About the Opportunity
A fast-growing international payments and remittances fintech, already licensed and operating in few jurisdictions, is expanding into the United Kingdom. The company is seeking a CEO to lead the UK operation from regulatory authorisation through to commercial scale.
This is a rare opportunity to take the helm of a UK entity backed by an established, well-funded international group. The successful candidate will be the accountable executive for FCA authorisation (EMI, API, or PI) and will then lead the business commercially post-license owning the P&L, building the team, and driving growth in one of the world’s most important payments markets.
The Mandate
The role has two distinct phases, and the candidate must be credible across both:
Phase 1 FCA Authorisation
- Lead the end-to-end FCA authorisation process to obtain the appropriate UK payments license (EMI, API, or PI).
- Serve as the proposed SMF1 (CEO function) and accountable executive for the application.
- Build the regulatory business plan, governance framework, and operational infrastructure required for authorisation.
- Engage directly with the FCA throughout the application process, including pre-application meetings (PASS) and case officer interactions.
- Recruit and oversee the initial UK team, including compliance, MLRO, and operational roles.
- Appoint and manage external advisors (legal, regulatory consultants) as needed.
Phase 2 Commercial Leadership
- Take full P&L ownership for the UK business post-authorisation.
- Define and execute the UK go-to-market strategy for payments and remittance products.
- Build and scale the UK team across commercial, product, operations, and compliance functions.
- Establish and manage UK banking relationships, scheme memberships, and partner integrations.
- Represent the UK business to the board, investors, and key stakeholders.
- Drive revenue growth, client acquisition, and market share in the UK payments landscape.
- Ensure ongoing regulatory compliance and maintain a strong relationship with the FCA as the business scales.
Candidate Requirements
Essential
- Currently or recently a CEO, Managing Director, or UK Country Head of an FCA-authorised fintech or payments business.
- Has been the accountable executive (SMF1 or equivalent) during a successful FCA authorisation owned the process end-to-end, even if the MLRO/compliance team led the drafting.
- Proven commercial operator: P&L responsibility, revenue growth, team building, and board or investor engagement.
- Deep knowledge of the UK payments ecosystem: FCA regulatory framework, safeguarding rules, Faster Payments, card schemes, and correspondent banking.
- Strong personal reputation and relationships within the UK fintech and regulatory community.
- Based in London or willing to relocate. The FCA requires central management and control to be in the UK.
Desirable
- Experience operating across multiple jurisdictions or supporting international group expansion.
- Familiarity with remittance corridors, cross-border payments, or emerging market payment flows.
- Experience with the new FCA safeguarding rules effective from May 2026.
- Track record of working with private equity, venture capital, or group-subsidiary governance structures.
This Role Is Not Suited For
- MLROs, Heads of Compliance, or regulatory consultants the role requires a commercial CEO, not a compliance specialist.
- COOs or heavy-operations profiles without commercial P&L leadership.
- Founders of their own ventures who are unlikely to move into a hired-CEO role.
- Executives who joined post-authorisation and have not been through the FCA licensing process as the accountable executive.
What the Company Offers
- The opportunity to build and lead a UK operation backed by an established international payments group with licenses in four countries.
- A well-funded business with proven product-market fit and existing infrastructure to leverage.
- Significant autonomy to shape the UK strategy, team, and culture.
- Competitive compensation package including base salary, performance bonus, and equity participation.
- Direct access to the group board and senior leadership.