Director of Compliance and Risk

Are you looking to have an impact on the daily life of millions of entrepreneurs in France (and tomorrow in Europe)?

Are you looking for a work environment that values trust, proactivity, and autonomy?

Are our Engineering principles aligned with your vision?

Then Pennylane is the right place for you !

We aim to become the most beloved financial Operating System of French SMEs and Accounting Firms (and soon, European ones).

We help entrepreneurs rid themselves of time-consuming tasks related to accounting and finance while providing them with access to key financial information to assist in making the best decisions for their business.

Pennylane is one of the fastest growing Fintechs in France (and soon to be in Europe!)

In 5 years of existence, we’ve managed to :

💻 Make ourselves known as a groundbreaking accounting and financial software for small businesses and their accountants

💰 Raise a total of €400 millions, including from Sequoia, the famous fund from the Silicon Valley who invested early in companies like Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Stripe, Paypal and much more...

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Grow from 7 cofounders to 1000 happy Pennylaners : we’re now recognized as one of the greatest places to work in France (and also remotely), with a 4.6/5 rating on Glassdoor.

🌍 Build an international environment with more than 25 nationalities, with a strong remote-friendly culture, where 30% of the employees are already working from all parts of Europe

🤝 Earn the trust of thousands of customers and accounting firms and obtain outstanding ratings

🚀 Already more than 900,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and over 6000 accounting firms use Pennylane in France!

We are currently operating appx 30k business accounts under a BaaS model. The role of Financial Services in Pennylane’s strategy is set to grow, both in terms of revenue and product contribution, to serve our 900k+ current customer base.

As such, we are initiating a process to get licensed as Etablissement de paiement et Société de financement :

- Our ambition is to start onboarding new customers by early 2027 before starting migrating existing customers.

- To meet this ambition, we are starting to hire our Tech, Product, Compliance and Ops leaders.

We are looking for a Director of Compliance and Risk to build and lead the Compliance & Risk function of Pennylane Financial Services from the ground up. This is an executive officer ‑ level position (dirigeant effectif) (subject to ACPR approval).

- Your mission would be to :

    - Design and implement the 2nd line of defence (compliance, risk, permanent controls) for a combined payment services and financing perimeter.

    - Act as primary point of contact for the ACPR on regulatory, compliance, risk and LCB‑FT / Tracfin matters and all ACPR reporting

    - Build and lead a multi‑disciplinary team (compliance, LCB‑FT/Tracfin, risk & controls, credit risk).

    - Work in close partnership with Group Legal, Finance and IT‑Security, while maintaining full independence as a control function.

This is a greenfield project with high autonomy, direct exposure to the Supervisory Board and regulators, and the opportunity to shape the governance and risk culture of a fast‑growing fintech with a robust preexisting customer base.

Before ACPR licence is granted, you will report to Stanislas, the Head of Legal, Compliance & Risks of Pennylane SAS (Group). 

After licence is granted:

- You are one of the three executive officers of Pennylane Financial Services

- You report directly to the Supervisory Board of Pennylane Financial Services with functional reporting to Stanislas.

- You will have unrestricted access to the Supervisory Board and the authority and responsibility to escalate any compliance or risk issues.

You will be the single regulatory counterpart for ACPR on compliance, risk and LCB‑FT issues, leading compliance and risk teams internally and coordinating internal inputs across the Group.

- You will ensure overall Pennylane Financial Services ongoing compliance with regulations applicable to its licences.

- You will build the Compliance & Risk Function and team (2nd Line) :

    - Designing the overall compliance and risk management framework for Pennylane Financial Services, covering Payment services activities and Financing activities

    - Drafting, validating and ensuring compliance with compliance and risk policies, procedures and governance documents.

    - Structuring the 2nd level of control, fully internal and under your responsibility.

- LCB‑FT will be one of your top priorities in the first 12–18 months. You will recruit the manager in charge of the consistency and effectiveness of non-compliance risk control, and be his manager/direct report.

- Risk Management (Credit, Operational, IT/Security, Outsourcing) : in close partnership with product and legal, you will be responsible for :

    - Designing credit risk policies and frameworks

    - Overseeing the operational risk management framework

    - Coordinating with Pennylane SAS IT‑Security team to ensure appropriate security and continuity measures for regulated activities, robust incident management and reporting to ACPR where required.

    - Establishing and monitoring the outsourcing risk framework in compliance with ACPR and EBA outsourcing guidelines.

- Governance, Reporting & Relationship with Group Function: you will act as the central coordinator and synthesiser for all information needed for ACPR and Board reporting.

- More generally, you will be expected to :

    - Promote a “compliance as a business enabler” culture, where risk appetite is about well‑documented interpretations and controlled experimentation and where compliance and risk are embedded in product and tech decisions from day one.

    - Design and roll out training programmes for all relevant staff (LCB‑FT, conduct of business, fraud awareness, operational risk, etc.)

    - Foster a culture of ownership and accountability, with radical trust embedded, and high standards of documentation and auditability from day 1.

