Head of Regulatory Affairs

Company Description

We’re Checkout.com. You might not know our name, but companies like eBay, Spotify, Klarna, Uber, and Sony do, because we’re behind many of the digital experiences you use every day.

We are where the world checks out, enabling over 10 billion transactions yearly for more than one billion global shoppers.

Whether you want to book a holiday, order food, renew a subscription, or check out online, there’s a good chance our tech powers the payments behind the scenes. Our platform helps the most ambitious businesses deliver effortless digital experiences, at scale.

If you want to do career-defining work, you’ve come to the right place. We move fast, think globally, and believe great teams are built by hiring exceptional people with conviction, curiosity, and the desire to make an impact.

With 20 offices across six continents and London as our HQ, we’re shaping the future of fintech – and we’re just getting started.

The Role

Checkout.com holds licences in many countries, and the way we work with our supervisors matters more every year. We are creating a new Regulatory Affairs function to lead that work, and we are looking for the person to build it.

As Head of Regulatory Affairs, you will manage our supervisory relationships day to day and run the formal work that comes with them: information requests, thematic reviews, inspections and examinations. You will also shape how the new function works and where it grows, working closely with the Director of External Affairs.You will bring together the right people across Legal, Compliance, Risk, Finance, Product and Tech, and make sure everything we send is accurate, consistent and on time.

You will start hands-on, building the foundations yourself, leveraging advanced AI tools, then build a team of regulatory affairs specialists across our major markets over time.

What you'll do

Build the function

• Shape our approach to supervisory engagement across our regulated entities.

• Design how Regulatory Affairs works day to day, including how it works with Compliance, Legal, Risk and the business.

• Help plan where the team grows, including which countries need local specialists and in what order.

• Build a clear view of supervisory risk across the group and use it to set priorities.

• Advise executives on what our supervisors expect and how upcoming supervisory activity will affect the business.

Manage our supervisory relationships

• Run the regular cycle of supervisory meetings: preparation, briefing senior colleagues, attending and following up.

• Keep a clear record of what we have told each regulator and what we have committed to.

• Own the protocol for how we engage with supervisors, so colleagues know who speaks to whom and when.

• Spot emerging issues early and raise them with senior leadership.

Run regulatory requests

• Own regulator information requests and thematic reviews from receipt to submission: scope, owners, deadlines, evidence, version control and quality checks.

• Act as a single front door for the business, so teams get one clear request instead of several.

• Challenge draft responses for gaps and inconsistencies before they go out.

Lead inspections and examinations

• Run inspections, examinations and skilled-person reviews as programmes, from the opening notice to the closing meeting.

• Set the plan and the narrative, coordinate evidence, and prepare and rehearse subject-matter experts and senior leaders.

• Run a lessons-learned review after each engagement and improve the process for next time.

Build the team and the infrastructure

• Hire, develop and lead a team of regulatory affairs specialists across our major markets.

• Build the playbooks, templates, trackers and governance the function will run on.

• Build a library of past submissions so we can reuse good work.

• Set up regular reporting to senior leadership and entity boards on open requests, inspections and commitments.
  

What we are looking for

• A builder. You have set up a function, team or process from scratch, and you enjoy turning an open brief into something that works.

• Significant experience as a regulatory affairs manager / lead at a regulated payments, e-money or fintech firm.

• Hands-on experience running regulatory information requests and inspections end to end, ideally across more than one country.

• Time in a supervisory team at a major financial regulator, such as the FCA, ACPR, MAS or CBUAE, is a strong advantage.

• Strategic judgement. You can set a clear direction, explain it to executives and turn it into a plan.

• Excellent project management. You can run several deadlines with many contributors at once and keep every one of them on track.

• A track record of keeping calm under pressure.

• Sound judgement on when to bring in Legal or Compliance.

• Credibility with regulators and the trust of senior executives.

• Impeccable written communication.

• People management experience, or clear readiness to build and lead a team

Additional Information

Bring all of you to work

We create the conditions for high performers to thrive, through real ownership, fewer blockers, and work that makes a difference from day one.

Here, you’ll move fast, take on meaningful challenges, and be recognized for the impact you deliver. It’s a place where ambition gets met with opportunity, and where your growth is in your hands.

We work as one team, and we back each other to succeed. So whatever your background or identity, if you’re ready to grow and make a difference, you’ll be right at home here.

It’s important we set you up for success and make our process as accessible as possible. So let us know in your application, or tell your recruiter directly, if you need anything to make your experience or working environment more comfortable.

Life at Checkout.com

We understand that work is just one part of your life. Our hybrid working model offers flexibility, with three days per week in the office to support collaboration and connection.

Curious about what it’s like to be part of our team? Visit our Careers Page to learn more about our culture, open roles, and what drives us.

For a closer look at daily life at Checkout.com, follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram