Partner Diligence

About Column

For companies building financial technology and transforming the financial services space the biggest bottleneck to their growth and innovation is often the underlying banks and infrastructure stack they rely on. We have spent our careers founding and scaling companies like Plaid Square SoFi Blend and Affirm and have seen this problem firsthand builders and developers needing to partner with traditional banks and creating API and abstraction layers over the patchwork that is the bank its core and many other vendors. All of this results in a complex (and often expensive) banking supply chain involving a user fintech BaaS middleware provider bank core and the Federal Reserve.

At Column we set out to simplify and fix this. We are a bank and a software company built from the ground up offering builders and developers technology-forward banking solutions that cut out the hundreds of vendors middleware providers and abstraction layers. This means a safer more transparent and less costly banking supply chain. Come build with us!

The opportunity

The Partner Diligence team leverages deep regulatory compliance expertise to manage the diligence risk assessment control review approval and onboarding of Columns fintech partners. The regulatory landscape for fintech-banking partnerships is evolving daily and Column is committed to exceeding regulatory expectations when it comes to partner onboarding. As such were looking for someone who not only has a deep command of federal and state financial regulations but also understands how to identify assess and mitigate the compliance risks posed by both consumer and commercial partnerships. Implementation of a best-in-class Third-Party Risk Management program is critical to the success of Columns business model and growth of its partnership business and the individual in this Partner Diligence role will have an opportunity to meaningfully influence the Banks strategic direction growth safety & soundness and success.

This position will report to the Banks General Counsel our Chief Risk Officer. There is a strong preference for this role to be in-person in our Presidio-based office in San Francisco however we may consider remote candidates with frequent travel to San Francisco.

What youll do

• Partner closely with the business finance other risk leads legal compliance and regulatory affairs in the ongoing execution of the Third-Party Risk Management Framework

• End-to-end ownership for the risk management of third-party partner onboarding including risk identification due diligence risk assessment and control review

• Extensive diligence and review of a prospective partners policies procedures customer agreements TOS audit reports marketing materials and disclosures The diligence process will include working closely with clients/partners compliance teams to understand evaluate assess and document their internal compliance controls

• Advise on applicable compliance risks and related severity appropriate internal controls risk and issue identification root cause analysis and remediation and risk reporting and escalation

• Develop corrective actions where required to ensure timely remediation by prospective partners of any open issues before launch

• Develop compliance requirements and ongoing monitoring and reporting standards for Columns oversight of each partner once live

• Assess third-party risks in the context of the applicable risk appetite and related limits and thresholds

• Play a key role in an effective governance program including appropriate Third-Party Risk related committees policies procedures and reporting

What youll need to be successful

• 10 years of regulatory compliance experience in regulated financial services including experience evaluating compliance programs

• Familiarity with the fintech-banking partnership model and key risks and risk mitigation strategies relevant to the partnership model

• Willingness to roll up your sleeves and do the legwork one day and set strategy the next. You are scrappy strategic humble and have a deep level of subject-matter expertise and intellectual rigor

• Deep understanding of commercial banking products relevant requirements and product-specific risks (e.g. lending deposits cross-border payments etc.)

• Fluency with key regulations including those addressing Fair Lending Privacy Funds Availability Truth in Lending Electronic Funds Transfers NACHA E-Sign UDAAP and Prepaid Access

• Experience presenting to senior management the Board and with regulators

• Strong communication skills both verbal and written

• Basic familiarity with BSA/AML and OFAC requirements preferred

What youll get from us

• Comprehensive health dental and vision plans including options that are 100% covered by Column for you and 100% covered for your dependents!

• Comprehensive family planning and fertility benefits via partnership with Carrot including reimbursement of up to $20000 in qualified expenses

• FSA and HSA account options to enable use of pre-tax money for medical and dependent care expenses

• 401k plan including self-directed brokerage options

• Flexible time-off policy - take the time off that you want and need to relax and recharge

• 100% paid parental leave including 16 weeks for birth mothers 12 weeks for primary caregivers and 8 weeks for secondary caregivers

• Catered lunches and dinners for SF employees

• Commuter benefits

• Regular team building events including annual offsite

Pay transparency:

Compensation packages at Column include base salary equity and benefits. New hire offers are made based on a candidates experience expertise geographic location and internal pay equity relative to peers.

The annual base salary range for this position is $160000 - $250000 equity.

We look forward to hearing from you

Column is committed to working with the best and brightest people from the broadest talent pool possible. We value bringing together a team with different perspectives educational backgrounds and life experiences and believe a diversity of ideas is what allows us to develop the best solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.

If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation during the application and recruiting process please reach out to

We participate in the E-Verify program in certain locations as required by law. Learn more about the E-Verify programhere.