Swan’s is heading to the UK and needs someone to pave the way for the company to become a key player in the UK FinTech ecosystem.

As an Electronic Money Institution, Swan faces many product, legal and regulatory challenges when conducting its business and operations : explaining embedded finance to potential partners, localising its product to each markets, fighting money laundering, protecting clients’ funds, working with legitimate partners, etc.

✨ Your mission

The GM will help secure the EMI license with the UK MLRO, build and manage the local team, set up operations, drive commercial growth (Sales & Account Management), and ensure alignment with the European entity — all in preparation for a Q1 2026 launch.

✨ Main Tasks:

• Strategic Leadership: Develop and execute the branch’s business strategy, ensuring it aligns with the company’s overall vision and objectives. Lead the establishment of the branch, from infrastructure setup to operational strategy formulation. Run the company corporate obligation with the leadership team from Europe.

• Business Development: Identify and capitalize on business opportunities in the UK, to engage, sign and onboard our UK first customers. Build and maintain strong relationships with key players in the ecosystem (e.g., thought leader, public official, adjacent player, competitor)

• Operations Management: Oversee the daily operations of the branch, ensuring efficiency, quality, and cost-effective management of resources. Localise European processes and systems to support business operations and report on operational performance.

• Compliance and Regulation: Support the Compliance team to gain the FCA approval. Ensure the branch operates in compliance with all local regulatory requirements and laws, as well as internal policies. Adapt Swan’s use cases to the UK regulation, with the support of the Compliance team. Stay updated with changes in the financial regulatory environment to adjust strategies accordingly.

• Team Leadership: Recruit, train, and manage a high-performing team to achieve the branch’s goals. Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and teamwork. The team will start with the leadership group, that will expand as business grows (sales, finance, account manager)

• Financial Management: Develop and manage the branch’s budget, ensuring financial objectives are met. Monitor financial performance, make adjustments to operations and strategies, and report financial status to senior management.

• Product Development and Innovation: Work closely with the product development team to include UK key product requirements in the company roadmap.

• Marketing and Branding: Collaborate with the marketing team to develop and implement marketing strategies that align with the branch goals and increase brand visibility within the UK market.

• Risk Management: Identify potential risks related to business operations and implement effective mitigation strategies. Ensure a framework for risk assessment and management is in place.

✨ You’re a great match if:

• You have 6 to 10 years of experience in Product or Payment Operations within the UK market, ideally in a FinTech environment, and are ready to step into a Head of / VP-level role.

• You thrive on building from the ground up — whether it’s launching operations, hiring a team, or securing regulatory approvals.

• You bring strategic vision, and know how to define and communicate a clear market plan for the UK, while aligning with a broader European strategy.

• You’re a strong leader who knows how to inspire, hire for potential and culture fit, and develop high-performing teams.

• You have a deep understanding of payments, compliance, and regulatory environments — and know how to turn constraints into opportunities.

• You’re financially savvy, experienced in managing budgets and forecasting, and confident in taking ownership of P&L.

• You always keep the customer front and center, and have a track record of using feedback to guide product priorities and strengthen long-term relationships.

• You’re comfortable with risk — identifying, mitigating, and collaborating closely with local and HQ teams to stay ahead of it.

• You’re a problem-solver who prioritizes action based on customer impact and strategic value.

• You’re a skilled negotiator, able to secure favorable terms and close deals that make sense for the business.

• You adapt quickly in the face of change, and have already proven your ability to successfully launch and scale a business.

• You’re a clear communicator, able to convey complex ideas and company goals to stakeholders of all kinds.

It’s okay if you don’t tick all the boxes — don’t let imposter syndrome prevent you from applying! 🙌

Swan is committed to providing a caring work environment for all employees, regardless of age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion, or belief.

When it comes to recruitment, we’re interested in your work experience, skills, and overall personality. Because diversity makes the workplace stronger and is necessary for Swan’s success, we are intensifying efforts to incorporate concrete actions to help us improve in this area.

About Swan

✨  Perks of being a Swanee:

• Holidays: 27 days of paid leave. 🏝️

• Hybrid remote policy: We offer the possibility of working from home for 2 days per week. 🏡

• Offsite: Once a year we gather to reconnect, deep-dive into big topics, and relax. 🤝

• This isn’t a perk, it should be the rule, but diversity and inclusion are important at Swan. We’re working hard to get better every day.

✨ Our values:

Swan’s core values guide our actions daily. Individually, they may seem obvious, but together, they form a unique culture.

Simplicity: Leonardo Da Vinci said: “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” If something’s convoluted or confusing, we work extra hard to break it down. - Making complex things simple is what we do.

Long Term: We always play the long game, whether it’s to support our partners in their growth journey, or make tangible commitments to climate action.

Excellence: We are a team of experts who consistently go all out to create pixel-perfect banking services and exceed our partners’ expectations— whatever it takes.

Be Human: We believe in the power of kindness and the importance of acting with integrity. But embracing our humanity extends beyond interpersonal interactions, it means caring about greater issues that affect our planet.

You can find out more about our culture.

• A 30-min video call with our Talent Acquisition Manager, to get to know you, understand your career expectations and answer your question

• A 1-hour interview with our Chief Revenue Officer

• A case study

• A peer interview

• An interview with our CEO