Head of Compliance
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About
Swan is Europe’s embedded banking specialist. We empower software companies to embed banking features like accounts, cards, and payments directly into their products, under their own brand.Swan processes over €1.5 billion in monthly transactions for more than 150 companies - like Pennylane, Indy, Agicap, Libeo, and Lucca. Founded in 2019, the company has received growth capital from leading investors such as Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Bpifrance and Eight Roads. Swan is a principal member of Mastercard and a licensed financial institution, regulated by the French banking authority (ACPR).
Our mission
Banking belongs in business software
Many software companies already serve small businesses incredibly well: helping them send invoices, run payroll, manage inventory, and more. They’re on a mission to become the central hub for managing every aspect of business life.
But when it comes to financial workflows, there’s still a gap. Too many critical tasks like managing cash flow, tracking payments, or reconciling accounts happen outside the software, across spreadsheets, email threads, banking portals.
It’s a missed opportunity. Business software shouldn’t just record financial activity — it should run it.
To learn more about us: About Swan ; Our story.
Job description
As Head of Compliance you will oversee the company's regulatory obligations, and maintain an effective compliance framework that enables Swan to operate safely and in accordance with regulatory expectations across the jurisdictions where it operates.
Key Responsibilities:
Leads the Compliance function: AMLROs (including per-market / Central Contact Point coverage) and regulatory officers.
Lead, structure, and develop a high-performing team of approximately 15 compliance professionals by establishing a clear operating model, effective management framework, and scalable ways of working. Create the conditions for senior experts to perform at their best through well-designed management rituals, transparent communication.
Maintain and evolve the regulatory compliance framework (PSD2/CMF, EMI obligations, ACPR expectations) across home and passported markets, ensure consistent AML/CFT policy interpretation across jurisdictions.
Own regulatory relationships and reporting; act as primary interface with ACPR and local competent authorities on compliance matters.
Advise product, partnerships, and commercial teams on regulatory feasibility of new features, markets, and partner models. Document compliance opinions for the launch of new services/products or new activities, and new suppliers (critical suppliers).
Track regulatory change; translate it into actionable requirements and timelines for the business.
Propose revisions of risk mappings and the risk appetite framework
Handle qualitative reporting to regulators (QLB), overseeing local regulatory reporting, and reporting to key suppliers (sponsor banks notably)
Conduct compliance training and awareness sessions for staff. Help scale up the tools and processes to enable business growth in a safe and compliant environment.
Provide compliance input to the leadership and governance bodies
Manage regulatory examinations, inspections, and audits at the international level. Coordinate responses to regulatory inquiries and information requests. Launch local committees.
Support licensing applications and regulatory approvals
✨ Your Team
At Swan, you'll have the opportunity to join our dynamic compliance team, reporting to our Chief Risk Officer. Your team, currently consisting of ten members, is actively expanding.
The Compliance team operates within a department Risk & Compliance alongside the Fincrime and Internal Control teams. In your role, you can anticipate close collaboration with the Sales, Ops and Product Teams, fostering an environment where cross-functional engagement is highly valued.
Preferred experience
✨ You’re a great match if:
You have hands-on experience as an AMLRO / compliance role (or equivalent) in a regulated financial institution - ideally an EMI or PI - and a strong command of the French regulatory framework (ACPR, AML/CFT directives, PSD2, MFC). Knowledge of another European jurisdiction is a plus.
You've built and led a compliance team, and you know how to develop people while keeping standards high.
You're comfortable sitting at the intersection of compliance and business - you've worked closely with Product or Sales teams, and you can say no while still moving things forward.
You thrive in environments where the rules are still being written: you're as good at building frameworks from scratch as you are at maintaining them.
You communicate with clarity and conviction - in French and in English - whether you're in front of a regulator, a board, or a product team.
Our ideal teammate: Empathetic. Skilled. Frank. We love to challenge each other, and we leave our egos at the door.
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 : 25 days + RTT 🏝️
Meal Vouchers: We provide a meal voucher card to cover your meals on work days. 🥗
Transport: Monthly mobility package for employees. In accordance with the company agreement for sustainable mobilities, you can now use your mobility package to pay for alternative commuting modes. 🚇
Health insurance (mutuelle): Alan. This is Swan's health and welfare insurance. 🚑
Sports: Thanks to our partnership with Classpass, you can enjoy advantageous discounts on subscriptions. They offer a wide range of sports activities as well as wellness activities. 🏋
Well-being support: access to Moka Care for mental health and wellness. 🧘
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.
Recruitment process
A 45-min call with our Talent Acquisition Manager, to get to know you, understand your career expectations and answer your questions
A 1H interview with your futur manager Jérôme
A Live case study and peer interview (1H30)
A 1h interview withe our Chief People Officer to evaluate your management skills
A last round with Camille, our CEO for 1H
3 reference checks conducted by Talent Acquisition team, with a minimum of 2 recent former direct managers and one internal stakeholder
- Locations
- Paris
- Remote status
- Hybrid
- Employment type
- Full-time
- Type of contract
- Permanent