Head of KYC

Ready to do the most impactful work of your career? At Coinbase, we are uncompromising on our mission to increase economic freedom. The bar is high, the environment is intense, and we like it that way. This isn't a place for complacency, it’s a place to be pushed past your perceived limits. If you're ready to build the future of finance alongside people who refuse to settle for "good enough," you belong here. Coinbase is a remote-first, but not remote-only company. Expect to get together quarterly for intense in-person working sessions called “surges.” learn more about working at Coinbase.

As the Senior Manager, Head of KYC within Central Compliance, you'll own the global strategy, policy, and program execution for KYC across all Coinbase regulated entities. The KYC function operates as a shared services model, providing compliance advisory to Coinbase's global business lines. You'll serve as Coinbase's subject matter expert and senior escalation point for KYC, driving program design across jurisdictions, managing a team of KYC professionals, and partnering with operations, business, product, and regulatory stakeholders to ensure Coinbase's KYC program scales with the business while meeting evolving global regulatory requirements.

What you’ll do:

• Own the end-to-end strategic direction of Coinbase's Global KYC program, including policy development, program implementation, advisory support, and enterprise-wide process design across all regulated entities.
• Lead a team of KYC professionals across second-line compliance supporting program design, setting performance standards, developing talent, and ensuring consistent execution across jurisdictions.
• Drive KYC issue management and resolution globally, providing oversight of corrective actions, systemic enhancements, and first-line KYC function performance.
• Partner with sales, coverage, account management, customer experience, product, and engineering teams to design and implement KYC initiatives for new product and jurisdiction launches.
• Serve as the Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) for regulatory reporting and correspondence related to global KYC program inquiries, and deliver senior management and executive-level reporting on KPIs and program health.
• Shape the interpretation and implementation of global KYC requirements in collaboration with Legal and Compliance colleagues and business stakeholders, designing scalable solutions that balance regulatory compliance with business velocity.

Required Skills and Experience:

• 10+ years of experience managing, designing, and implementing KYC programs at a financial institution, including direct people management experience, preferably with digital assets and/or fintech exposure.
• Deep knowledge of global AML, CTF, and sanctions regulations (e.g., BSA, USA PATRIOT Act, FinCEN CDD Rule, 4MLD/5MLD/6MLD, OFAC sanctions) and demonstrated ability to translate regulatory requirements into scalable KYC program design across multiple jurisdictions.
• Proven track record of building and scaling a global KYC program from design through execution, including policy development, risk-based frameworks, and operational process implementation.
• Experience serving as a senior escalation point for KYC/onboarding matters, with the ability to advise on client risk, provide regulatory guidance to cross-functional teams, and represent the KYC function to regulators and senior leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to manage concurrent regulatory initiatives, jurisdiction launches, and program enhancements in a matrixed environment while delivering executive-level reporting on program performance.
• Utilizes generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.