Licence Expansion Manager - North America
Nium
San Francisco, CA, USA
USD 130k-180k / year + Equity
The Role
We're looking for a driven Licence Expansion Manager – North America to own Nium's regulatory licensing strategy across the United States and Canada. You will lead Nium's efforts to obtain, activate, and operationalise its US Money Transmission Licence (MTL) programme, pursue crypto-specific licences and variations on a state-by-state basis, and support Nium's integration with Canada's real-time payment infrastructure.
This is a high-impact, execution-focused role that sits at the intersection of regulatory strategy, licensing operations, and cross-functional delivery. You will collaborate closely with Legal, Compliance, Product, Treasury, Tech, Ops, and Commercial teams to deliver successful market launches across North America. We’re looking for individuals with a regulatory background (be that legal or compliance) who have a hands-on operator / product mindset.
What You'll Own
Working with the Head of Global Expansion, you will execute Nium's North America licence roadmap across four core workstreams:
1. US Money Transmission Licences (MTLs)
Lead the end-to-end strategy and application process to obtain outstanding US MTLs, with a particular focus on securing licences in California and New York.
Manage regulator relationships, respond to examiner queries, and drive applications to completion with minimal delay.
Track and manage all MTL applications across states, maintaining a live view of status, timelines, risks, and costs.
Coordinate with external counsel and internal stakeholders to ensure application quality and completeness.
2. MTL Activation and Operationalisation
Transition states currently operating under a bank partner programme onto Nium's own MTL as licences are obtained, working cross-functionally to ensure operational readiness.
Define and execute the activation playbook for each state, covering compliance obligations, product configuration, treasury requirements, and go-live processes.
Identify and resolve blockers to operationalisation, including bond requirements, net worth obligations, reporting cadences, and agent registration.
Maintain a clear state-by-state activation tracker and report progress to the Head of Global Expansion and senior leadership.
3. Crypto-Specific Licences and Variations
Identify states where Nium's product suite requires a crypto-specific licence or a variation to an existing MTL (e.g. BitLicence in New York, virtual currency transmitter endorsements).
Lead applications and regulatory engagement for crypto licence variations on a state-by-state basis, working closely with Legal and Product.
Monitor evolving US state-level crypto licensing requirements and proactively assess impact on Nium's licensing posture.
Engage with regulators on the regulatory treatment of stablecoins and digital asset transmission where relevant to Nium's roadmap.
4. Canada – Real-Time Rails and Interac Integration
Support Nium's integration with Payments Canada's Real-Time Rail (RTR) and the Interac network, working alongside Product and Tech to navigate regulatory and membership requirements.
Engage with Payments Canada, Interac, and relevant Canadian regulators to understand access models, participation requirements, and compliance obligations.
Coordinate internal readiness for Canadian real-time payment capabilities, ensuring alignment across Legal, Compliance, Treasury, and Product.
Identify and manage any licensing or registration requirements arising from expanded Canadian payment capabilities.
Across all workstreams:
Track budgets, risks, and timelines, and report on a periodic basis to the Head of Global Expansion and senior leadership.
Build strong relationships with state and federal regulators across the US and Canada.
Contribute to Nium's broader global licensing strategy and share North America market intelligence with the wider expansion team.
What We're Looking For
5+ years of experience in the legal, compliance, or consulting space, with direct exposure to US financial services regulation.
Proven experience managing US state money transmission licence applications — from preparation and submission through to approval.
Strong understanding of US MTL frameworks, including state-specific requirements, surety bonds, net worth obligations, and examination processes.
Experience with crypto or virtual currency licensing at the state level (e.g. New York BitLicence, or equivalent) is highly desirable.
Familiarity with Canadian payment systems, including Payments Canada, Interac, and the Real-Time Rail, is a strong advantage.
Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-workstream licensing programmes in a fast-moving environment.
Experience working directly with regulators, including managing examiners and responding to regulatory queries.
Strong commercial and project management skills, with the ability to drive execution across cross-functional teams.
Experience in fintech, payments, e-money, cards, or stablecoins is strongly preferred.
About You
- Hands-on with a “whatever it takes” attitude
Execution-focused and highly accountable
Comfortable navigating regulatory complexity across multiple US states simultaneously
Commercially minded and data-driven
Able to influence across global and regional teams
Excited to build in a fast-moving, high-growth environment
Nium is a fast-moving and flat organisation. We have a growing presence in North America and are at a pivotal stage of our US licensing journey. To be successful in this role you should be comfortable operating in ambiguity and taking ownership of decision making. In addition, you should be:
Location
This role is based in our New York or San Francisco offices. We are open to applications from Canada with the appropriate experience. Travel is required and essential for this role, including to state regulators across the US and to Canada.
Salary
This is a manager / senior manager level role with a salary range of $130,000 – $180,000 USD depending on experience and location.