Principal Specialist/ Counsel, Financial Crime & Compliance

About Agoda

At Agoda, we bridge the world through travel. Our story began in 2005, when two lifelong friends and entrepreneurs, driven by their passion for travel, launched Agoda to make it easier for everyone to explore the world.  

 

Today, we are part of Booking Holdings [NASDAQ: BKNG], with a diverse team of over 7,000 people from 90 countries, working together in offices around the globe. Every day, we connect people to destinations and experiences, with our great deals across our millions of hotels and holiday properties, flights, and experiences worldwide.

 

No two days are the same at Agoda. Data and technology are at the heart of our culture, fueling our curiosity and innovation. If you’re ready to begin your best journey and help build travel for the world, join us.

The Opportunity 

Agoda’s Financial Crime Compliance team, within the broader Compliance & Ethics function, is responsible for preventing and detecting the full spectrum of financial crime, sanctions, and regulatory risks across a fast-growing, tech driven global travel business. 

Within Booking Holdings, a new, stand‑alone B2B entity will consolidate the B2B businesses of Booking.com, Priceline and Agoda into a single global division. The new division will bring together our strategic partnerships, affiliate & API distribution, corporate and wholesale travel and other B2B commercial channels into one integrated platform serving airlines, travel management companies, OTAs, financial institutions, platforms and other strategic partners. You will work closely with colleagues at Booking Holdings Inc., Booking Holdings Financial Services, and sister brands, as well as internal partners across FinTech, Product, Fraud, Legal, Internal Audit, People, and Supply, to launch and support the new B2B business. 

Reporting to the Agoda Senior Director, Compliance Officer, you will be the senior financial crime and payments compliance lead for Agoda’s B2B (business to business) division, with a particular focus on our B2B payments products and related licensing obligations. You will design, enhance, and oversee our financial crime risk management (FCRM) and control framework, lead end to end Know Your Customer (KYC)/Know Your Partner (KYP) due diligence, and provide pragmatic, risk-based advice to senior stakeholders. 

The role is predominantly focused on financial crime (including AML, sanctions, and FCRM frameworks for payments), alongside responsibilities across the broader Compliance & Ethics programme (Code of Conduct, company compliance policies, etc).  

This position is based in Bangkok. Agoda provides relocation support for successful candidates not currently located in Bangkok. Remote or alternative base locations are not available. 
 

In this Role, You’ll Get To 

• Play a central role in helping design and implement the FCRM and Compliance foundations of the new consolidated B2B business, including:  

Financial Crime & Payments 

• Design and enhance FCRM frameworks for payments: 
  Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of both Agoda’s and the B2B entities financial crime risk management controls for consumer and business payments products, ensuring alignment with applicable regulatory requirements, card scheme rules, and industry best practices. 

• Manage KYC/KYP due diligence: 
  Oversee end-to-end KYC/KYP and third-party due diligence for customers, merchants, and key partners, working closely with operational teams to ensure the right customer/partner data is collected and effective screening, alert handling, and documented decisions occur. 

• Act as payments financial crime SME: 
  Develop deep expertise in Agoda’s payments flows, products, and licensing structure, and provide clear, practical advice on AML, sanctions, fraud across product design, onboarding, and ongoing monitoring. 

• Drive financial crime risk assessments & remediation: 
  Lead and support risk assessments for both new and existing payment products and partners. Identify any gaps in our controls, create and drive remediation plans to fix and reduce risks, and work with stakeholders to put in place sustainable solutions that are appropriate for the business. 

• Lead FCRM policies, standards & training: 
  Support and coordinate the implementation of financial crime and sanctions policies, procedures, SOPs, and standards in partnership with BHI and sister brands. Design and deliver targeted training and communications for payments, product, and commercial teams to ensure consistent understanding and effective adoption. 

