About KOHO
We’re on a mission to make financial services better for every Canadian. That means no hidden fees, no predatory interest rates - just financial products designed to help our users spend smart, save more, and build real wealth. We’re a performance organization with a strong heart: we care deeply about outcomes, and everything ties back to our mission - to financially empower a generation of Canadians.
At KOHO, we’re not your average 9-5. We believe real impact comes from people who are trusted, empowered, and supported to do their best work - without sacrificing their lives to do it. We prioritize work-life integration, not just work-life balance. That means asynchronous collaboration, flexible hours, and a remote-first setup built around autonomy and high trust.
KOHO is entering its next chapter - leaner, smarter, more AI-integrated. We’re building for impact, not bureaucracy. If you thrive in environments that value clarity, ownership, and bold thinking, you’ll fit right in.
About The Role
We’re looking for an accomplished Director to lead four connected pillars of KOHO’s Compliance function: the Financial Crime Office, Regulatory Relations, Complaints Management, and second-line Compliance Testing. Reporting to the Chief Compliance Officer, you will own how KOHO detects and disrupts financial crime, how we show up in front of our regulators, how we resolve customer complaints fairly, and how we independently test that our compliance controls actually work.
It is a broad mandate, and deliberately so — these are the areas where evidence matters most. You will bring the discipline, documentation quality, and executive presence to make KOHO’s control environment demonstrably effective, while keeping the customer experience in view.
What You’ll Be Doing
Financial Crime Office (Deputy Chief AML Officer)
-
Lead KOHO’s AML/ATF and sanctions compliance program in accordance with the PCMLTFA and its regulations, and own the enterprise money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions risk assessment.
-
Oversee transaction monitoring, alert and case management, enhanced due diligence, sanctions screening, and suspicious transaction reporting, including the quality and timeliness of regulatory reporting to FINTRAC.
-
Direct KYC and customer risk rating standards, and partner with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to close typology gaps between fraud and financial crime detection.
-
Own the two-year AML effectiveness review, resulting remediation, and financial crime training.
Regulatory Relations
-
Serve as the central point of coordination for regulators, owning the cadence, quality, and consistency of KOHO’s regulatory correspondence and submissions.
-
Lead the end-to-end management of regulatory examinations, reviews, and information requests, including planning, evidence collection, response quality control, and issue tracking.
-
Own the regulatory findings and commitments register, driving remediation to validated closure.
-
Maintain the inventory of regulatory filings and the record of regulatory engagement, and prepare executives and subject matter experts for regulatory meetings.
Complaints Management
-
Own KOHO’s enterprise complaints management program, including policy, procedures, escalation pathways, and service standards.
-
Oversee handling of escalated and designated complaints, ensuring fair, timely, well-reasoned outcomes and clear written responses to customers.
-
Manage case flow with the external complaints body and oversee reporting to the FCAC and other applicable authorities.
-
Deliver complaints reporting and root cause analysis, converting complaint themes into product, process, and disclosure improvements that advance fair treatment of customers.
Compliance Testing
-
Own the design and delivery of KOHO’s independent Compliance Testing Program, including methodology, quality standards, and reporting.
-
Develop the annual risk-based testing plan, scoped and prioritized from the regulatory obligations inventory and known risk concentrations; Collaborate with Operational Risk Management (ORM) on the selection of compliance controls.
-
Maintain a quality assurance process over testing outputs, including work performed by co-source or business process outsourcing partners, and report results and thematic conclusions into senior management and/or Board-level reporting.
Team Leadership and Industry Engagement
-
Lead, coach, and develop a multi-disciplinary team across financial crime, testing, and complaints, building bench strength and clear career paths.
-
Partner with Compliance Advisory and Privacy, Operational Risk, Internal Audit, Legal, and FIU to ensure integrated risk oversight.
-
Represent KOHO externally in industry associations, peer forums, and financial crime intelligence networks, staying ahead of emerging typologies, fraud trends, and regulatory developments.
-
Prepare and present decision-ready reporting to senior management and applicable Board-level committees.
AI, Automation and Innovation
-
Apply AI, machine learning, RPA, and advanced analytics to transaction monitoring tuning, alert triage, complaints classification, and compliance testing.
-
Lead the development of automated testing scripts, intelligent workflows, and advanced reporting to increase coverage.
-
Evaluate and implement emerging RegTech and financial crime technology, and maintain model governance and tuning documentation for detection systems.
Who You Are
-
You have 10+ years of experience across AML and financial crime, compliance testing or audit, regulatory relations, or complaints within financial services.
-
You have deep working knowledge of Canadian consumer protection, AML, retail banking or payments, and privacy legislation.
-
You have direct experience managing regulatory examinations or information requests, and you’re composed under that kind of scrutiny.
-
You bring rigour to evidence and documentation — you believe a control that cannot be demonstrated has not been performed — and you deliver unwelcome findings constructively.
-
You’ve worked in regulated fintech, neobank, or direct-to-consumer financial institutions, you’re passionate about empowering financial wellness, and a relevant designation (CAMS, CFE, CIA, CPA, CRCM, or equivalent) is an asset.
The budgeted salary range for this role is $190,000-230,000CAD / year.
