Director, Compliance Product Advisory

About the role

The role delivers compliance and risk oversight for product initiatives, guiding design and implementation toward responsible financial services. The position translates regulatory expectations into practical product requirements that align with business goals and customer outcomes. You will act as the compliance conscience for product teams, ensuring that innovation does not outpace risk controls or consumer protection standards. The hire will own the interpretation and application of regulations across the product lifecycle, from ideation to launch and ongoing optimization. You will establish guardrails that allow teams to move quickly while maintaining integrity and adherence to rules. Success in this role is defined by the ability to prevent regulatory exposure before it emerges and to foster a culture of compliance through influence rather than direct authority. You will partner closely with business leaders to balance growth ambitions with prudent risk management.

Key facts

What you'll do

Evaluate regulatory risk within product frameworks, identifying existing conditions and potential changes that could affect strategy.

Collaborate with Product and Legal teams to design solutions that manage risk while advancing product objectives and market opportunities.

Represent Upgrade to bank partners and regulators on compliance matters, coordinating responses and documentation for internal stakeholders.

Analyze macro-level risk trends to detect signs of changing risk levels and breakdowns in process controls.

Provide precise and tailored written communication to stakeholders, ensuring clarity and alignment across functions.

Use clear and adaptable verbal communication to convey complex regulatory concepts to audiences across the organization.

Apply project management, critical thinking, and analytical skills consistently to meet delivery timelines and quality standards.

Sustain independent views while remaining collaborative with business stakeholders to ensure objective oversight.

Organize work with attention to detail to ensure accuracy, reliability, and consistency in execution.

Exercise effective negotiation skills and adopt a proactive, no surprises approach when communicating issues or escalations.

Lead or support the development of policies, procedures, and controls that align with regulatory expectations.

Champion a culture of compliance by embedding responsible financial services principles into product decisions.

Monitor execution in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment, adapting to shifting priorities and regulatory demands.

Contribute to the continuous improvement of compliance frameworks, using data and insights to drive better outcomes.

Requirements

A bachelor's degree is required as a minimum educational qualification for this role.

10+ years of consumer financial services compliance experience is required.

Mortgage, HELOC, or dedicated home improvement lending experience is required.

Credit card product experience is a plus.

Effective negotiation skills are essential when communicating issues and tradeoffs to stakeholders.

A proactive, no surprises approach is used to elevate risks early and manage expectations.

Independent views must be sustained while remaining collaborative with business stakeholders.

Execution must occur in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment with changing priorities.

Risk trends are analyzed at a macro level to identify signs of changing risk levels and process control breakdowns.

Clear, adaptable verbal communication is used with audiences across the organization.

Written communication is precise and tailored to stakeholders to ensure understanding and alignment.

Project management, critical thinking, and analytical skills are applied consistently to drive results.

Organization and attention to detail ensure accuracy and reliability in deliverables and decisions.

Nice to have

Prior fintech experience is a plus.

General knowledge of compliance and risk management in consumer financial services applies.

Credit card product experience is a plus.

Practical notes

Information is handled securely to safeguard company and customer data.

Typical interview steps include a strategy case, a people scenario, and a values conversation.

Candidates may be asked to turn around a struggling team or plan for growth.

Past results are examined closely, especially how decisions were made and their consequences.

Interviewers dig into specific decisions you made and their outcomes.

Preparing two or three decision stories with numbers and lessons is the best use of time.

Career growth

Leadership careers move from manager to senior manager, director, and executive roles.

Each step adds more scope and more responsibility for outcomes.

The best leaders keep learning how to delegate, communicate, and decide effectively.

Leadership careers reward a record of building and developing people over time.

The higher you advance, the more your communication shapes the entire organization.

Questions to ask

Good questions to ask the employer include what success looks like in the first six months, how the team is structured, and what the current biggest challenge is.

Asking about the review process and growth paths is also well received.

Employers expect questions, and well-prepared questions demonstrate readiness and interest.

About the company

An upgrade is the result of improving something by replacing part of it or adding additional parts. For example, one can upgrade a computer by replacing the CPU with a faster one and by adding more RAM, and afterwards, the computer is an upgrade. Although often used in the context of technology, anything can be upgraded (improved).