EU Head of Compliance (2LOD)

Messy spend management is tricky business. And tedious processes are a lose-lose situation for all involved, not just finance. At Pleo, we're changing that. We build spend solutions that make managing money seamless, empowering, and surprisingly effective for finance teams and employees alike—with a vision to help all businesses ‘go beyond’.

The word ‘Pleo’ actually means ‘more than you’d expect’, and living by that mantra has been the secret to our success over the last 10 years.

Now, we’re at a pivotal moment in our journey; every move we make has a direct impact on our 40,000+ customers, our business, and our collective success. We need people who take pride in uncovering customer needs, who turn complex problems into simple solutions, challenge the way things are done (respectfully), and always aim high. With great ambitions driving us forward, we can’t say we’ve got this whole thing figured out. And frankly, that’s half the fun! What we can say is that we’re a driven, progressive, and, importantly, a kind bunch of 850+ people from over 100 nationalities, all committed to delivering the future of business spending, together.

We're looking for an EU Head of Compliance to join our Legal & Compliance team at Pleo. In this role, you'll be the architect and guardian of our regulatory integrity, maintaining our framework under the primary supervision of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) while ensuring seamless passporting across the EEA.

You’ll act as a strategic bridge between the business and regulators, balancing rigorous adherence to regulation with the commercial agility required by a high-growth FinTech. If you are a "builder" rather than just a "checker" and are excited about scaling a compliance function from a high-growth scale-up into a mature, world-class institution, then this is the opportunity for you!

What you’ll be doing

As the EU Head of Compliance, you will:

• Design and scale a robust Second Line of Defence (2LoD) that satisfies Danish standards while remaining agile enough for a fast-moving FinTech.

• Act as the primary point of contact for the DFSA and other EU regulatory bodies, managing inspections, filings, and notifications to build a relationship of trust and transparency.

• Act as a strategic partner to Product teams, providing "compliant-by-design" advice on new features (e.g., credit offerings, invoice management) before rollout.

• Lead the 2LoD monitoring program, conducting thematic reviews and assurance programs to ensure the First Line of Defence (1LoD) is adhering to requirements in areas like operational resilience and consumer protection.

• Overhaul and maintain core compliance policies, ensuring they are proportionate, scalable, and adaptable to local nuances in various EU markets.

• Report directly to the Board of Directors and Executive Management on compliance health, emerging regulatory risks, and the effectiveness of internal controls.

• Build and mentor a high-performing EU compliance team, fostering a culture where compliance is viewed as a competitive advantage.

What you bring

You’ll thrive in this role if you have:

• 8–12 years of experience in legal or compliance roles within regulated financial services, specifically within the Payments (PI/EMI) or SaaS-FinTech space.

• A proven track record of managing relationships with European regulators (e.g., DFSA, CSSF, BaFin, or CBI) and a deep understanding of the European regulatory landscape.

• Experience transitioning a firm from a scale-up phase into a mature, highly regulated institution.

• The ability to leverage data and automation to monitor compliance, moving away from manual, "old-school" spreadsheets.

• The ability to provide clear, actionable guidance to cross-functional teams and report effectively to the Board.

• A professional certification (e.g., CAMS, ICA Diploma) or a strong legal background.

• Direct experience with Danish financial regulations is a significant plus.

Note: This role requires broad regulatory compliance experience (Governance, Conduct, and Licensing) and in-house operational experience. It is not suitable for candidates with purely advisory (consulting only), purely risk management, or "Financial Crime only" backgrounds.

Who you’ll be working with and reporting to

You’ll report to our UK CEO and work closely with senior leadership. You will lead a dedicated compliance team and partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, and Legal to ensure Pleo remains at the forefront of the industry. Our team is highly collaborative, tech-forward, and dedicated to making spend management surprisingly effective.

Show me the benefits!

• Your own Pleo card (no more out-of-pocket spending!)

• Lunch is on us - with catering in our Lisbon, Copenhagen and London offices or a monthly lunch allowance paid directly together with your salary in other markets 🍜

• Private health insurance to ensure you’re fit in body and mind to do your best work

• We offer 25 days of holiday + your public holidays

• For our teams we offer remote working options

• Option to purchase 5 additional days of holiday through a salary sacrifice

• We’re trialling MyndUp to give our employees access to free mental health and wellbeing support with great success so far ❤️‍🩹

• Paid parental leave - we want to make sure that we're supportive of families and help you feel that you don't have to compromise your family due to work 👶

About your application

• Please submit your application in English; it’s our company language so you’ll be speaking lots of it if you join 💕

• We treat all candidates equally: If you are interested please apply through our application system - any correspondence should come from there! Our lovely support team isn't able to pass on any calls/ emails our way - and this makes sure that the candidate experience is smooth and fair to everyone 😊

• We can only achieve our goals if our team reflects the diversity of the world around us - and that starts with you, hitting apply, even if you are worried you might not tick all the boxes. We embrace and encourage people from all backgrounds to apply - regardless of race/ethnicity, colour, religion, nationality, gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, neurodiversity, socio-economic status, culture or beliefs.

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