Chief Operating Officer (COO)

On behalf of our client, we are seeking a hands-on senior operator to join a dynamic international group headquartered in Cyprus.

Our client is a diversified holding company with a portfolio of subsidiaries operating across advisory services, asset management, financial technology, payment solutions, corporate structuring, and digital innovation. Through its group entities, the organization delivers services in areas including business advisory, investment management, digital wallets and payment gateways, corporate and tax structuring, international money remittance, and technology solutions serving clients across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

The Group continues to expand its international presence through a combination of strategic investments, innovative financial services, and technology-driven business solutions.

This is not a traditional corporate COO role. We are looking for a hands-on senior operator with direct, personal experience in high-risk payments and merchant acquiring. Someone who has owned acquiring relationships, run operational functions themselves, and delivered at pace in entrepreneurial, owner-led environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Take hands-on operational ownership of the Group's payments and merchant-acquiring activities, ensuring alignment with the CEO's strategic direction and the commercial objectives of each entity.

• Personally own and develop acquiring-bank and payment-scheme relationships, acting as the Group's primary operational counterpart to banks, schemes, and key partners.

• Oversee the full merchant lifecycle across high-risk verticals — underwriting and onboarding, fraud and chargeback management, rolling reserves, settlement flows, reconciliation, and routing and cascading.

• Manage operational escalations and drive portfolio performance across the merchant book.

• Oversee operations across regulated entities, ensuring full adherence to applicable licensing conditions, regulatory obligations, and reporting requirements (CySEC, Central Bank of Cyprus, FINTRAC, and other relevant authorities depending on entity).

• Work hand-in-hand with Compliance, Risk, Legal, and Finance functions to maintain a strong control environment and a clean regulatory standing across the Group.

• Work closely with the CTO and product teams on major platform builds, implementations, and migrations, ensuring operational readiness and a smooth transition.

• Build, lead, and scale operational teams and processes; set KPIs, run performance reviews, and grow internal talent.

• Manage the operational interdependencies of a complex financial group structure, including intercompany arrangements, shared services, and consolidated reporting.

• Represent the Group operationally with banks, schemes, regulators, auditors, and key counterparties.

• Support M&A activity, new entity setups, and licensing applications from an operational readiness perspective.

• Report regularly to the CEO and Board on operational performance, risk, and key initiatives.

Requirements

• Senior operational leadership experience within a PSP, merchant acquirer, payment gateway, or payment orchestration business.

• Direct exposure to high-risk verticals such as iGaming, gambling, forex/CFD, adult, or crypto.

• Personal ownership of acquiring-bank and payment-scheme relationships.

• Strong understanding of merchant underwriting, fraud, chargebacks, rolling reserves, settlement flows, reconciliation, routing, and cascading.

• Proven experience managing merchant onboarding, operational escalations, and portfolio performance.

• A proven track record of building and scaling operational teams and processes.

• Experience working closely with a CTO or product team on a major platform build, implementation, or migration.

• Working knowledge of banking, EMI/PI operations, and digital assets would be a strong advantage.

• The credibility and gravitas to represent the company with banks, schemes, regulators, auditors, and key partners.

• Excellent communication skills in English; Greek is an advantage.

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Law, or a related field; relevant professional qualifications (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CySEC Advanced, AGRC, ICA) considered a strong plus.

• Right to work in Cyprus or willingness to relocate to Limassol.

What We Offer

• Senior leadership position with direct reporting line to the CEO.

• Broad mandate across a multi-entity Group spanning advisory, asset management, and fintech.

• Competitive remuneration package commensurate with experience.

• Long-term career trajectory within a growing international group.