solving skills with the ability to structure ambiguous compliance questions into clear, actionable, automated analysis.

• Solid understanding of data classification, customer PII handling, and cross-jurisdictional compliance obligations including GDPR, BSA, FATF standards, and applicable AML data retention requirements.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills. Able to translate technical automation solutions and complex analytical results for Compliance professionals, senior leadership, and regulators who are not technical.

Nice to haves

• Experience with case management platforms (Actimize, NICE Actimize, Quantexa, or equivalent) and their API or integration architecture.

• Experience using AI for document analysis, transaction narrative generation, or regulatory report drafting in a financial crime or compliance context.

• Familiarity with regulatory examination readiness: documentation standards, model risk governance, and audit trail requirements for AI-assisted compliance decisions.

• Experience with spreadsheet automation (Google Apps Script or equivalent) and advanced proficiency in Excel and Google Sheets for compliance analytics.

• Python programming skills for transaction data analysis, risk scoring models, or compliance pipeline automation.

• Background in compliance technology platform administration: AML systems, KYC platforms, case management, markets business conduct or sanctions screening tools.

• Prior experience standing up or operating a RegTech, compliance automation, or financial crime analytics function.

• Experience in crypto, fintech, payments, capital markets or a regulated financial institution operating across multiple jurisdictions with exposure to FinCEN, SEC, FCA, MAS, or equivalent regulatory bodies.

Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Our commitment

Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.

We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Results are considered alongside experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.

As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

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