Compliance Manager

London, UK

About Dwelly

Dwelly — a UK-based, AI-enabled lettings and property management platform, that is growing through a roll-up strategy acquiring estate agencies. The company leverages two arms: i) acquiring existing letting agencies, effectively buying its highly sticky, recurring revenue-type landlords portfolios, and then ii) building a top-notch technology to automate tenant management, payments, and post-rental property maintenance. The company seamlessly integrates AI services to automate all business processes within brick-and-mortar real estate agencies, integrating them into a tech-enabled digital letting platform in two months to radically improve the user experiences and increase efficiency of the business.

We’re a fast-growing, product-focused company, backed by top-tier investors and led by a team with deep experience in real estate, technology, and operations.

Position summary 

We are looking for an experienced compliance professional to manage and run day-to-day compliance workstreams across the business under the direction of the General Counsel. You will be responsible for operating and maintaining compliance frameworks as Dwelly scales rapidly and acquires agencies, covering anti-money laundering, data protection, training, and the full spectrum of lettings and estate agency regulation. The role will suit someone who is hands-on and commercial, comfortable supporting the development of frameworks from the ground up, and able to help embed a culture of compliance across a fast-moving, acquisitive business rather than acting purely as a gatekeeper. You will work closely with senior leadership, operations, people and product teams, and will support the management of relationships with regulators, redress schemes and client money protection providers.

Key responsibilities

• Managing and running the day-to-day compliance workstreams across the business, supporting the General Counsel and escalating material risks appropriately.

• Anti-money laundering: acting as the firm's Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), owning and operating  the AML/CTF framework under the Money Laundering Regulatio ns 2017, including  customer due diligence, risk assessments, sanctions screening, making suspicious activity reports to the NCA, and HMRC registration for estate/letting agency business.

• Data protection and GDPR: acting as the firm's Data Protection Officer (DPO) and owning the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 compliance programme, including data mapping, records of processing, DPIAs, data subject requests , breach response and acting as the contact point for the ICO and data subjects.

• Lettings and estate agency compliance: ensuring ongoing compliance with the regulatory framework governing letting agents, including client money protection, membership of redress schemes, the transparency of fees, property standards and tenancy-related obligations.

• Training: designing, delivering and tracking a firm-wide compliance training programme (AML, data protection, conduct and sector-specific lettings compliance), and embedding compliance awareness across newly acquired agencies.

• Integration: supporting the compliance workstream on acquisitions — helping diligence target agencies, identifying gaps, and helping bring acquired businesses onto Dwelly's compliance framework as part of the integration process.

• Policies and controls: writing, maintaining and testing the firm's suite of compliance policies, controls and registers, and preparing compliance reporting for the General Counsel.

• Regulatory horizon-scanning: monitoring legal and regulatory developments affecting lettings, AML, data and AI, and translating them into practical action for the business.

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Qualifications and Preferred Background 

1. Managing and running the day-to-day compliance workstreams across the business, supporting the General Counsel and escalating material risks appropriately.

2. Anti-money laundering: acting as the firm's Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), owning and operating  the AML/CTF framework under the Money Laundering Regulatio ns 2017, including  customer due diligence, risk assessments, sanctions screening, making suspicious activity reports to the NCA, and HMRC registration for estate/letting agency business.

3. Data protection and GDPR: acting as the firm's Data Protection Officer (DPO) and owning the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 compliance programme, including data mapping, records of processing, DPIAs, data subject requests, breach response and acting as the contact point for the ICO and data subjects.

4. Lettings and estate agency compliance: ensuring ongoing compliance with the regulatory framework governing letting agents, including client money protection, membership of redress schemes, the transparency of fees, property standards and tenancy-related obligations.

5. Training: designing, delivering and tracking a firm-wide compliance training programme (AML, data protection, conduct and sector-specific lettings compliance), and embedding compliance awareness across newly acquired agencies.

6. Integration: supporting the compliance workstream on acquisitions — helping diligence target agencies, identifying gaps, and helping bring acquired businesses onto Dwelly's compliance framework as part of the integration process.

7. Policies and controls: writing, maintaining and testing the firm's suite of compliance policies, controls and registers, and preparing compliance reporting for the General Counsel.

8. Regulatory horizon-scanning: monitoring legal and regulatory developments affecting lettings, AML, data and AI, and translating them into practical action for the business.

What We're Looking For

Must have:

1. Demonstrable compliance experience in a regulated business, potentially sufficient to act as Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and Data Protection Officer (DPO).

2. A strong working knowledge of UK AML/MLR 2017 requirements with hands-on experience operating an AML framework as or alongside an MLRO.

3. A strong working knowledge of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 sufficient to act as DPO.

High preference to have:

1. Lettings, estate agency or property sector compliance experience (client money protection, redress schemes, property standards).

2. Experience designing and delivering compliance training programmes.

3. Relevant professional qualification (e.g. ICA, ACAMS, data protection certification, or equivalent).

4. Tech/start-up or high-growth scale-up experience.

Nice to have:

1. Experience supporting M&A or integrating acquired businesses onto a compliance framework.

2. Interest in or exposure to AI regulation and its application to a digital product.

3. Experience operating across both legal and operations functions.

Compensation and benefits

• Competitive salary with the potential for equity options based on performance, recognising exceptional contributions to our integration success.

• Location: UK (hybrid)