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Spendesk Financial Services (SFS) is Spendesk's regulated payment institution, providing payment accounts, transfers, cards, and banking infrastructure for the Spendesk platform. We are seeking a Chief Operating Officer to lead and transform SFS Operations.
The role combines two core responsibilities: (1) Run the Operations organisation, ensuring that KYC, AML, Banking Operations, and Payment Operations are delivered safely, efficiently, and in compliance with regulatory requirements; (2) Optimise and transform the operating model, working closely with Product and Engineering to automate processes, improve scalability, and build a highly reliable organisation.
The COO will manage approximately 15 employees across Banking Operations, KYC Operations, and Operations AML. The primary scope is European Operations operating under the French payment institution licence, with oversight of operational activities impacting the UK and US businesses where Spendesk's responsibility is engaged.
Key responsibilities include: defining strategy, operating model, organisation, objectives, and talent agenda for scalable SFS Operations; owning banking and payment operations, reconciliation, safeguarding, incidents, fraud, and investigations; leading KYB/KYC, customer risk management, screening, and transaction monitoring; coordinating operations across Europe, the UK, and the US to ensure consistent standards and risk visibility; transforming and scaling SFS Operations with Product and Engineering; and strengthening operational risk and governance through first-line controls, incident management, and senior governance reporting.
This is a hands-on leadership role in a fast-paced, transformation-driven environment, requiring both operational discipline and the ability to lead change. The COO will be part of SFS's governance framework, alongside the Chief Risk & Compliance Officer and the CISO.
Spendesk is an AI-powered spend management and procurement platform trusted by thousands of companies, supporting over 200,000 users across brands such as SoundCloud, Gousto, SumUp, and Bloom & Wild. The company has offices in the UK, France, Spain, and Germany.
Requirements:
- Significant experience managing Operations, Middle Office, or Back Office teams
- Experience leading several operational activities or teams, ideally through managers or team leads
- Strong people management and organisational capabilities
- Track record of improving processes, quality, controls, and operational performance
- Experience managing change and transformation in a fast-paced environment
- Experience working in a regulated, risk-sensitive, or operationally complex organisation
- Ability to collaborate effectively with Product, Engineering, and external partners
- Strong problem-solving, prioritisation, and decision-making skills
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities
- Confidence interacting with senior leadership, governance bodies, auditors, and external partners
- Pragmatic, hands-on, and highly accountable leadership style
- Experience in payments, banking operations, KYC, AML, fraud, reconciliation, or card operations is a strong advantage but not mandatory; candidates from other regulated or operationally complex environments are welcome
