Head of Compliance

Job Description

Who We Are:

Alpaca is a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure for stocks, ETFs, options, crypto, fixed income, ²⁴⁄₅ trading, and more. Our recent Series D funding round brought our total investment to over $320 million, fueling our ambitious vision.

Amongst our subsidiaries, Alpaca is a licensed financial services company, serving hundreds of financial institutions across 40 countries with our institutional-grade APIs. This includes broker-dealers, investment advisors, wealth managers, hedge funds, and crypto exchanges, totalling over 9 million brokerage accounts.

Our global team is a diverse group of experienced engineers, traders, and brokerage professionals who are working to achieve our mission of opening financial services to everyone on the planet. We’re deeply committed to open-source contributions and fostering a vibrant community, continuously enhancing our award-winning, developer-friendly API and the robust infrastructure behind it.

Alpaca is proudly backed by top-tier global investors, including Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Unbound, SBI Group, Derayah Financial, Elefund, and Y Combinator.

Our Team Members:

We’re a dynamic team of 230+ globally distributed members who thrive working from our favorite places around the world, with teammates spanning the USA, Canada, Japan, Hungary, Nigeria, Brazil, the UK, and beyond!

We’re searching for passionate individuals eager to contribute to Alpaca’s rapid growth. If you align with our core values—Stay Curious, Have Empathy, and Be Accountable—and are ready to make a significant impact, we encourage you to apply.

Your Role:

Alpaca Singapore is seeking an experienced Head of Compliance to lead all compliance, AML/CFT, and regulatory governance functions for our Singapore-licensed entity. This individual will serve as the primary Compliance Officer and key liaison with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), ensuring that Alpaca’s operations remain aligned with applicable laws, regulatory expectations, and internal governance standards. This is a senior leadership role requiring deep experience in Singapore’s securities and brokerage regulatory landscape, excellent risk judgment, and strong cross-functional partnership skills.

Key Responsibilities

Regulatory Compliance Leadership

• Serve as the Primary Compliance Officer for Alpaca Singapore, ensuring ongoing adherence to MAS regulations, licensing obligations, and relevant notices and guidelines (e.g., SFA, FAA, AML/CFT Notices, Outsourcing).
• Maintain a comprehensive compliance framework and compliance monitoring plan tailored to Alpaca’s brokerage and technology-driven business model.
• Interpret new and evolving regulatory requirements, assess impact on business operations, and lead timely implementation across teams.
• Prepare, review, and submit all regulatory filings, notifications, returns, and responses to MAS.
• Act as the key point of contact for MAS on compliance matters, including inspections, thematic reviews, queries, and follow-ups.

AML/CFT & Sanctions Oversight

• Serve as AML Officer and MLRO.
• Oversee the end-to-end AML/CFT program, including customer onboarding, KYC, CDD/EDD, ongoing monitoring, transaction surveillance, suspicious transaction reporting (STRs), and sanctions screening.
• Maintain policies and procedures in line with MAS AML/CFT requirements and evolving global regulatory expectations.
• Ensure effectiveness of surveillance systems, suspicious activity escalation processes, and training programs.
• Provide timely reporting to MAS, senior management, and the board on AML/CFT matters.

Compliance Operations, Policies & Governance

• Develop and maintain compliance policies, procedures, and internal controls tailored to Alpaca’s brokerage and platform business.
• Establish governance structures, reporting lines, advisory processes, and escalation channels for regulatory, conduct, and operational compliance issues.
• Oversee compliance training programs for Singapore staff and relevant HQ functions supporting local operations.
• Support new product and business initiatives by providing compliance risk assessments and regulatory guidance.
• Lead internal compliance reviews, thematic assessments, and remediation of control gaps.

Risk Management & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Legal, Technology Risk, Operations, and global teams to ensure regulatory compliance is embedded throughout the business.
• Provide second-line oversight of operational, conduct, and technology risks relevant to the SG entity.
• Support incident management processes, ensuring compliance with regulatory reporting timelines and expectations.
• Contribute to board and management committee reporting, ensuring transparency of compliance risks and controls.

What Success Looks Like

• A strong, well-documented compliance framework that meets MAS expectations and supports business growth.
• Smooth, professional interactions with MAS with proactive management of regulatory obligations.
• Effective AML/CFT operations with timely detection, escalation, and reporting of suspicious activities.
• Strong cross-functional partnerships enabling compliant product launches, operations, and technology deployments.
• A culture of compliance embedded across the Singapore entity.

How We Take Care of You:

• Competitive Salary & Stock Options
• Health Benefits
• New Hire Home-Office Setup: One-time USD $500
• Monthly Stipend: USD $150 per month via a Brex Card

Alpaca is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace dedicated to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce.

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