Job Description
About the Role We are looking for a hands-on Finance Lead to build and lead the finance function of our Hong Kong payments business. This is not a general accounting or corporate FP&A role. The successful candidate must have at least 2-3 years of direct, practical experience in a third-party payment company, payment gateway/processor, remittance/MSO business or payments start-up. The role requires proven experience maintaining a Hong Kong Money Service Operator (MSO) licence, supporting licence renewal and regulatory submissions, and preparing the finance function for statutory audits, regulatory reviews and transaction-level scrutiny. Key Responsibilities 1. Finance Leadership & Planning - Own the full finance scope, including accounting, month-end close, management reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow planning and financial controls. - Build payment-focused financial models and KPIs covering transaction volumes, take rate, payment fees, FX margins, settlement costs, liquidity and unit economics. - Provide management with clear financial insights on pricing, new products, payment channels, market expansion and business performance. 2. Treasury, Settlement & Reconciliation - Manage multi-currency liquidity, daily cash positioning, funding requirements, banking relationships and settlement obligations. - Understand and oversee end-to-end payment flows between customers, banks, payment partners and settlement accounts. - Ensure timely reconciliation of bank, customer-fund and settlement balances; establish controls and escalation for breaks, aged items and unusual movements. - Monitor FX exposure, payment cut-off times and liquidity requirements to support uninterrupted payment operations. 3. HK MSO Licence, Audit & Regulatory Finance - Lead the finance-related aspects of ongoing HK MSO licence maintenance, periodic transaction reporting, licence renewal and regulatory information requests, in partnership with Compliance and Operations. - Maintain audit-ready records and clear transaction-to-ledger traceability, including bank and settlement reconciliations, cut-off, revenue/fee/FX recognition and supporting evidence. - Ensure appropriate controls over customer funds, operating funds, settlement accounts, payment flows and access/approval authorities. - Coordinate statutory audits and support regulatory reviews, inspections and remediation of finance-related findings. - Keep finance records, regulatory submissions and audit evidence complete, consistent and readily retrievable. 4. Process & Team Development - Build practical finance policies, operating routines and control frameworks suitable for a growing payments business. - Improve and automate reconciliation, settlement, reporting and accounting processes as transaction volumes scale. - Partner with Operations, Compliance, Banking, Product and Commercial teams, and manage junior or outsourced finance resources where applicable. Qualifications & Experience Essential - 8+ years of finance/accounting experience, including at least 2-3 years of direct hands-on experience in a third-party payment company, payment processor/gateway, remittance/MSO business or payments start-up. - Demonstrated personal involvement in maintaining a Hong Kong MSO licence, including regulatory submissions or data preparation, licence renewal, audit support and responses to regulatory enquiries. - Strong practical knowledge of payment flows, settlement cycles, reconciliation, customer-fund controls, treasury, liquidity and multi-currency operations. - Hands-on ability across accounting close, management reporting, budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, audit and internal controls. - Able to work independently, resolve operational finance issues and build fit-for-purpose processes in a fast-moving or start-up environment. - Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline; strong Excel and accounting/ERP system skills. - Strong written and spoken English. Cantonese and/or Mandarin is an advantage. Preferred - Professional accounting qualification such as HKICPA, ACCA, CPA Australia or equivalent. - Experience with cross-border payments, payment pricing, FX/margin analysis, safeguarding/customer-fund arrangements or finance-system implementation.
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