Chief Operating Officer (COO)
SpendVirtual is seeking a seasoned Chief Operating Officer (COO) to oversee all operational, regulatory, risk, and day-to-day execution activities of the company. This is one of the most critical leadership roles in the organization. The COO will build operational excellence across compliance, payments, technology, customer support, partner management, payout networks, risk operations, and business strategy. You will ensure the company is running smoothly, efficiently, safely - and scaling sustainably. As COO, you must deeply understand fintech operations, global settlements, compliance frameworks, money-transfer flows, infrastructure scaling, and cross-border partner management.
Key Responsibilities
- 1. Operational Leadership
- Own the daily operational performance of SpendVirtual
- Lead Payments Ops, Customer Support, Compliance Ops, Engineering Ops, and Risk Ops teams
- Build systems for global payout rails (Thunes, MFS Africa, Nium, Currencycloud)
- Oversee wallet operations, FX execution, card issuing, and disputes processes
- Translate company vision into actionable operational plans
- Optimize customer experience, onboarding, KYC flow, and transfer success rates
- 3. Compliance, Risk & Regulatory Oversight
- Work closely with the MLRO, Head of Compliance, and internal controls teams
- Ensure operational compliance with FCA, EU AMLD5/6, US sponsor banks, Brazil regulations, and global payout partners
- Support licensing applications and partner audits
- 4. Technology & Process Optimization
- Work cross-functionally with engineering to automate and scale processes
- Oversee infrastructure resilience, incident management, and uptime metrics
- Lead operational resilience and disaster recovery practices
- Manage strategic partnerships with payout networks, banks, card issuers, and fintech vendors
- Negotiate SLAs, fees, and integrations
- Monitor partner performance, outages, and payout success rates
- 6. Financial & Performance Oversight
- Work with Finance on budgeting, forecasting, and operational cost control
- Monitor unit economics: CAC, LTV, FX margin, Payout fees, Fraud loss ratio, Chargeback rates
- Build dashboards and reporting metrics for daily operations
- Build high-performing global teams
- Mentor managers across operations, engineering, compliance, and support
- Foster a culture of excellence, accountability, and innovation
Requirements
- 8-15 years experience in fintech, payments, banking, or remittances
- Proven leadership experience scaling operational teams
- Strong understanding of AML, CFT, fraud, sanctions, and payment compliance frameworks
- Deep experience with global payout rails, FX, and settlement management
- Excellent communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
- Ability to operate at both strategic and hands-on levels
- Experience with regulated e-money institutions or MTL environments
- Experience with card issuing, BIN sponsorship, or digital wallets
- Previous COO, VP Ops, or Director of Operations experience
- Strong understanding of operational resilience (DORA, FCA rules)