Compliance, Licensing & Strategic Initiatives

About the role

You will own the strategic design and end-to-end execution of Kalshi's most critical regulatory expansion initiatives as we enter new products, payment rails, and global jurisdictions. You will drive Kalshi's bank and trust charter strategy, including the active evaluation and potential pursuit of an OCC national trust bank or national bank charter. You will translate ambiguous regulatory questions into clear, executable roadmaps and own the detailed diligence, applications, and documentation required to secure licenses. You will serve as the central cross-functional owner for major licensing initiatives, coordinating across Compliance, Legal, Finance, Product, Operations, and executive leadership. If Kalshi obtains a bank or trust charter, you will help design and operationalize the entity's compliance program and governance frameworks. You will evaluate licensing implications for potential acquisitions, investments, partnerships, or entry into new regulated businesses. You will conduct deep regulatory and competitive landscape analysis and translate findings into clear, actionable recommendations for senior leadership. You will build and drive execution plans for ambiguous strategic initiatives, establishing milestones and dependencies to see complex workstreams through to completion.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Own Kalshi's licensing and charter initiatives end-to-end, with an initial focus on evaluating and potentially pursuing an OCC national trust bank or national bank charter.
• Develop licensing strategies for new products, payment rails, custody capabilities, stablecoin-related infrastructure, jurisdictions, and regulated business models.
• Prepare and coordinate regulatory applications, supporting documentation, policies, business plans, governance materials, and other materials required for licensing and charter processes.
• Serve as a central cross-functional owner across Compliance, Legal, Finance, Product, Operations, and executive leadership for major licensing initiatives.
• Manage regulatory diligence workstreams and coordinate with outside counsel, consultants, regulators, banking partners, and other external stakeholders.
• Evaluate licensing implications associated with potential acquisitions, investments, partnerships, or entry into new regulated businesses.
• Conduct regulatory and competitive landscape analysis and translate findings into clear recommendations for senior leadership.
• Build execution plans for ambiguous strategic initiatives, establish milestones and dependencies, and drive workstreams through completion.
• If Kalshi obtains a bank or trust charter, help design and operationalize the entity's compliance program.
• Take on other high-priority strategic compliance initiatives as Kalshi's business and regulatory footprint expand.
• Partner with commercial and product teams to assess market opportunities and ensure regulatory feasibility assessments are integrated into go-to-market decisions.
• Monitor evolving regulatory trends and supervisory expectations to proactively identify impacts on Kalshi's business model and product roadmap.
• Lead the development of regulatory risk assessments, control frameworks, and policy documentation required for licensure and ongoing compliance.
• Coordinate the collection and analysis of regulatory metrics and reporting to support oversight by executive leadership and the board.

Requirements

• 8-12 years of relevant experience in financial-services compliance, regulatory licensing, bank regulatory matters, fintech, crypto, payments, or related fields.
• Direct, substantive experience working on an OCC national trust bank or national bank charter application, ideally within a fintech, crypto, payments, or other technology-driven financial-services company.
• Experience owning complex regulatory licensing processes from initial assessment through application, regulator engagement, remediation, and approval.
• Strong understanding of bank or trust regulatory frameworks, licensing requirements, governance expectations, and compliance program design.
• Demonstrated ability to independently take ambiguous regulatory or strategic questions and turn them into clear recommendations and executable workplans.
• Strong project-management skills with the ability to drive multiple complex, cross-functional workstreams simultaneously.
• Excellent written communication skills and comfort producing regulator-facing applications, memoranda, policies, presentations, and executive-level recommendations.
• Comfortable working directly with senior executives, regulators, outside counsel, and other financial-services stakeholders.
• Highly organized self-starter capable of managing high-stakes deliverables under tight regulatory timelines.
• Detail-oriented with strong judgment and the ability to exercise discretion when handling confidential regulatory matters.
• Willingness to engage deeply with regulators and financial institutions to advance Kalshi's licensing objectives.

Nice to have

• Experience with state-level licensing requirements for money transmission, trust, or bank-like activities.
• Familiarity with emerging crypto and stablecoin regulatory frameworks and their intersection with traditional banking.
• Knowledge of OCC charter processes, community development goals, and regulatory examinations.
• Experience supporting M&A due diligence related to financial services, licensing, and regulatory compliance.

Practical notes

This role is based in the New York Office. The engagement is full-time.