UK Credit Compliance Lead Office: United Kingdom Remote: UK

At Cleo, we're not just building another fintech app. We're embarking on a mission to fundamentally change humanity's relationship with money. Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of background or income, has access to a hyper-intelligent financial advisor in their pocket. That's the future we're creating. Cleo is a rare success story: a profitable, fast-growing unicorn with over $300 million in ARR and growing over 2x year-over-year. This isn't just a job; it's a chance to join a team of brilliant, driven individuals who are passionate about making a real difference.

We’re hiring a Director of UK Compliance to join Cleo’s Legal, Compliance & Policy team in a pivotal role focused on building and leading our new credit and other regulated products compliance program in the UK. This is an opportunity to take ownership for Cleo’s UK regulated products, helping shape the framework, processes, and governance that will support our next phase of growth.

You’ll serve as the UK Compliance leader, acting as a key partner to the business and a trusted subject matter expert on FCA and CONC requirements, regulatory obligations, and compliance risk. From maintaining existing authorisation and reporting obligations to supporting new licences and approvals tied to future products, you’ll play a central role in helping Cleo scale responsibly and confidently in the UK market.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building from the ground up, thrives in fast-moving fintech environments, and is excited by the chance to create a strong, modern compliance program within an international legal, compliance, and policy function. You’ll have significant ownership, visibility, and the opportunity to help shape both the regulatory strategy and the team around it.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Proven ability to serve as SMF 16 (Compliance) and SMF 17 (AML).
• Take ownership over these key responsibilities for UK compliance program, ensuring it is fit for a growing fintech business and aligned to regulatory expectations, business strategy, and product expansion.
• Own compliance for UK credit and other regulated products.
• Act as the compliance lead for Cleo’s UK regulated offerings, advising on applicable FCA rules and broader regulatory requirements across the product lifecycle, from design and launch through ongoing oversight and change management.
• Provide AML and financial crime leadership.
• Support and oversee UK AML compliance requirements, including advising on relevant regulations, financial crime controls, and governance.
• Manage FCA engagement and regulatory relationships.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for UK regulatory matters, including interfacing with the FCA, supporting regulatory queries, examinations, and investigations, and ensuring the business is prepared, responsive, and well-documented.
• Maintain regulatory authorisations and reporting obligations.
• Oversee ongoing compliance obligations tied to existing UK authorisations, including regulatory reporting, governance requirements, and internal controls needed to maintain a strong compliance posture.
• Support new licences and regulatory approvals.
• Partner with Legal, Product, and business stakeholders to support applications for new licences, permissions, and authorisations associated with new products, including credit-related permissions and other regulated activity as needed.
• Partner cross-functionally to embed compliance.
• Work closely with Legal, Product, Engineering, Operations, and other teams to translate regulatory requirements into practical, scalable processes and controls that enable the business to move quickly while managing risk appropriately.
• Drive compliance risk management and issue resolution.
• Identify, assess, and elevate compliance risks; support investigations and remediation efforts; and help ensure that complaints, regulatory issues, and business changes are handled in a way that protects customers and the company.
• Help shape the future of the function.
• Contribute to the growth of Cleo’s broader international compliance capabilities, with the opportunity to build processes, improve governance, and manage at least one direct report as the UK program expands.

What We’re Looking For

• Must-Have: 7+ years experience within UK financial services, ideally in a fintech or other fast-paced regulated environment.
• 2+ years as a SMF 16 and SMF 17 in UK regulated entity offering credit products.
• Strong knowledge of AML + KYC frameworks and financial crime compliance requirements, with experience serving as an MLRO.
• Direct and hands-on experience applying CONC rules to regulated consumer credit products.
• Strong working knowledge of the FCA regulatory framework and experience supporting or leading compliance for UK regulated products.
• Hands-on experience maintaining regulatory authorisations, managing FCA reporting obligations, and supporting ongoing regulatory compliance requirements.
• Experience working directly with the FCA during regulatory reviews, examinations, investigations, or other supervisory interactions.
• Experience supporting or leading applications for new licences, permissions, or authorisations, preferably including consumer credit or related regulated activities.
• Ability to balance regulatory rigour with commercial pragmatism, providing clear advice that mitigates risk while enabling business objectives.
• Strong judgment, ownership, and communication skills, with the ability to operate independently and influence senior cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience building or maturing compliance programs, frameworks, policies, and controls in a scaling business.

Nice-to-have:

• Experience in a startup or high-growth fintech environment.
• Experience in de’novo consumer credit application with the FCA.
• Experience building a compliance program or function with a high degree of autonomy.
• Prior people management experience, or readiness to lead and develop at least one team member.
• Familiarity with product development processes and advising on compliance considerations for new products and features.
• Relevant compliance certifications or professional qualifications in compliance, AML, or financial crime.

What do you get for all your hard work?

• A competitive compensation package (base + equity) with bi-annual reviews, aligned to our quarterly OKR planning cycles.
• Work at one of the fastest-growing tech startups, backed by top VC firms, Balderton & EQT Ventures.
• A clear progression plan. We want you to keep growing. That means trying new things, leading others, challenging the status quo and owning your impact. Always with our complete support.
• Flexibility. We can’t fight for the world’s financial health if we’re not healthy ourselves. We work with everyone to make sure they have the balance they need to do their best work.
• Work where you work best. We’re a globally distributed team. If you live in London we have a hybrid approach, we’d love you to spend one day a week or more in our beautiful office. If you’re outside of London, we’ll encourage you to spend a couple of days with us a few times per year. And we’ll cover your travel costs, naturally.
• Other benefits include company-wide performance reviews every 6 months, generous pay increases for high-performing team members, equity top-ups for team members getting promoted, 25 days annual leave a year + public holidays (+ an additional day for every year you spend at Cleo, up to 30 days), 6% employer-matched pension in the UK, private medical insurance via Vitality, dental cover, and life assurance, enhanced parental leave, 1 month paid sabbatical after 4 years at Cleo, regular socials and activities, online and in-person, we’ll pay for your OpenAI subscription, online mental health support via Spill, workplace nursery scheme, and many more!

Welcoming Everyone

We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. If there’s anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.