Director, Compliance – Aviation Partners

Department Description

Carlyle Aviation Partners, which operates within the Global Credit segment as a subsidiary of The Carlyle Group, is an aviation-focused investment manager with $11.9 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2026. With over 100 airline relationships and aircraft on lease in over 50 countries, Carlyle Aviation Partners provides financing solutions to the global aviation industry and seeks to generate favorable returns to investors across a variety of risk, return and liquidity profiles.

Position Summary

The Director will be responsible for the day-to-day administration and oversight of the Company’s anti-money laundering (“AML”), know-your-customer (“KYC”) and sanctions compliance processes, reporting to the Chief Compliance Officer. The Director will play a key role in assessing counterparty and transaction risk, conducting and overseeing KYC and sanctions diligence, monitoring emerging compliance risks, and preparing materials to support governance and oversight activities.

This is an excellent opportunity for a candidate with experience in AML regulatory frameworks, investigative KYC diligence, sanctions compliance, risk assessments and compliance monitoring.

The Director will work closely with the Company’s commercial, legal, finance and compliance teams to support aviation transactions and ongoing portfolio activities while helping ensure adherence to applicable legal, regulatory and internal compliance requirements across multiple jurisdictions.

In-Office Requirement: 4 days per week

Primary Responsibilities

• Conduct and oversee risk-based KYC diligence on aviation counterparties, including airlines, aircraft lessors, financing parties, investors, vendors and other transaction counterparties, in connection with new transactions and ongoing monitoring activities.
• Conduct beneficial ownership, control-person and source-of-funds diligence, as appropriate, and evaluate complex ownership structures and other heightened-risk circumstances.
• Conduct end-use diligence with respect to aircraft lessees, aircraft and engine buyers, component purchasers and other aviation counterparties.
• Conduct sanctions and restricted-party screening and assess potential sanctions, export-control, jurisdictional and reputational risks associated with counterparties and transactions.
• Identify and escalate higher-risk counterparties, transactions, jurisdictions and screening results, and prepare risk assessments and recommendations for review by the Chief Compliance Officer and other relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare KYC memoranda, risk assessments and other materials for boards of directors, committees and senior management to document diligence performed, identified risks, mitigating factors and adherence to Company policies.
• Prepare and coordinate responses to inbound KYC, AML and sanctions diligence requests from investors, lenders, financial institutions, transaction counterparties and other stakeholders.
• Administer and monitor counterparty screening systems and conduct open-source research to identify sanctions developments, adverse media, changes in ownership or control, politically exposed persons and other emerging risk indicators.
• Support periodic and event-driven reviews of existing counterparties, including refreshes of KYC documentation, screening and risk assessments.
• Maintain complete and accurate compliance records within enterprise systems supporting aviation transactions and ensure appropriate documentation of diligence, approvals, exceptions and escalations.
• Assist with the development, implementation and periodic enhancement of AML, KYC and sanctions policies, procedures, risk assessments and internal controls.
• Monitor relevant regulatory and sanctions developments and assist in evaluating their impact on the Company’s aviation activities and compliance processes.
• Assist with the preparation and maintenance compliance policies focused on AML and sanctions compliance in coordination with external counsel.
• Support audits, regulatory examinations and testing of the Company’s AML, KYC and sanctions compliance program, including remediation of findings.
• Coordinate with counsel to ensure that compliance training is provided timely and provide practical guidance to commercial, legal and other business personnel regarding KYC, AML and sanctions requirements.
• Identify opportunities to enhance the efficiency, consistency and effectiveness of compliance processes, including through technology, data analytics, screening tools and workflow automation.

Requirements

Education & Certificates

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Degree in finance, accounting, business, economics, law, criminal justice, international relations or a related field, preferred
• Professional certification or advanced degree relevant to AML, financial crimes, sanctions, compliance, accounting or law (e.g., CAMS, CGSS, CFE, CPA, CIA, JD or equivalent) preferred but not required.

Professional Experience

• 5–7 years of overall relevant experience, required
• Experience in compliance, legal, risk management, financial crimes compliance, due diligence or a related function, with meaningful exposure to KYC, AML and/or economic sanctions matters, required
• Demonstrated experience conducting risk-based KYC and counterparty due diligence, including identification and verification of beneficial owners and control persons and analysis of complex corporate ownership structures.
• Experience conducting sanctions, politically exposed person, adverse media and other risk-based screening and evaluating potential matches or other identified risk indicators.
• Experience conducting investigative research using open-source resources including corporate registries, regulatory filings, sanctions databases, public records, commercial databases and other available sources.
• Experience identifying, analyzing and documenting heightened-risk circumstances, including counterparties or transactions involving higher-risk jurisdictions, complex ownership structures, government affiliations or other elevated compliance considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to prepare clear, well-supported written risk assessments, diligence memoranda and other materials for senior management, compliance committees, boards of directors or similar governance bodies.
• Experience working with legal, commercial, finance and other business personnel to address compliance considerations associated with transactions and ongoing business relationships.
• Experience maintaining KYC records, screening results and supporting documentation within compliance, transaction-management or other enterprise systems.
• Experience with aircraft leasing, private equity, alternative asset management or other businesses involving complex cross-border transactions is preferred.

Competencies & Attributes

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex compliance matters clearly and effectively to employees and management.
• Strong investigative and analytical skills, including the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources to develop a comprehensive assessment of potential risks, red flags and mitigating factors.
• Sound judgment and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to distinguish material compliance risks from lower-risk or false-positive findings and escalate matters appropriately.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to maintaining accurate, complete and well-supported diligence and compliance records.
• Strong organizational and project-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent diligence matters and competing priorities in a transaction-oriented environment.
• Ability to conduct independent research, evaluate the reliability and relevance of available information and reach well-supported conclusions where information is incomplete or ambiguous.
• Ability to apply compliance requirements using a practical, risk-based approach that appropriately considers legal and regulatory requirements, Company policies and relevant commercial circumstances.
• Strong data-analysis skills, including the ability to review complex datasets and identify anomalies, patterns and potential risk indicators.
• Ability and willingness to learn and effectively utilize new technology platforms, research tools, screening systems and workflow solutions.
• Ability to work independently with appropriate ownership and initiative while collaborating effectively with legal, commercial, finance and compliance colleagues.
• High degree of professionalism, discretion and integrity when handling confidential or commercially sensitive information.

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