Head of Compliance

About Finalsite

Finalsite is a trusted EdTech partner for K–12 schools, helping them build confidence, strengthen school communities, and increase enrollment. The company is recognized among leading EdTech businesses in the United States and serves more than 7,000 schools and districts around the world through a unified platform that covers websites, communications, mobile apps, enrollment, and marketing services.

Based in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Finalsite operates globally with team members working remotely across most U.S. states and also in Europe, South America, and Asia. The company places a strong emphasis on support, collaboration, and growth, and invests in employee development, competitive benefits, and a purpose-driven culture.

Every interaction is treated as important at Finalsite, whether it involves clients, coworkers, or the schools and families it serves. The organization is looking for someone who can contribute to building stronger school communities worldwide.

Role Summary

The Head of Compliance will lead the company’s worldwide compliance, ethics, regulatory, and risk management functions across all operations. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, this executive will ensure adherence to applicable laws, regulations, industry standards, and internal policies while supporting growth and operational performance. The role calls for substantial leadership experience in payments, fintech, banking, or other regulated financial transaction settings, along with strong knowledge of payment compliance, financial regulation, transaction risk, and governance.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, roll out, and oversee a company-wide compliance and ethics program spanning all business areas and corporate functions.
• Create and maintain policies, procedures, governance structures, and internal controls that support regulatory and operational compliance.
• Manage compliance for payments, financial transactions, AML/KYC, and other applicable financial requirements.
• Ensure adherence to PCI-DSS, NACHA, BSA/AML, OFAC, GDPR, SOC controls, card network rules, and related industry standards.
• Act as the main point of contact for banking partners, payment processors, card networks, regulators, auditors, and outside legal counsel.
• Work with executive leadership to identify, evaluate, and reduce legal, operational, financial, and reputational risks.
• Lead compliance audits, regulatory reviews, investigations, monitoring, and remediation work across the enterprise.
• Oversee AML controls, sanctions screening, fraud prevention, transaction monitoring, and financial compliance processes.
• Run compliance training and awareness initiatives that strengthen integrity, accountability, and ethical behavior.
• Guide leadership on new regulatory demands, payment-industry changes, and enterprise risk developments that could affect the business.
• Partner with Legal, Finance, HR, Product, Security, Technology, and Operations to support compliant practices and scalable processes.
• Manage third-party risk and vendor compliance programs, especially those tied to payment providers, financial systems, and technology platforms.
• Prepare regular updates and strategic recommendations for the executive team and Board of Directors on compliance performance, audit results, and risk exposure.
• Support acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and expansion plans from a compliance and regulatory standpoint.

Additional Functions

• Contribute to enterprise risk management and business continuity planning efforts.
• Represent the organization in industry associations, regulatory conversations, and compliance forums.
• Support corporate governance work and policy development when needed.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Legal Studies, Accounting, or a similar discipline is required.
• At least 10 years of progressive experience in compliance, legal, risk, or regulatory leadership is needed.
• At least 5 years of senior leadership experience managing enterprise compliance programs is required.
• Hands-on experience building a compliance program from the beginning is essential.
• Background in payments, fintech, merchant acquiring, banking, payment processing, or another highly regulated financial transaction environment is required.
• Strong understanding of payment operations, network rules, transaction risk management, and financial compliance is expected.
• Working knowledge of PCI-DSS, NACHA, AML/KYC, OFAC, money transmission rules, card network compliance, fraud prevention, and financial controls is needed.
• Experience working directly with payment processors, acquiring banks, card networks, and financial institutions is required.
• Track record of handling audits, regulatory examinations, investigations, and remediation in payment or financial services settings is important.
• Ability to build and scale enterprise compliance functions in fast-growing organizations is required.
• Strong executive communication, leadership, and cross-functional partnership abilities are necessary.
• Excellent analytical thinking, strategic judgment, and decision-making skills are expected.

Preferred Background

• A Juris Doctor, MBA, or another advanced degree is preferred.
• Professional credentials such as CRCM, CAMS, CIPP, CIA, or a similar certification are preferred.
• Experience leading compliance in a SaaS, fintech, or payment-enabled technology company is an advantage.
• Experience with global payment operations and international regulatory frameworks is preferred.

Competencies

• Strategic leadership
• Regulatory and compliance expertise
• Enterprise risk management
• Ethical judgment and integrity
• Executive communication
• Operational excellence
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Change management
• Decision-making
• Problem-solving

Location and Residency

This is a fully remote role open anywhere in the United States. However, the position is limited to permanent residents of the U.S., and both current and ongoing U.S. residency are required for employment.

Equal Opportunity and Accommodation

Finalsite is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. The company considers applicants regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or criminal history, where legally permitted. Finalsite also provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs; candidates may contact People Operations for assistance.

Fraud Notice

Applicants should verify that any job offer is genuine. Candidates are advised to request verbal confirmation from a recruiter and make sure all email communication comes from a finalsite.com address.