Senior Software Engineer - AI Enablement Compliance

Payward is the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks, which has spent 15 years building a modern, globally accessible financial infrastructure platform to advance an open, global financial system. Kraken, founded in 2011, is a long-standing crypto platform serving over 10 million individuals and institutions worldwide, offering spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services for both individual investors and institutional clients. The Global Compliance team supports regulatory functions including AML/KYC, sanctions, financial crime, regulatory affairs, and compliance operations across multiple licensed entities and jurisdictions.

• 8+ years experience in Compliance operations, financial crime, regulatory technology, or combined compliance and technical roles with senior-level execution.
• Strong fluency with AI and workflow automation tools; experience designing, deploying, and driving adoption of AI solutions in Compliance or RegTech workflows.
• Hands-on experience deploying AI-powered or automated workflows in production used by others.
• Deep knowledge of anti-financial crime (e.g., AML/CFT, sanctions, transaction monitoring), capital markets compliance, and data privacy frameworks.
• Systems thinker with ability to manage discovery, design, build, deployment, and optimization independently.
• Proficiency with AI tooling stack including n8n, Python, Claude API/Anthropic SDK; experience connecting compliance systems via API.
• Strong analytical problem-solving skills to structure ambiguous compliance questions into actionable automated analysis.
• Solid understanding of data classification, customer PII handling, cross-jurisdictional compliance obligations including GDPR, BSA, FATF standards, and AML data retention.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to translate technical automation and analytical results for non-technical compliance professionals, leadership, and regulators.

Nice to have:

• Experience with case management platforms like Actimize, NICE Actimize, Quantexa and their APIs.
• Experience using AI for document analysis, transaction narrative generation, or regulatory report drafting in financial crime/compliance.
• Knowledge of regulatory examination readiness including documentation standards, model risk governance, and audit trails for AI-assisted compliance.
• Experience with spreadsheet automation (e.g. Google Apps Script) and advanced proficiency in Excel and Google Sheets for compliance analytics.
• Python programming skills for transaction data analysis and risk scoring.
• Background in compliance technology platform administration, including AML, KYC, case management, and sanctions screening tools.
• Experience launching or operating RegTech, compliance automation, or financial crime analytics functions.
• Experience in crypto, fintech, payments, capital markets, or regulated financial institutions across multiple jurisdictions (e.g., exposure to FinCEN, SEC, FCA, MAS).

Design and deploy AI-powered Compliance solutions:

• Architect and build agentic workflows using n8n, Claude API, Python, and MCP with human oversight and approval gates.
• Deliver solutions for alert pre-screening, case narrative generation, regulatory change summarization, EDD report drafting, and audit-ready documentation.
• Build scalable, automated analytics solutions providing repeatable risk insights for leadership and regulators.
• Apply AI techniques for text analysis, transaction pattern recognition, and workflow automation to surface actionable signals.
• Implement error handling, audit trails, regulatory-calendar awareness, and human-in-the-loop checkpoints in production systems.
• Ensure compliance with data classification, customer PII, and cross-jurisdictional privacy obligations including GDPR and AML data retention rules.

Own governance and risk for Compliance AI systems:

• Classify automations by risk tier before production with documented data flows, access controls, and regulatory impact assessments.
• Maintain audit logging and documentation for all systems handling regulated data.
• Halt or redesign builds posing unacceptable regulatory, legal, or privacy risks and secure organizational approval.
• Represent Compliance in governance standards, model risk management, and build alignment across initiatives.

Multiply the Compliance team's capability:

• Produce documentation, workflow templates, and runbooks for use and maintenance by Compliance professionals without technical support.
• Train Compliance team members on AI-assisted production tools and drive adoption.
• Track and report automation impact including reduced alert review time, increased case throughput, and unlocked analyst capacity.
• Enable investigators and analysts to focus on high-risk decisions through process, technology, and AI support.

Applications accepted on an ongoing basis unless a specific deadline is stated. Applicants may redact identifying age or education dates on resumes. The company considers qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Kraken is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination or harassment based on protected characteristics as defined by applicable laws.