Head Of Finance

Location: London, UK — Onsite

Employment: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £120,000–£140,000 gross per annum

Industry: Payments / Fintech / Financial Services

Reports to: CEO / Executive Management

Cardaq is an international payments and financial technology group headquartered in London.

We operate in a highly regulated and rapidly evolving environment, combining payments infrastructure, financial technology and international expansion with a strong focus on governance, innovation and operational resilience.

As Cardaq enters its next stage of growth, we are looking for an experienced Head of Finance to lead and further develop our finance function.

The Head of Finance will take senior responsibility for Cardaq’s financial management, planning, reporting and financial control.

This is a leadership role with significant strategic responsibility. You will work closely with the CEO, Board, senior management, external auditors, advisers and other stakeholders while leading the day-to-day finance function.

We are looking for someone who can combine rigorous financial control with commercial judgement — someone equally comfortable reviewing management accounts, challenging a budget, working with auditors and presenting financial information to senior stakeholders.

The successful candidate will play an important role in supporting Cardaq’s continued growth in the UK and internationally.

You will:

• Lead the overall finance function and provide financial leadership across the business.
• Own budgeting, forecasting, financial planning and cash-flow management.
• Produce high-quality monthly, quarterly and annual management reporting.
• Develop financial KPIs, dashboards and Board-level reporting.
• Provide the CEO and senior management with financial analysis supporting strategic and commercial decisions.
• Maintain strong financial controls, policies and governance across the organisation.
• Oversee statutory accounts, tax matters and regulatory financial reporting requirements.
• Coordinate annual audits and manage relationships with external auditors, accountants, tax advisers and other professional firms.
• Manage relationships with banking and financial-service partners from a finance perspective.
• Oversee treasury, liquidity and working-capital management.
• Monitor revenue, costs, profitability and performance across products, entities and jurisdictions.
• Develop consolidated financial reporting across the wider group.
• Support the financial aspects of new products, partnerships and international expansion.
• Work closely with Compliance, Risk, Legal, Operations, Commercial and Technology teams.
• Improve and automate finance processes, controls and reporting wherever appropriate.
• Build, develop and lead a high-performing finance team.
• Ensure that financial information provided to management is accurate, timely and commercially meaningful.

Given Cardaq’s business, the role will also require a strong understanding of the financial mechanics behind a payments organisation.

The Head of Finance will work across areas including:

• Merchant acquiring and payment processing economics.
• Scheme and processing costs.
• Merchant settlements and reconciliation.
• Safeguarding and client-money related financial controls where applicable.
• Partner and banking reconciliations.
• FX and multi-currency operations.
• Revenue recognition and transaction-based pricing.
• Chargebacks, refunds, reserves and other payment-related financial exposures.
• Liquidity requirements associated with payment operations.
• Financial analysis of new payment products and partnerships.

Direct experience in all of these areas is not essential, but strong payments, fintech, banking or regulated financial-services experience is highly desirable.

We are looking for an experienced finance leader with:

• Significant experience in a senior finance position such as Head of Finance, Finance Director, Financial Controller or equivalent.
• A recognised professional accounting qualification such as ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent.
• Strong technical accounting and financial-control expertise.
• Excellent budgeting, forecasting and financial-modelling capabilities.
• Experience producing management and Board-level reporting.
• Strong understanding of cash flow, treasury and liquidity management.
• Experience working with external auditors and professional advisers.
• Experience operating within a regulated or strongly controlled environment.
• Strong commercial judgement and the ability to translate financial information into business decisions.
• Experience managing and developing finance teams.
• Excellent written and verbal English.
• The confidence to challenge senior stakeholders constructively when necessary.

We would particularly welcome candidates with experience in one or more of the following:

Payments, merchant acquiring, card processing, fintech, banking, EMI/payment institutions, card schemes, cross-border payments, FX, multi-entity international groups or rapidly scaling technology businesses.

Experience working with Visa and/or Mastercard environments would be an additional advantage.

During the first 6–12 months, we would expect the Head of Finance to establish a highly reliable and scalable finance function with clear ownership of financial information across the organisation.

That means stronger forecasting, faster and more insightful management reporting, robust financial controls, improved group-level visibility, effective audit and regulatory readiness, and a finance function capable of supporting Cardaq’s international growth.

💷 £120,000–£140,000 gross annual salary

📍 A senior onsite position in London

🌍 Exposure to an international payments and fintech business

📈 A meaningful role in Cardaq’s next stage of growth and international expansion

🤝 Direct interaction with the CEO, Board and senior leadership

💡 The opportunity to influence financial strategy rather than simply administer an established function

🚀 A fast-moving environment where strong ideas and execution can have a visible impact

This is an onsite leadership position based in London.

We are looking for someone who enjoys being close to the business and working directly with colleagues across Finance, Risk, Compliance, Operations, Technology and Commercial functions.

The position will suit someone who is comfortable with responsibility, complexity and a fast pace — and who wants to help build and improve rather than simply maintain existing processes.

Please send your CV to hr@cardaq.com, quoting “Head of Finance – London” in the subject line.

Cardaq — Payments. People. A brighter tomorrow.