- 10+ years of relevant experience in an ACPR‑supervised environment, such as: former RCCI / RCC / Head of Compliance & Risk in a French bank, payment institution, financing company or fintech, or ex‑ACPR profile with hands‑on experience of supervising similar business models.

- Managing a compliance team in a French ACPR‑regulated entity (établissement de paiement, établissement de crédit, société de financement or similar).

- Hands‑on LCB‑FT/Tracfin experience: designing and operating KYC/KYB and transaction monitoring frameworks, and making or overseeing Tracfin reports.

- Strong credit risk and ALM culture, ideally with: Exposure to SME financing products (overdrafts, invoice financing, term loans, factoring), and ability to challenge underwriting standards, risk models and portfolio metrics.

- Excellent command of French financial regulation (Code monétaire et financier, ACPR doctrine, EBA guidelines, PSD2/PSD3, AML/CTF framework).

- Ability to build from scratch: frameworks, policies, processes, tools, reporting.

- Strong pedagogy: able to explain complex regulatory topics to product managers, engineers and founders in simple, actionable terms.

- Challenging yet constructive: comfortable questioning founders and senior leaders, while remaining solution‑oriented and business‑minded.

- Pragmatic, impact‑driven approach, capable of operating under strong regulatory constraints without blocking innovation.

- Languages: Fluent French and English are mandatory (day‑to‑day work and ACPR interaction in French; internal and investor dialogue often in English).

- Location: Based in France, with a strong preference for Paris.

Regular on‑site presence in Paris is expected; partial remote is possible, but this is not a fully remote role.

- Greenfield regulatory project: Be the architect of a new regulated entity, from licence application to operational rollout.

- Massive impact: Shape the way financial services are delivered to hundreds of thousands of French SMEs.

- High autonomy & influence:

° Direct, regular interaction with the Supervisory Board

° Central role in defining the risk appetite and governance of the entity.

- Fast‑growing fintech environment:

° Work closely with top‑tier product and engineering teams.

° Help invent the next generation of SME financial services under a robust, modern compliance and risk framework.

- Senior executive level:

° Position calibrated at senior leadership / level 10+.

° Competitive compensation package, including equity components aligned with impact and responsibility.

- HR interview with Simon Peraldo - Senior Recruiter

- Who interview with Stanislas de Villoutreys (Legal Director) and Maxime Leclercq

- Case study with Stanislas de Villoutreys and Eric Scaramozzino (VP Strategic Iniatives)

- Fit interview with Felix Blossier (COO and cofounder) and Tancrède Besnard (CPO and cofounder)

🌴 Wherever you are based, you will get 25 vacations days paid by Pennylane

💵 You’ll have a competitive compensation package

📈 You'll get company shares to enjoy a piece of the success story you're building with us

🏡 You’ll have a budget to turn your home into a more comfortable workspace, as well as a monthly allowance to work from a coworking space whenever you feel like it

⛹️ Through our partner Gymlib, you’ll have access to 8000 fitness spaces in Europe and more than 300 activities related to wellness

🇬🇧 You’ll have access to Busuu to perfect your English or your French

💻 You’ll get the latest Apple equipment

🏢 Depending on the teams and the requirements of the position - you'll be able to work remotely from your country of residence, as long as it is in Europe and within a maximum time difference of two hours from the CET time zone

🎉 We are committed to regularly coming together for company events such as Tech Days (which bring remote Pennylaners together every 3 months) or our annual company seminar, fostering significant moments of cohesion for everyone.

If you are based in France, you will have a French contract following French regulation on top of the additional perks : 6 to 12 RTT, 5 weeks PTOs, lunch credits (Swile), Alan Blue healthcare cover and regular events in cities where Pennylaners are mostly presents (Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes…)

To thrive at Pennylane, you need :

-To speak English (level is assessed and appreciated according to the department you’re applying to)

-To be energized by an ever-shifting work environment

-To be highly collaborative (within your team or other stakeholders)

-Sufficiently experienced to prioritize business-led actions on your day to day activity

We know that some people are less likely to apply than others, if they don’t feel like they meet the full list of criteria.

If you’re hesitating, we encourage you to apply : who knows, it might be the start of a meaningful and long-lasting collaboration.

Recruitment scam attempts are on the rise. We invite you to remain vigilant during your exchanges.

Applications through official channels only : apply exclusively through our job postings published on our official platforms (career site, official partner pages).

Always verify the sender's email address: our communications are sent from professional email addresses with the domains @pennylane.com or @pennylane-partners.com

(bank details, payment for an interview, equipment purchases, etc.) as part of the recruitment process. If such a request is made to you, it is fraudulent. We invite you to not respond and to report it to us immediately.

We also want to emphasize that we fully embrace diversity, equity and inclusion and that we’re doing our best to create a safe and inclusive environment.

We are committed to providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of gender, sexual orientation, origin, disabilities, or any other traits that make you who you are. If anything, diversity makes us a more fun place to work at.