Chief Operational Officer (Fintech)

About BankStore
BankStore is a global fintech platform that helps startups, SMEs, venture funds, and Web3 businesses access essential financial infrastructure. Our AI-driven matching engine connects clients to a curated network of 70+ banks, 90+ acquirers, and 180+ payment providers across 95+ currencies, alongside fast-track company incorporation in 8 startup-friendly jurisdictions and ongoing legal and compliance support. We operate across the UK, US, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe, giving founders a single point of access to banking, payments, and legal searvices that would otherwise take months to assemble.

The Role
We're looking for a Chief Operating Officer to run the day-to-day engine of BankStore: the operational backbone connecting our clients to banks, acquirers, payment providers, and incorporation partners across multiple jurisdictions. You'll own operational strategy, scale our partner network and onboarding processes, and turn a fast-moving fintech marketplace into a predictable, efficient, and compliant operation. You will report directly to the CEO, sit on the leadership team, and work closely with Legal, Compliance, Product, and Partnerships.

What You'll Do
Own end-to-end operations across BankStore's marketplace: client onboarding (KYB/KYC), bank and payment-provider matching, account opening, and incorporation fulfillment.
Build and scale the operating processes and SLAs behind onboarding 100+ banks, 90+ acquirers, and 180+ payment providers across 95+ currencies.
Manage and grow relationships with partner banks, acquirers, payment providers, and incorporation agents across the UK, US, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe.
Design and monitor operational KPIs (onboarding time, approval rates, turnaround SLAs, partner performance) and drive continuous improvement.
Partner with Legal and Compliance to ensure operational processes meet KYB/KYC/AML requirements across all jurisdictions of operation.
Lead and scale operations, customer success, and partnerships teams as the company grows headcount.
Own the operating budget and resource planning across departments, working closely with Finance.
Drive process automation and tooling improvements in partnership with Product and Engineering to reduce manual work in onboarding and account management.
Oversee vendor and partner contract performance, escalations, and renewal strategy in coordination with Legal.
Represent operations in leadership planning: pricing, market expansion (new jurisdictions/currencies), and new product launches (e.g., Web3 payments, banking cards).
Build contingency and risk-mitigation plans for partner outages, compliance holds, or banking relationship disruptions.
Report operational performance and business metrics to the CEO and board.

What We're Looking For
8+ years of operations leadership experience, with at least 3+ years in a senior operating role (COO, VP Ops, Head of Ops) at a fintech, payments, or banking-as-a-service company.
Proven track record scaling multi-jurisdictional operations involving banking partners, payment providers, or acquirers.
Working knowledge of KYB/KYC/AML onboarding processes and how they intersect with operational workflows.
Experience managing partner and vendor relationships with financial institutions.
Strong analytical skills with a track record of building KPIs, dashboards, and SLAs that drive measurable operational improvement.
Experience building and leading cross-functional teams (operations, customer success, partnerships) in a fast-growing startup environment.
Comfortable operating with ambiguity, building processes from scratch, and iterating quickly.
Excellent written and spoken English; additional languages are a plus.
Strong stakeholder management skills, able to work closely with Legal, Compliance, Product, and Finance leaders.

Nice to Have
Experience with Web3/crypto client operations or compliance considerations.
Prior experience at a banking-as-a-service, embedded finance, or fintech marketplace company.
Experience operating across the UK, US, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, or EU markets specifically.
Experience with company incorporation or corporate services operations.