• Coordinate with group and external stakeholders: 
  Serve as a key Agoda point of contact for financial crime matters with Booking Holdings, Booking Holdings Financial Services, and sister brands, as well as internal assurance functions, to ensure consistency and robustness of the overall payments FCRM programme. 

Compliance & Ethics Programme 

• Provide compliance & ethics advisory support: 
  Act as a subject matter expert and trusted advisor on broader Compliance & Ethics topics (e.g., Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABAC), conflicts of interest, third-party risk, code of conduct), providing well reasoned, business oriented guidance that supports Agoda’s culture of integrity. 

• Support Compliance & Ethics programme development: 
  Contribute to the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Agoda’s Compliance & Ethics framework, including policies, standards, training, and monitoring activities, ensuring alignment with Booking Holdings’ expectations and global benchmarks. 

• Contribute to third-party risk & Conflict of Interest processes: 
  Collaborate with the Global Compliance & Ethics team on third-party risk management initiatives and conflict of interest processes, helping to ensure effective identification, escalation, and mitigation of key risks. 

• Support investigations and monitoring activities: 
  Partner with Compliance & Ethics colleagues to support or lead elements of compliance related reviews, investigations (where appropriate), and data driven monitoring to identify trends, root causes, and opportunities for programme uplift. 

 

What You’ll Need to Succeed 

Experience & Expertise 

• 8+ years of progressive experience in financial crime risk management (AML, sanctions, ABAC, fraud related controls) and regulatory compliance, preferably in global or regional organisations. 

• Significant card and payments experience, including practical understanding of consumer and business to business payments products, payment service provider models, card scheme rules, and payments licensing environments. 

• Proven track record in building, enhancing, or independently assessing FCRM frameworks for payments, including risk assessments, controls design, and governance. 

Technical & Functional Skills 

• Hands on experience designing, operating, or overseeing KYC/KYP and third party due diligence processes, including screening, escalation, and complex case handling. 

• Strong ability to translate legal and regulatory financial crime requirements into clear, pragmatic controls and processes that enable business growth while managing risk. 

• Solid understanding of broader Compliance & Ethics programme components (e.g., policies, training, investigations, third party risk, conflicts of interest) and how they interact with financial crime frameworks. 

Leadership & Stakeholder Management 

• Demonstrated success in influencing and partnering with senior stakeholders across functions (Product, FinTech, Fraud, Legal, Internal Audit, Operations) in fast paced, high growth environments. 

• Strong project and programme management skills, with the ability to prioritise, plan, and deliver multiple initiatives concurrently across jurisdictions and time zones 

• Excellent communication skills in English (written and verbal), with the ability to explain complex financial crime and compliance concepts in clear, business friendly terms. 

Mindset & Values 

• Strategic, data driven, and solutions oriented, with the ability to “connect the dots”, see the big picture, and drive constructive change. 

• High level of integrity and sound judgement, suitable for a senior compliance and ethics leadership role. 

• Self-starter who operates with minimal supervision, is comfortable with ambiguity, and thrives in a dynamic, tech driven, international environment. 

 

 

Please review our Hiring Process Guidelines before your interview — click here to learn how interviewing at Agoda works.

 

 

Discover more about working at Agoda

• Agoda Careers https://careersatagoda.com
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/agodacareers/
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/agoda
• YouTube https://www.youtube.com/agodalife

 

Equal Opportunity Employer 

At Agoda, we pride ourselves on being a company represented by people of all different backgrounds and orientations. We prioritize attracting diverse talent and cultivating an inclusive environment that encourages collaboration and innovation. Employment at Agoda is based solely on a person’s merit and qualifications. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, age, race, color, national origin, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, citizenship, veteran or military status, and other legally protected characteristics.

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Disclaimer

We do not accept any terms or conditions, nor do we recognize any agency’s representation of a candidate, from unsolicited third-party or agency submissions. If we receive unsolicited or speculative CVs, we reserve the right to contact and hire the candidate directly without any obligation to pay a recruitment fee.