Senior Director of Compliance, Upgrade
$200-270k
+ Stock option plan + Equity
Offering responsible credit to mainstream consumers
Job no longer available
Offering responsible credit to mainstream consumers
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$200-270k
+ Stock option plan + Equity
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help our customers move in the right direction with responsible financial products that put more money in their pocket.
Role
Who you are
- 10+ years of consumer financial services compliance experience
- Strong leadership and people management skills
- Effective negotiation skills, a proactive and “no surprises” approach in communicating issues, and strength in sustaining independent views
- Ability to execute in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment
- Ability to analyze risk trends at a macro level, identifying signs of changing risk levels and/or symptoms of process control breakdowns
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to effectively shift communication styles based on audience
- Solid project management, critical thinking and analytical skills
- Highly organized and detail-oriented
- Prior experience in fintech a plus
What the job involves
- Upgrade Compliance is seeking a Senior Director to lead its CMS Program, which includes core compliance program functions such as monitoring and testing, risk assessment, policy development, and issue management and corrective action. The Compliance Program Office works with stakeholders across Upgrade to ensure that compliance controls are implemented and functioning appropriately. This position has significant potential to scale as Upgrade continues to grow
- Plan, lead and execute all compliance monitoring and testing, policy development, and risk assessment activities at Upgrade
- Oversee remediation of complex compliance issues involving a range of compliance, legal and business stakeholders
- Manage and lead a team of compliance professionals
- Oversee identification and assessment of key consumer compliance and financial crimes risks
- Develop and maintain company-wide compliance policies and procedures
- Provide key risk and compliance reporting to executive and board leadership
- Act as a subject matter expert on consumer financial services laws and regulations
- Represent Upgrade on key regulatory, audit, and bank partner issues as needed
Our take
Most credit cards don't encourage the owner to pay down their debt. The longer it takes to pay off the balance, the more money lenders are set to make. Upgrade is an online lender and card issuer doing things differently. The company offers personal loans and credit cards, but with a fixed instalment structure and a set number of equal payments. This ensures the balance reduces every month.
The company believes this model reduces default rates, as borrowers are forced to pay down rather than maintain their debt, and it encourages a greater commitment to repay the balance. Further, by combining the ease of a Visa card with the fixed payments and decreased rates of a personal loan, Upgrade sets itself apart from competitors.
In 2021, Upgrade launched its mobile banking and debit card to onboard new customers and increase loyalty. The fixed-rate nature of the company's cards is expected to be of use to customers in future years in an environment of rising rates. Off the back of impressive growth milestones in 2025, the company raised $165 million in Series G funding, raising its valuation to $7.3 billion, a comfortable position for a future IPO.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
18% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Oct 2025
$165m
SERIES G
Nov 2021
$280m
SERIES F
Total funding: $712m
Company benefits
- Stock option plan
- 100% paid coverage of medical, dental and vision insurance
- Flexible PTO
- Opportunities for professional growth and development
- Paid parental leave
- Health & wellness initiatives
Company HQ
Financial District, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Renaud Laplanche
(Co-Founder & CEO)After an MBA at London Business School, Renaud spent 5 years as an Associate at Clearly Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and co-founded MatchPoint. They then left Oracle after a year to co-found Lending Club in 2006 and co-founded Upgrade in August 2016.
Adelina Grozdanova
(Co-Founder & Head of Investor Group)Adelina started their career with 6 years at Morgan Stanley after a degree at Princeton. They left banking in 2012 to join Lending Club as VP, and after 3 years co-founded Upgrade, serving as Head of Investor Group since 2016.
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