Licensing Manager

About the role

You will own the end-to-end licensing lifecycle for Affirm's expanding portfolio of financial products, ensuring every new service launch is fully authorized before market entry. You will act as the primary liaison between our Legal, Compliance, and Product teams and state regulators to translate complex regulatory expectations into actionable workflows. This role requires you to build and maintain a living database of all licensing and reporting obligations, turning raw regulatory text into structured, auditable records. You will drive the preparation and submission of key filings such as annual reports and call reports, while proactively identifying and resolving discrepancies before they escalate. You will leverage emerging technologies like AI to redesign manual processes, increasing speed and accuracy across the licensing program. Finally, you will coordinate directly with senior leadership to close gaps in our licensing infrastructure and support strategic international expansion efforts.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Orchestrate product launch readiness by coordinating state licensing requirements for money transmission, servicing, collections, and international expansion initiatives.
• Partner with legal, public affairs, compliance, finance, and tax stakeholders to align on regulatory licensing and reporting obligations.
• Architect and maintain a centralized repository for all licensing and reporting obligations, including workflows, regulatory guidance, and document versions.
• Streamline collaboration with the Licensing team to prepare, review, and submit state licensing applications, annual reports, and MSB call reports.
• Oversee the timely execution of regulatory filings while monitoring active licenses and calling out any status or compliance issues.
• Drive the end-to-end preparation of renewal applications and other jurisdiction-specific forms across multiple licensing authorities.
• Partner on enhancements to NMLS licensing, reporting, and other regulatory filing procedures.
• Analyze existing workflows and develop new processes powered by AI to increase efficiency, reduce manual effort, and improve accuracy.
• Support the research and integration of licensing requirements directly into the licensing management tool, ensuring rules are current and testable.
• Coordinate with senior leadership to track and fulfill ongoing state licensing requirements at scale.
• Enable cross-functional project execution by aligning timelines, dependencies, and deliverables across teams.
• Own the interpretation of evolving regulatory guidance and translate it into practical steps for product and operations teams.
• Monitor licensing performance metrics and identify opportunities for process optimization.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for internal stakeholders on licensing matters and related compliance risks.

Requirements

• Bring a minimum of 5 years of professional experience in licensing, compliance, or regulatory roles, with a focus on consumer financial services.
• Demonstrate outstanding time management, administrative, and organizational skills while balancing multiple priorities and overlapping projects.
• Show proven ability in project management, critical thinking, and analytical reasoning to solve complex operational challenges.
• Communicate effectively in writing and verbally, adapting style and tone for diverse audiences and regulatory contexts.
• Exhibit humility, integrity, and a commitment to contributing within a small, high-performing, and supportive team environment.
• Maintain an inquisitive mindset, eagerness to learn, and willingness to take ownership of ambiguous projects from conception to completion.
• Operate comfortably in a fast-paced, high-growth setting where priorities shift and ambiguity is inherent to the work.
• Thrive independently, making confident decisions with limited supervision while sustaining excellence in dynamic environments.

Practical notes

Affirm is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment. We are proud to be a drug-free workplace. All employment decisions are made on the basis of equal opportunity without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We consider for employment eligible individuals with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. If you require reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process because of a disability, please contact recruiting@affirm.com.