Senior Associate, AFC Advisory & Control Oversight

About the role

You will serve as a core advisor for Bitpanda Enterprise, guiding the legal and regulatory strategy for our B2B, B2B2B, and B2B2C partnerships. This role requires balancing commercial objectives with strict compliance obligations while acting as a primary point of contact for regulatory matters. You will own the advisory function surrounding Anti-Financial Crime (AFC) considerations across all enterprise initiatives. The position demands a proactive approach to identifying, analyzing, and mitigating legal and regulatory risks associated with institutional growth. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional departments to ensure that strategic initiatives are aligned with both business ambitions and regulatory expectations. Success in this role will depend on your ability to translate complex regulatory landscapes into clear, actionable guidance for commercial teams. You are expected to build trusted relationships with internal stakeholders by providing timely, accurate, and pragmatic counsel.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Interpret and communicate AFC regulatory landscapes to guide partnership strategies with banks, fintechs, and financial institutions.
• Lead enterprise due diligence processes and serve as the primary responder to compliance questionnaires and regulatory requests.
• Draft, negotiate, and finalize commercial agreements encompassing technology, API, licensing, outsourcing, and partnership arrangements.
• Analyze the legal implications of new product launches and feature rollouts in collaboration with Product, Risk, Engineering, and Compliance.
• Conduct in-depth legal research and interpret evolving regulations to update internal governance frameworks and policies.
• Monitor developments in financial services and digital asset regulations to provide strategic and actionable advice to leadership.
• Represent Bitpanda in external regulatory discussions and stakeholder engagements related to AFC and compliance oversight.
• Assess counterparties and contractual structures to ensure alignment with legal requirements and risk appetite.
• Develop and maintain documentation that supports audit trails and demonstrates robust compliance practices.
• Partner with the Product team to embed compliance requirements directly into commercial and technical specifications.
• Coordinate with Risk and Compliance to identify potential gaps and implement corrective actions proactively.
• Provide training and guidance to internal teams on AFC matters and the interpretation of relevant regulations.

Requirements

• University degree in Law is highly desirable.
• Professional experience in a legal, regulatory, compliance, or commercial advisory role within banking, fintech, payments, or digital assets.
• Proven ability to draft and review commercial agreements, MoUs, and confidentiality documents.
• Professional proficiency in both English and German.
• Demonstrated capability to communicate complex regulatory concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of contractual principles and the ability to identify key commercial and legal terms.
• Experience managing multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with European financial regulations such as MiCAR, MiFID, PSD2/PSD3, AML/CFT, or outsourcing requirements.
• Experience working directly with enterprise clients or strategic partners.

Skills & tools

• Commercial contract negotiation
• Regulatory advisory (AFC/AML/CFT)
• Stakeholder management
• Legal research and interpretation

Practical notes

This is a hybrid working model with no specified minimum days in the office. The position is based in Vienna, and the successful candidate is expected to be available for work within the Vienna area. There are no specific travel requirements or visa sponsorship considerations mentioned in the source material for this role. The compensation details are not provided in the source text, and therefore no salary range or equity information is listed on this page. Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications in accordance with the standard recruitment process for Bitpanda.

About the company

Based in Vienna, Bitpanda GmbH operates as a digital broker. Services include cryptocurrency trading, commodities, securities, and ETFs through web and mobile channels. Strong growth led to a valuation exceeding four billion US dollars in 2021, marking unicorn status as the first Austrian company to do so. Annual revenue grew from 98.66 million US dollars in 2022 to 161.81 million US dollars in 2023.