Principal: Compliance & Regulatory

About Cellulant:

Cellulant is Africa’s leading payments company, providing seamless, secure and innovative solutions that empower businesses, banks, and global brands to thrive in a fast-changing global economy.

With a presence in over 24 countries and 200+ payment methods across cards, bank transfer and mobile money, our single API payment platform, Tingg, simplifies collections, disbursements, and reconciliations. It processes over 1 million transactions daily for market leaders in various sectors, such as Airlines, Telecoms, E-commerce, Ride-Hailing, Retail, and Remittances. By simplifying how people pay and get paid, we drive trust, commerce and scale – and connect companies to their ambitions.

Our Story:

Across Africa, payments are more than transactions. They are gateways to prosperity, connecting people, businesses and communities to opportunities and growth.

From enabling a logistics company in Lusaka to pay suppliers across borders, to enabling a hospitality brand in Lagos to scale effortlessly, to supporting an airline in Nairobi to reconcile payments from multiple platforms, Cellulant is the bridge that makes it all possible.

Through trusted technology and customer-centric innovation, we build connections that inspire progress, strengthen economies and transform payments into a tool for progress.

Since our founding in 2003, we've continuously adapted and grown, leveraging our experiences to simplify payments for businesses. We are driven by an unshakable belief that seamless people-centred payments are the key to unlocking prosperity.

Today, Cellulant powers online and offline payment processing, allowing businesses to collect payments, send payouts, and accelerate business growth.

Our Mission:

To deliver seamless, secure and innovative payment solutions for businesses.

Our Vision:

To create a connected world where businesses move money as easily as they share ideas.

Role Overview:

The Principal: Regulatory & Compliance is the organisation’s the regulatory authority in Ghana. The mandate is to secure regulatory stability within higher-intensity enforcement environments while enabling disciplined expansion across common-law and civil-law jurisdictions.

This role combines regulatory authority engagement, multi-jurisdiction harmonisation, and business-enabling compliance architecture.

Geographic Scope:

Primary Hub: Ghana

Markets Covered: Ghana/Nigeria or as appropriate.

Primary Regulatory Engagement Includes:

• Bank of Ghana
• Central Bank of Nigeria
• BCEAO

The region operates within mixed common-law and civil-law systems, including centralised monetary authorities and high enforcement intensity markets.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Proactive Regulatory Diplomacy

• Build structured, high-frequency engagement models with central banks, financial intelligence units, and sector regulators.
• Maintain a regulator relationship map and engagement cadence plan.
• Lead informal pre-consultations before new product launches or licensing applications.
• Represent the company in fintech associations and regulatory working groups across East Africa.
• Resolve potential regulatory concerns through early dialogue before escalation.

Success Measure: No material regulatory summons or enforcement actions.

2. Licensing & Market Expansion Strategy

• Design regulatory roadmaps for new country entry within the East African and Southern African cluster.
• Lead end-to-end licensing applications (PSP, remittance, EMI, etc.).
• Partner with Growth and Product teams to sequence expansion based on regulatory feasibility.
• Provide structured “grey space” analysis where regulation is ambiguous, outlining risk-adjusted options for ExCo.
• Ensure zero regulatory friction at product launch.

Success Measure: On-time license approvals and no launch delays attributable to compliance gaps.

3. Regional Compliance Oversight

• Localise Group AML/CFT, data protection, safeguarding, and outsourcing frameworks.
• Conduct periodic compliance health checks across markets.
• Own the regional regulatory reporting calendar (100% on-time submissions).
• Lead regulator inspections and coordinate remediation responses.
• Ensure consistent application of Group compliance standards across the region.

Success Measure: No repeat audit findings; no material fines.

4. Legal-by-Design Product Governance

• Participate in early product design forums.
• Review cross-border settlement models for FX and payment regulatory compliance.
• Provide written regulatory risk memoranda for new rails and features.
• Approve compliance positioning for pilots and phased rollouts.

5. Regulatory Risk Intelligence

• Maintain a regulatory change tracker across East Africa.
• Conduct impact assessments for new circulars and directives.
• Escalate structural risks to Executive Committee and Board forums.
• Develop crisis playbooks (license suspension, regulatory investigation scenarios).

Educational and Experience Requirements:

• 8–10+ years’ experience in Regulatory Affairs, Legal, or Compliance within fintech, payments, or banking.
• Direct experience securing and maintaining PSP or equivalent licenses in East Africa.
• Demonstrated engagement with the Central Bank of Kenya and peer regulators.
• Strong understanding of AML/CFT, data protection, and payments regulation.
• Degree in Law, Finance, or related field; professional certifications (CAMS, ICA) preferred.
  
  

Core Competencies:

• Regulatory diplomacy.
• Structured risk assessment.
• Cross-functional stakeholder influence.
• Commercial judgement within risk appetite.
• Executive-level written advisory capability.
  
  

Performance Indicators:

• Zero major regulatory sanctions.
• 90%+ license approvals within planned timelines.
• 100% on-time regulatory submissions.
• Positive commercial feedback on regulatory enablement.
• Strengthened regulator relationship index year-on-year.

Why Work for Us?

At Cellulant, we are more than a payments company: we are bridge-builders. We believe that by simplifying the way people pay and get paid, we are connecting companies to their ambitions, people to opportunities, and Africa to the global economy. Our work goes beyond payments—it’s about what people, businesses, and communities can do when the movement of money becomes more dependable, seamless, and secure.

Some exciting things about us...

• We have an extensive footprint: We have an office presence in 10 countries, and our products serve 24 countries across Africa, with a global workforce of about 300 employees.
• We believe innovation is at the heart of Fintech: Thousands of market leaders and top enterprises trust our technology to power their payments. Our customers are in various sectors, including financial services, travel and hospitality, telecom, e-commerce, remittance companies, SaaS, and the gig economy.
• We support a diverse and inclusive workforce: We focus on the growth and development of our employees through well-developed, individualised career paths, ensuring you reach your full potential in a supportive and delivery-oriented environment.
• We put our employees first: At Cellulant, your contribution is rewarded competitively. We use clear career levels and role titles, and benchmark our base pay against data and a well-established internal process. Your actual salary will reflect your experience, skills, impact and the scope of the role, as well as our business needs and prevailing market conditions. We also offer generous personal time off, and medical and life insurance benefits (markets permitting).
• We seek collaborative builders: At Cellulant, we believe that great ideas happen when we come together. Therefore, we nurture a collaborative work environment that challenges, engages, and empowers each person to contribute to the growth and success of the business.
• We solve Africa's digital economy: We’re solving payment challenges on the continent to create opportunities and accelerate economic growth for all of Africa.
  
  

Cellulant is an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, employ, develop and reward our people on the basis of merit, competence and business need. We do not discriminate against any employee, worker or applicant on any ground prohibited by the law of the country in which they are employed, and we are committed to a workplace built on fairness, dignity and respect for everyone.
If you need assistance completing an application, accessing our website, or require reasonable accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process, please contacthr@cellulant.io.