Head of Risk & Compliance - Amsterdam

Our client is is a European digital asset trading platform for experienced traders and institutions, offering MiFID II-regulated spot and derivatives trading on a single platform. It serves as a regulated venue to bridge the gap between crypto and traditional finance, providing access to cash-settled derivatives, including perpetual futures, with high liquidity and institutional-grade technology.

They launched the EU’s first regulated crypto perpetual futures, the first of many new products in their pipeline.

The role

You will lead the Risk and Compliance functions end-to-end, setting strategy, building high-quality frameworks to ensure compliance with applicable regulations (including DORA), guiding day-to-day oversight, and partnering with leadership to enable safe, rapid growth. This is a hands-on role with direct impact on product, platform, and culture.

What you’ll do

• Set the strategy. Design and maintain their enterprise-wide Risk & Compliance strategy, governance, policies and controls across market, liquidity, counterparty/credit, operational/ICT, conduct, and financial crime.
• Own the frameworks. Build and continuously improve frameworks for: Risk Appetite & Limits, KRIs/KPIs, incident & issues management, TPRM/outsourcing, business continuity, and model/parameter governance (e.g., mark-pricing, liquidations, margin).
• Regulatory assurance. Ensure ongoing compliance with MiFID II, MiCAR, DORA, Wwft, reporting, audits, and inspections with relevant authorities.
• DORA leadership. Drive ICT risk management, operational resilience, incident response & management, testing, and reporting.
• Market integrity & surveillance. Oversee trade/market abuse surveillance and conduct controls; ensure robust monitoring, alerting, and escalation.
• Financial crime oversight. Provide independent oversight of KYC/KYB, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, blockchain analytics, Travel Rule, investigations, SAR/UTR decisioning and filings.
• Product governance. Coordinate product risk & compliance reviews (listings, derivatives, and new products), appropriateness/target market, disclosures.
• Data-driven risk reporting. Define KRIs and dashboards for real-time visibility; present clear, decision-ready reporting to Leadership (and relevant committees).
• Lead the team. Mentor and grow a high-performing Risk and Compliance teams, define objectives, and embed a strong, practical risk culture.
• Partnerships. Work closely with Engineering, Product, Trading Operations, and Legal to enable innovation with a “yes, if” attitude.

What you’ll bring

• Senior experience: 8+ years in Risk and/or Compliance within trading venues, brokerages, banks, or crypto/fintech, including recent leadership responsibility.
• Regulatory depth: Strong knowledge of MiFID II, MiCAR, DORA, Wwft.
• Markets & product savvy: Solid understanding of derivatives (ideally perpetual futures), market microstructure, liquidity risk, and venue-based clearing, comfortable with parameters like margin, liquidation, circuit breakers.
• Operational & ICT risk experience: Proven delivery of operational resilience, incident management, TPRM/outsourcing, business continuity.
• Surveillance oversight: Familiarity with market abuse surveillance, transaction monitoring, blockchain analytics, sanctions, Travel Rule, investigations, and reporting.
• Builder mindset: You’ve designed frameworks, implemented tooling, and scaled teams; you’re comfortable moving between detail and strategy.
• Clear communicator: Able to translate complexity into recommendations for executives and regulators.
• Tools (nice-to-have): Experience with Chainalysis, SteelEye (or similar), Notabene, Fireblocks, Cloud/IaC environments.
• Credentials: FRM/PRM/CFA/ICA/CAMS or equivalent a plus.
• Languages: Business-level English required, Dutch is an advantage.

What they offer

• Competitive salary in a fast-growing, regulated crypto venue.
• Ownership & autonomy: We hire leaders. Scope to shape strategy, team, and tooling.
• High impact: Direct line to the CEO and Board; your work underpins their growth and licence to operate.
• Hybrid working in a collaborative, entrepreneurial environment.