Director of Operations, Payments EMEA

Role Overview

Fireblocks Liechtenstein Ltd. is a payment institution being established to provide Account Information Services (AIS) and Payment Initiation Services (PIS) to institutional clients across the European Economic Area, under authorisation from the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (FMA). 

The Director of Operations is a controlling-function role and a member of the Company’s executive management. The role holds primary day-to-day accountability for the sound operation of the licensed entity, acts as the principal local point of contact with the FMA, and provides the substance and operational governance that underpin the Company’s authorisation. 

The role has a defined and focused scope: the Company provides AIS and PIS services, with its technology platform operated by an intra-group technology provider. The Director of Operations is responsible for governing that arrangement and ensuring the entity operates soundly, rather than for building or running technology directly. The role may also support the Fireblocks group’s wider regulated activities where relevant.

Key Responsibilities

Regulatory and Governance

• Serve as the primary day-to-day point of contact with the FMA for operational matters, managing the ongoing supervisory relationship.
• Ensure the Company operates at all times within the scope and conditions of its authorisation.
• Own the Company’s regulatory reporting obligations and coordinate the annual statutory and regulatory audit.
• Support the Board and executive management in discharging their governance responsibilities, including preparation and follow-through on Board matters.

Operational Oversight

• Hold day-to-day accountability for the operational delivery of the Company’s AIS and PIS services.
• Oversee the outsourcing arrangement with the technology provider, including monitoring of service levels, quarterly service reviews, and management of the outsourcing register and sub-outsourcing controls.
• Own the Company’s business continuity and incident management framework, acting as the escalation and decision point in the event of a material disruption.
• Oversee the segregated operational processes that support the Company’s regulatory perimeter, including customer onboarding, support routing, and data governance in coordination with the Risk & Compliance function.

Risk and Control

• Work closely with the Risk & Compliance function to ensure an effective control environment across AML/CFT, operational, ICT, and outsourcing risk.
• Ensure the Company meets its obligations under applicable Liechtenstein and EEA regulation, including PSD2/ZDG and, as applicable, DORA.
• Oversee the maintenance of the Company’s risk register and the periodic and permanent control framework.

Commercial and Financial Governance

• Oversee the commercial and financial governance of the entity, including the intra-group service arrangements, in coordination with group finance.
• Provide operational sign-off on customer onboarding to the entity, ensuring the dual-entity contracting process is completed and customers are correctly provisioned.
• Support the Fireblocks group’s wider regulated activities where relevant, bringing operational and regulatory experience to bear. 

Candidate Profile

• Proven operational leadership experience within a regulated financial institution — a payment institution, e-money institution, bank, or crypto-asset service provider.
• Experience of the Liechtenstein or wider EEA regulatory environment, ideally including prior involvement in a licence application and ongoing regulator engagement.
• A payments background, with an understanding of open banking (AIS/PIS), payment operations, and the associated regulatory obligations.
• Familiarity with outsourcing governance and the operation of a licensed entity that relies on an intra-group or third-party technology provider.
• Exposure to the digital asset sector is an advantage.

Attributes

• The standing and seniority to act credibly as a controlling function before the FMA.
• Sound judgement, personal accountability, and the ability to operate as the responsible individual for a licensed entity.
• Able to work effectively with a distributed group, including colleagues in other time zones.
• Fit and proper for a controlling-function role, satisfying the FMA’s suitability assessment.

Location and Presence

The role does not require full-time residence in Liechtenstein. The successful candidate may be resident in Liechtenstein or a neighbouring jurisdiction (Switzerland).The candidate must be willing to travel to Liechtenstein as required and to accommodate periodic working hours aligned with a US-headquartered group.

For employees hired to work from the EU, Fireblocks is required by law to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This range is specific to Switzerland and takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are reviewed when making a hiring decision, such as years of experience, skills, and other business needs. It is not typical for a candidate to be hired at or near the top of the pay range and each compensation decision is dependent on each individual case. A reasonable base salary range estimate for this position is €150,000 – €205,000. The base salary is one component of the total compensation package, which for some roles may include a target bonus, a very competitive equity grant, and very generous benefits.

While we believe competitive compensation is a critical aspect of your decision to join us, we do hope you also spend time considering why our mission and culture are right for you. We are creating something transformational here, and we hope you are as excited about the future as we are.

Fireblocks' mission is to enable every business to easily and securely access digital assets and cryptocurrencies. In order to do that, we strongly believe our workforce should be as diverse as our clients, and this is why we embrace diversity and inclusion in all its forms.