Fireblocks
10 hours ago
Director of Operations, Payments EMEA
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Company information
- Company
- Fireblocks
- Location
- Zürich Germany
- Posted
- 10 hours ago
Job description
Fireblocks is the company bringing global finance onchain. Backed by over $1 billion in capital, we are the premier digital asset infrastructure provider trusted by thousands of industry-defining financial institutions, including banks, payment providers, fintechs, and global corporates such as BNY Mellon, BNP Paribas, ANZ Bank, Western Union, Stripe, and Revolut. Built for institutional scale and security, our enterprise-grade platform and network have powered over $14 trillion in digital asset transfers worldwide. Role Overview Fireblocks Liechtenstein Ltd. is a payment institution being established to provide Account Information Services (AIS) and Payment Initiation Services (PIS) to institutional clients across the European Economic Area, under authorisation from the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (FMA). The Director of Operations is a controlling-function role and a member of the Company’s executive management. The role holds primary day-to-day accountability for the sound operation of the licensed entity, acts as the principal local point of contact with the FMA, and provides the substance and operational governance that underpin the Company’s authorisation. The role has a defined and focused scope: the Company provides AIS and PIS services, with its technology platform operated by an intra-group technology provider. The Director of Operations is responsible for governing that arrangement and ensuring the entity operates soundly, rather than for building or running technology directly. The role may also support the Fireblocks group’s wider regulated activities where relevant. Key Responsibilities Regulatory and Governance
- Serve as the primary day-to-day point of contact with the FMA for operational matters, managing the ongoing supervisory relationship.
- Ensure the Company operates at all times within the scope and conditions of its authorisation.
- Own the Company’s regulatory reporting obligations and coordinate the annual statutory and regulatory audit.
- Support the Board and executive management in discharging their governance responsibilities, including preparation and follow-through on Board matters.
- Hold day-to-day accountability for the operational delivery of the Company’s AIS and PIS services.
- Oversee the outsourcing arrangement with the technology provider, including monitoring of service levels, quarterly service reviews, and management of the outsourcing register and sub-outsourcing controls.
- Own the Company’s business continuity and incident management framework, acting as the escalation and decision point in the event of a material disruption.
- Oversee the segregated operational processes that support the Company’s regulatory perimeter, including customer onboarding, support routing, and data governance in coordination with the Risk & Compliance function.
- Work closely with the Risk & Compliance function to ensure an effective control environment across AML/CFT, operational, ICT, and outsourcing risk.
- Ensure the Company meets its obligations under applicable Liechtenstein and EEA regulation, including PSD2/ZDG and, as applicable, DORA.
- Oversee the maintenance of the Company’s risk register and the periodic and permanent control framework.
- Oversee the commercial and financial governance of the entity, including the intra-group service arrangements, in coordination with group finance.
- Provide operational sign-off on customer onboarding to the entity, ensuring the dual-entity contracting process is completed and customers are correctly provisioned.
- Support the Fireblocks group’s wider regulated activities where relevant, bringing operational and regulatory experience to bear.
- Proven operational leadership experience within a regulated financial institution — a payment institution, e-money institution, bank, or crypto-asset service provider.
- Experience of the Liechtenstein or wider EEA regulatory environment, ideally including prior involvement in a licence application and ongoing regulator engagement.
- A payments background, with an understanding of open banking (AIS/PIS), payment operations, and the associated regulatory obligations.
- Familiarity with outsourcing governance and the operation of a licensed entity that relies on an intra-group or third-party technology provider.
- Exposure to the digital asset sector is an advantage.
- The standing and seniority to act credibly as a controlling function before the FMA.
- Sound judgement, personal accountability, and the ability to operate as the responsible individual for a licensed entity.
- Able to work effectively with a distributed group, including colleagues in other time zones.
- Fit and proper for a controlling-function role, satisfying the FMA’s suitability assessment.
Required skills
- travel
- governance
- inclusion
- benefits
- bank
- data governance
- culture
- switzerland
- mission
- payments
- pis
- incident management
- digital assets
- seniority
- emea
- aml/cft
- financial governance
- escalation
- cryptocurrencies
- dora
- business continuity
- financial institutions
- psd2
- risk & compliance
- open banking
- digital finance
- payment operations
- regulatory environment
- executive management
- sound judgement
- customer onboarding
- authorisation
- regulatory obligations
- working hours
- base salary
- risk register
- operational risk
- control framework
- service levels
- ais
- time zones
- transformational
- director of operations
- eea
- fma
- compensation range
- onchain
- technology platform
- commercial governance
- responsible individual
- liechtenstein
- equity grant
- suitability assessment
- group finance
- e-money institution
- target bonus
- european economic area
- service reviews
- total compensation package
- personal accountability
- payment institution
- ict risk
- fireblocks
- workforce diversity
- digital asset infrastructure
- candidate privacy policy
- regulatory perimeter
- regulated financial institution
- decision point
- account information services
- payment initiation services
- liechtenstein financial market authority
- controlling function
- intra-group technology provider
- outsourcing arrangement
- outsourcing register
- sub-outsourcing controls
- segregated operational processes
- support routing
- outsourcing risk
- liechtenstein regulation
- eea regulation
- zdg
- dual-entity contracting
- crypto-asset service provider
- licence application
- regulator engagement
- payments background
- outsourcing governance
- licensed entity
- third-party technology provider
- digital asset sector
- distributed group
- fit and proper
- us-headquartered group
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