Hybrid Director – Head of Employee Compliance

at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group

• Job title: Director – Head of Employee Compliance
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: $198,000 - $240,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Jersey City, United States

About the role

• Head of Employee Compliance leading the Employee Compliance Program for SMBC’s Americas Division. Managing a team and overseeing employee registrations, trading, and compliance activities.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead the Employee Compliance Program across the Americas Division, serving as the primary escalation point for complex matters and sensitive decisions.
• Manage and develop a team of managers and professionals responsible for core program areas including employee registrations, personal trading, outside business activities, and political contributions.
• Set program strategy and priorities in partnership with the Head of the Ethics Office, translating risk themes into a clear annual plan and measurable outcomes.
• Strengthen the control environment by defining standards, procedures, and escalation thresholds; ensuring consistent execution and timely remediation of issues.
• Build a metrics-driven program by establishing and monitoring key indicators (e.g., timeliness, quality, exception trends, control effectiveness) and using insights to continuously improve.
• Drive process and productivity improvements through simplification, targeted automation, and pragmatic change management—reducing friction while increasing control effectiveness.
• Partner across the firm (Front Office, Technology, Compliance, HR, Operations, and Legal) to solve problems quickly, influence decisions, and deliver aligned outcomes.
• Ensure readiness for audit and testing by maintaining strong documentation, evidence, and issue management discipline; coordinate effectively with Internal Audit and Monitoring & Testing.
• Oversee third-party and vendor support where applicable, including service performance, controls, and adherence to third-party risk management requirements.
• Lead with high standards—mentoring talent, providing clear feedback, and fostering a culture of accountability, integrity, and sound judgment.

Requirements

• 10+ years of relevant experience in employee compliance, an ethics office, or a closely related compliance function within a financial services environment.
• Proven people leader with experience building, coaching, and retaining strong teams; able to create clarity, accountability, and high performance.
• Deep program ownership mindset—able to run a large control program end-to-end (policy/process design, execution, governance, metrics, issue management).
• Strong working knowledge of employee compliance risk areas (e.g., personal trading, outside business activities, political contributions, registrations/licensing) and how these intersect with conflicts of interest and conduct risk.
• Exceptional judgment and discretion handling highly confidential matters with integrity and professionalism.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills—able to influence at senior levels and translate complex topics into clear, practical guidance.
• Strong execution and project management capability—comfortable managing multiple priorities, deadlines, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Analytical and detail-oriented with the ability to identify trends, diagnose root causes, and implement sustainable fixes.
• Comfort with data and systems—able to partner with Technology, improve data quality, and leverage reporting/automation to enhance control effectiveness.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred; advanced degree a plus. FINRA registration a plus.

Benefits

• competitive portfolio of benefits