At KOHO, we are dedicated to providing pay transparency to all candidates. Compensation at KOHO is determined through various factors including but not limited to: comparable salary market data within Canada, technical skill assessment, a holistic view of previous work history, and internal pay equity with other KOHO team members.
Job Description in French
About the Role
We are looking for an accomplished director to lead four interconnected pillars of KOHO’s Compliance function: the Financial Crime Office, Regulatory Relations, Complaints Management, and second-line Compliance Testing. Reporting to the Chief Compliance Officer, you will be responsible for how KOHO detects and disrupts financial crime, how it interacts with regulatory bodies, how it fairly handles customer complaints, and how it independently verifies that its compliance controls are truly effective.
This is intentionally a broad mandate: these are the areas where facts and evidence matter most. You will bring the rigour, documentation quality, and executive presence needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of KOHO’s control environment, while keeping the customer experience at the heart of your decisions.
What You Will Be Doing
Financial Crime Office
-
Lead KOHO’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/ATF) program, as well as sanctions compliance, in accordance with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and its regulations. Be responsible for the enterprise-wide assessment of money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions risks.
-
Supervise transaction monitoring, alert and case management, enhanced due diligence, sanctions screening, and suspicious transaction reporting, including the quality and timeliness of regulatory reports to FINTRAC.
-
Direct know-your-customer (KYC) standards and customer risk rating standards, and work with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to close gaps between fraud detection and financial crime detection.
-
Be responsible for the biennial review of AML program effectiveness, the resulting remediation follow-up, and financial crime training.
Regulatory Relations
-
Act as the central coordination point for regulators, and be responsible for the frequency, quality, and consistency of KOHO’s regulatory correspondence and filings.
-
Lead the end-to-end management of regulatory examinations, reviews, and information requests, including planning, evidence collection, quality control of responses, and issue tracking.
-
Be responsible for the register of regulatory findings and commitments, and drive remediation through to confirmed resolution.
-
Maintain the inventory of regulatory filings and the register of regulatory interactions, and prepare senior management and relevant specialists for regulatory meetings.
Complaints Management
-
Be responsible for KOHO’s company-wide complaints management program, including policies, procedures, escalation mechanisms, and service standards.
-
Supervise the handling of escalated complaints and designated complaints, ensuring decisions are fair, timely, and well-reasoned, and that written responses to clients are clear.
-
Manage case progression with the external complaints handling body, and oversee reporting to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and other competent authorities.
-
Produce complaint reports and root cause analyses, and turn observed trends into improvements to products, processes, and communications, in order to promote fair treatment of customers.
Compliance Testing
-
Be responsible for designing and running KOHO’s independent compliance testing program, including methodology, quality standards, and reporting.
-
Develop the annual risk-based testing plan, defining its scope and priorities based on the inventory of regulatory obligations and known risk concentrations. Work with Operational Risk Management (ORM) on selecting compliance controls.
-
Maintain a quality assurance process for testing results, including work performed by co-sourcing or business process outsourcing partners, and present results and thematic conclusions to senior management or in reports for the Board of Directors.
Team Leadership and Industry Engagement
-
Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary team in financial crime, compliance testing, and complaints management, building succession capacity and clear career paths.
-
Work with Compliance Advisory and Privacy, Operational Risk, Internal Audit, Legal Affairs, and FIU to ensure integrated risk oversight.
-
Represent KOHO externally with industry associations, peer groups, and financial crime intelligence networks, and stay informed about new typologies, fraud trends, and regulatory developments.
-
Prepare and present decision-oriented reports to senior management and relevant committees of the Board of Directors.
Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Innovation
-
Use artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation (RPA), and advanced analytics to optimize transaction monitoring calibration, alert triage, complaint classification, and compliance testing.
-
Lead the development of automated testing scripts, intelligent workflows, and advanced reporting to increase control coverage.
-
Evaluate and implement emerging regulatory technology (RegTech) and financial crime technology solutions, and maintain documentation on model governance and detection system calibration.
Candidate Profile
-
You have at least 10 years of experience in one or more of the following areas within financial services: anti-money laundering and financial crime, compliance testing or audit, regulatory relations, or complaints management.
-
You have a thorough knowledge of consumer protection in Canada, anti-money laundering, retail banking or payments, and privacy legislation.
-
You have direct experience managing regulatory examinations or information requests, and you remain calm and composed under this kind of pressure.
-
You demonstrate rigour in managing evidence and documentation — for you, a control that cannot be demonstrated has not been performed — and you know how to communicate unfavourable findings constructively.
-
You have worked in a regulated financial technology company, a neobank, or a financial institution serving consumers directly. You are committed to promoting financial wellness, and a relevant certification — CAMS, CFE, CIA, CPA, CRCM, or equivalent — is an asset.
KOHO is for builders.
If you are energized by challenge, motivated by mission, and want to be part of a team that punches above its weight, we want to hear from you.
The KOHO culture is one of collaboration, creativity, and diverse perspectives. We are committed to building and fostering an inclusive, accessible environment for everyone. If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding accessibility needs, please contact peopleaccessibility@koho.ca and the People and Culture team will be happy to help.
AI Disclosure: KOHO uses artificial intelligence (AI) in certain aspects of its recruitment process to screen, assess, or select applicants. For any questions or concerns, please contact us at talent@koho.ca.
Note: this posting is for an existing vacancy that we are seeking to fill.
#LI-Remote