Blackbird is looking to hire a Compliance & Risk Manager to help supercharge our compliance, risk and governance functions and provide a world-class experience to Blackbird, our investors and portfolio companies.

About the Role

At Blackbird our mission is to be a generational owner of the most ambitious tech companies founded by Aussies and Kiwis.  To match this ambition, as we grow we are constantly striving to ensure that we are a transparent, efficient, well governed and fully compliant financial services organisation.  

Reporting to the General Counsel and working within our broader Operations team, this role will build on and strengthen our entire compliance and risk framework across Australia and New Zealand, comprising the full gamut of funds management/financial services regulation (eg; AFSL, AML/CTF and FATCA/CRS) and take it to the next level - one of our key goals being continuous evolution and improvement.

The successful candidate in this role will hone their financial services compliance and risk experience to complement and upgrade the above framework and use their talents in an open minded and autonomous environment.

Here is a brief overview of the type of work the role will encompass:

• AFSL compliance - monitoring and reporting on compliance with our obligations under our AFS Licence, maintaining all related policies, risk matrices, processes and checklists and organising all compliance training, reporting and committee/board meetings

• AML/CTF Program compliance - maintaining our AMLProgram/AML Risk Assessment for Australia and New Zealand, assisting with required reporting to AUSTRAC and the NZ FMA, leading internal/external reviews, independent/external audits and implementing recommendations, assisting in improving our systems and operational processes to monitor AML risk and ensure compliance with our regulatory requirements and our AML Program, organising/running AML training for all Blackbird staff and assisting with internal AML registers and board reporting

• Other compliance - assisting with various other compliance related matters at Blackbird such as maintenance of our FATCA/CRS Policy and working with the operations team on our FATCA/CRS compliance oversight and reporting framework, our Privacy Policy and data protection processes, our Employee Handbook and various other staff related policies and registers relating to personal securities dealing, gifts and entertainment, fraud control and OH&S

• Blackbird Funds - assisting with compliance aspects of Blackbird and Startmate Funds as needed - eg; structuring aspects, ‘ESVCLP’ regime compliance, authorised representative arrangements, wholesale client certificates, side letters, compliance questionnaires, operational due diligence and GS007 audit aspects

• “Operationalising” our approach - ensuring every new requirement or obligation is  built into our existing operational processes so that we can continue to scale 

• Making risk management a strength - ensuring our risk management framework and systems add value to our investing and are a core strength of Blackbird as it continues to grow

• Continuing to build a culture of compliance at Blackbird - leading our team to have a strong appreciation of all compliance and risk aspects of our business

• Providing excellent service to our investors - by providing them with reporting and assisting with due diligence requirements

• Training/Regulatory changes - assisting with the running of various internal compliance training sessions throughout the year and keeping abreast of changing laws/regulation relevant to funds management businesses and venture capital investing generally. 

About Blackbird

Blackbird is a venture capital fund based in Australia and New Zealand. We invest in every type of technology from software to space, unified by the biggest of ambitions. We invest in wild hearts with the wildest of ideas, right at the beginning. As a result, we have a unique working culture, captured in our Mission & Values and our Operating Principles.

We have more than 5 billion dollars of net asset value under management and a portfolio of over 80 companies including some of the most successful Australian and Kiwi led startups such as Canva, Zoox, SafetyCulture, AskNicely, Halter and Partly.

Our investors are a combination of some of the biggest superannuation funds in Australia, sovereign wealth funds, plus overseas institutions. We also are honoured to have as investors about 150 individuals, many of whom are founders themselves. As well as providing strong returns, we aim to provide excellent service to our investors, big and small.

We’ve written a lot about what we love at Blackbird, so check out our blog if you want some more information about us. In particular, you should read about our master plan and what we look for in founders.

Position Requirements

Your background is less important than the key skills, which include:

• Senior level compliance/regulatory/risk management experience in a financial services, banking and/or investment/funds management role (in-house or private practice) - a law degree is advantageous but not essential 

• In-depth knowledge of AFS licensing and related Corporations Act/ASIC Guide compliance as well as in-depth knowledge of AML legislation and compliance requirements in Australia and NZ

• Practical, hands on experience in designing and running an effective compliance/risk program for a financial services or funds management business (unlisted or listed), including policy/process/ controls management, monitoring, training and reporting 

• A passion for creativity and improving current practices, processes and controls

• A meticulous attention to detail, sense of urgency and ability to multi-task, prioritise and work well under pressure

• Mentoring and teaching junior team members as well as being hands on and happy to jump into the weeds to assist the team with any task, no matter how big or small

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, great at communicating both internally and externally and a hospitality mindset in dealing with all stakeholders

• Humility, low-ego. We are a small team and no-one is too good to do anything. We all take out the garbage.

This is a full-time role based in Sydney (Surry Hills), where the majority of our Operations team is based. Note that our entire team is working remotely during the COVID-19 crisis and we will continue to provide flexibility to work from home post the lockdown.

Working at Blackbird

We’re looking for someone who is as passionate as us about building an iconic investment business. You must have a high ownership mentality and the ability to take responsibility for goals and outcomes.

We believe that building a diverse and inclusive team is critical to Blackbird’s success. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, veteran, or disability status. We use Applied to ensure every applicant gets an equal chance of success.

Our July 2021 Culture Amp engagement score was 96.

We offer:

• Flexible working: Whether it’s working from home or leaving early to pick up the kids from daycare or school.

• Generous parental leave: We know family comes first and we are proud to offer generous parental leave — 16 weeks for primary carer (in addition to the government’s 18 weeks paid leave) and 6 weeks for a secondary carer, subject to a 12 month minimum tenure. This includes a continuation of super payments while on unpaid parental leave and a supportive return-to-work policy.

• Learning & Development : Our team is hungry to continuously learn and you’ll receive a budget to spend on whatever you’d like to learn — from coding courses to meditation.

• Unplugged weekends: We work hard without letting work get in the way of life. We’ve implemented no Slack or emails on weekends, so you can switch off.

• Sharing in Blackbird’s success: We think it is important to share successes with the whole team. All Blackbird employees receive carry in funds raised and share ownership in management companies formed after they commence.

Blackbird is a Pledge 1% member — we pledge 1% of our time, equity and profits to help not-for-profit causes in our community, with a focus on greater gender diversity in STEM education.