Growth runs on the right control.
In Singapore’s banking sector, audit, risk and compliance hires shape how confidently a business can grow. With the right people in place, a bank can launch products, enter new markets and adopt new technology with its risk appetite clearly understood, while its relationships with regulators and the board stay on a sound footing. For leadership, that means strategic decisions made with assurance, and a control environment that supports the strategy rather than holding it back.
We specialise in Audit, Risk & Compliance recruitment for Singapore’s banking and financial services sector, across risk management, compliance and financial crime, and internal audit.
Audit, Risk & Compliance recruitment for banks & MNCs
Each of our consultants specialises in one area of the audit, risk and compliance market rather than working as a generalist. In Audit, Risk & Compliance, that means keeping our market knowledge current every day, tracking how evolving MAS guidance is reshaping teams, how new roles like AI risk and third-party risk specialists are defined, and how pay is moving, so every brief starts from shared understanding and up-to-date market intelligence.
For Chief Risk Officers, Heads of Compliance and Chief Audit Executives, our executive search weighs leadership, independence and board influence as much as technical background.
The strongest hires add value beyond their job description, so we look at the whole picture. Alongside technical depth in risk, financial crime or audit methodology, we look for:
- Judgement: knowing when to escalate, challenge or find a workable path
- Independence: holding a position with senior stakeholders constructively
- Discretion: handling sensitive findings and regulatory matters with care
Every candidate is screened by a consultant who knows this market, beyond job titles and certifications, to the reviews they have led and the remediation they have seen through.
We recruit across the three core control functions, from analyst level through to regional leadership:
- Risk Management: credit, market, operational and liquidity risk professionals, including technology and third-party risk specialists.
- Compliance & Financial Crime: regulatory compliance, advisory and monitoring professionals, alongside AML/CFT, sanctions and KYC specialists.
- Internal Audit: financial, operational and IT auditors, audit managers and audit leaders who give boards and audit committees independent assurance.
Whether you’re strengthening a risk or compliance function in a bank or hedge fund, or building internal audit across a multinational corporation’s regional operations, the setting shapes the hire. So we start there.
In banks and hedge funds, that means understanding where the role sits in your control framework, who it reports to and how far its remit reaches across the region from Singapore. It also means helping you decide where contract support adds value, such as during a remediation programme or a regulatory review, and where permanent hires will build lasting capability.
In FMCG and consumer goods or professional services, the same disciplines move into a different business. Internal audit might follow supply chains across regional operations, and compliance might cover anti-bribery, sanctions and trade controls in several markets. We bring that context into the conversation, so candidates know the business they’re joining as well as the discipline.
Across permanent, contract and executive search hiring, we plan around the details that shape a start date, from contract lengths linked to review or remediation milestones to notice periods and the background checks regulated roles require. See our permanent recruitment and contract hiring pages for more detail.
We support organisations where strong controls underpin growth and trust:
- Global banks: risk, compliance and audit functions covering Singapore and the wider region.
- Hedge funds: compliance and risk professionals who understand trading and fund structures.
- Fintech: teams within financial institutions launching digital products and payment services.
- Global insurers: risk, compliance and audit roles alongside banking and investment groups.
- Multinational corporations: FMCG and consumer goods businesses and professional services firms with regional control functions in Singapore.
Audit, risk and compliance hires carry responsibility for how an organisation is seen by regulators, investors and customers, so a well-matched appointment has a lasting effect. A specialist recruiter brings an understanding of that responsibility to every stage, from shaping the brief to the final shortlist.
Our consultants explore what candidates have assessed, challenged and remediated, and how they have worked with senior stakeholders and regulators, before anyone reaches your interview stage. We share current salary insight, realistic availability and a view of how similar profiles are moving in Singapore, so you can plan with confidence. Our network of 900,000+ candidates means we can reach audit, risk and compliance professionals who may not be visible on job boards.
We work across permanent, contract and executive search hiring, and our understanding of global banks, hedge funds, insurers and multinational corporations shapes the brief, the search and the shortlist.
Audit, Risk & Compliance market intelligence
The certifications that matter depend on your function, your institution and the seniority of the role, so we start with your brief. Where it calls for CAMS, ICA, CIA, CISA, FRM or PRM, or IBF-accredited training, our consultants look beyond the credential to how it has been applied in practice.
For risk hires, we explore how candidates have worked within MAS expectations on operational, technology and third-party risk, and whether their experience lies in building frameworks or strengthening established ones, depending on what your team needs. For compliance and financial crime hires, we look at hands-on AML/CFT, sanctions and KYC experience, including how candidates have handled inspections and thematic reviews and worked with transaction monitoring and screening outcomes. For internal audit, we explore the breadth of audits led, from financial and operational to IT and data, and how findings were agreed with management.
Applying frameworks proportionately within a specific institution comes from delivery experience. That’s what our consultants explore, so your shortlist reflects how your function works as well as the credentials it asks for.
Specialism, scope and regional responsibility shape pay across Singapore’s audit, risk and compliance market. Current market data places risk management and compliance and financial crime close together at the upper end, with internal audit slightly lower, and ranges in every function widen with regional remit and regulatory exposure. As a guide, base salaries for professionals with four to eight years’ experience are:
- Risk Management (credit, market, operational, liquidity): SGD 110,000 - 170,000
- Compliance & Financial Crime (regulatory, AML/CFT, sanctions, KYC): SGD 100,000 - 165,000
- Internal Audit (financial, operational, IT audit): SGD 90,000 - 145,000
These figures are base salary only, so bonus and benefits sit on top. Where a contract role is quoted as a daily or monthly rate, it doesn’t compare directly with an annual base salary.
For tailored benchmarking by role, seniority and institution type, visit our benchmarking page.
AI is becoming something to assure, not only something to use. In October 2026, MAS issued Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence Risk Management that apply to all financial institutions. They set expectations for inventorying AI use and for controls covering data governance, testing, human oversight and monitoring. That brings AI inside the control framework, and each of the three functions has a part to play.
Risk teams increasingly need people who can assess AI use cases against risk appetite and materiality. Compliance teams benefit from professionals who can review the outcomes of AI-supported monitoring and explain them with confidence. Internal audit needs people who can give boards assurance over the AI lifecycle, from data to model change.
When interviewing, it’s worth asking candidates how they have reviewed, challenged or tested an AI-supported process. Their answer will tell you a lot about how they would approach the next one.
MAS’s recent work on operational resilience covers operational risk, technology and cyber risk, third-party risk and business continuity. In 2026, it consulted on updated guidelines for operational risk management and third-party risk management, as well as amendments to its technology risk management notices. Together, these raise expectations around how institutions understand and manage the arrangements they rely on.
For hiring managers, these developments are worth building into workforce planning. Third-party and technology risk specialists, IT auditors with resilience experience and professionals who have helped strengthen fraud surveillance can all help translate updated expectations into day-to-day practice. Planning these hires alongside the wider control framework, rather than after it, gives new requirements a stronger chance of landing smoothly.
Specialisms
We cover key specialisms within banking & investments that help fuel transformation and growth within business.
Skills
Our specialist recruitment consultants work with key skills areas and niche banking & investment communities, building their knowledge, network and experience to deliver excellent service to candidates and clients.
