Senior Manager - Compliance Governance

Mercury is building radically different banking and offering a complete finance stack for startups and business owners. We work hard to create the easiest and safest banking* experience possible to simplify entrepreneurs’ and business owners’ financial lives. At Mercury, compliance is a strategic function. We have a modern approach where teams move fast and compliance provides the frameworks, systems, and regulatory expertise that make that speed sustainable while protecting our customers and earning their trust.

We're hiring a Senior Manager, Compliance Governance to lead the core programs of Mercury's Compliance Management System: compliance risk assessment, enterprise policy governance, enterprise compliance training, and compliance reporting, along with oversight of compliance issues. This leader will mature these programs to meet the expectations of a regulated bank and lead them through regulatory examinations. Mercury has obtained a provisional national bank charter and is currently building towards final approval.

This role is well-suited for someone who knows what regulators expect from a CMS and can adapt established frameworks to how Mercury actually operates. The individual will lead a team of compliance professionals, be a key leader within Mercury's Compliance team, and operate in a highly collaborative environment. The role involves especially close coordination across the Compliance function, with partnership with Enterprise Risk, Legal, Internal Audit, executive leadership, and our banking* partners.

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Compliance Governance team: set priorities, hold a high bar, and develop your team’s capabilities.

• Own the compliance risk assessment, including methodology, execution, and alignment with Mercury's enterprise risk framework.

• Own enterprise policy governance: the policy lifecycle, standards, and ownership across Mercury.

• Own enterprise compliance training: a risk-based curriculum that measures whether training works, not just whether people completed it.

• Oversee compliance issues within Mercury's enterprise issues management program, partnering with Enterprise Risk Management on identification, remediation, and validation.

• Design and deliver compliance reporting to executive leadership and governance committees, with metrics that show whether programs are working.

• Support exam and audit readiness for the CMS. 

• Provide credible challenge across the business and escalate when it's warranted.

• Use technology and automation to make governance programs scalable, measurable, and less manual.

• Partner across Compliance (Advisory, Oversight & Monitoring, Financial Crimes) and with Risk, Legal, and Internal Audit.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in compliance or risk management at a fintech, bank, or other regulated financial institution, including 3+ years leading teams

• Hands-on experience owning core CMS components, such as compliance risk assessment, policy governance, training, compliance reporting, or issues management

• Experience leading or playing a central role in regulatory examinations, including managing requests, engaging with examiners, and responding to findings

• Broad knowledge of banking regulations, including consumer protection and BSA/AML, sufficient to provide credible challenge with subject matter experts

• Demonstrated ability to present compliance programs to, and persuade, executive leadership, Board committees, banking partners, and regulators

• Pragmatic judgment, with the ability to tell which framework requirements are non-negotiable and which can be tailored to the business

• Strong understanding of 1LOD/2LOD roles and how Compliance should govern, challenge, and partner with the business

• Proficient with AI tools, or eager to get there, to drive efficiency in compliance work

• Willingness to roll up your sleeves, with a high quality bar and a strong sense of ownership

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• CRCM or a comparable compliance certification

• Familiarity with enterprise and operational risk management frameworks

• Expe