How To Hire Fintech Executives

The term “fintech,” which combines the phrases “financial” and “technology,” now refers to any business that aims to leverage cutting-edge technology to upend the financial services sector. Fintech firms like PayPal, Venmo, Robinhood, and Stripe are powerful examples. Fintech is a term used to describe emerging technology that aims to enhance and automate the provision of financial services. At its foundation, fintech uses specialized software and algorithms that are employed on computers and smartphones to assist businesses, business owners, and individuals in better managing their financial operations, processes, and lives.

The word “fintech” was first used to describe the technology used in the back-end systems of established financial institutions. Recently, there has been a change toward more consumer-focused services and, thus, a more consumer-focused definition. The term “fintech” currently refers to a variety of fields and sub-sectors, including:

• Payments and Billing
• Capital Markets
• Money Transfer
• Real Estate
• Insurance
• Lending
• Blockchain and Crypto Currency
• Personal Finance and Wealth Management
• Regulatory Technology (RegTech)

What are the Qualities of Top Fintech Executives

Fintech leaders also have to be able to work with a wide variety of partners. They need to have great relationships with other c-level executives in different industries, as well as be able to develop new partnerships quickly. Fintech is all about collaboration and so being a great leader in the industry means being excellent at building relationships and developing new partnerships.

If you are looking to hire a fintech executive, it is important to look for someone with a proven track record in the industry. They should have experience working with different partners and be able to show how they have helped develop new products or services. They should also be able to demonstrate their leadership skills by showing how they have grown a team or managed a project.

Best practices on how to hire fintech executives

Hiring a fintech leader in the current market is a challenging task.  The war for talent in this sector remains very competitive.  Whether you keep the recruitment process internal or choose to go outside and partner with a search professional, the upfront work you do should be the same.

Defining the needed skills and attributes of your new fintech executive is best-addressed upfront.  But before you do that, what is the role you are trying to staff?  Technical, commercial, operational?  Who will the role report to?  Once you have outlined the big picture of the position and where it sits in the organization, pull together a core group of leaders to help get some granularity on what is needed.  This smaller group should include the C-level team member the position will report to, the head of HR, and perhaps some key stakeholders the role will interact with.

Once you have adequately defined the duties and responsibilities, soft skill attributes, and leadership skills that will complement your company’s culture, it is time to reach out to your internal or external search partner to put a recruitment strategy in place. 

If your internal recruitment team is at capacity, or if they do not feel they have the right contacts or network to staff the fintech role effectively, then you’ll need to identify an external search partner that specializes in hiring fintech executives.

Guides on hiring other executive roles

I have a range of guides on:

• How to hire a CEO
• How to Hire a CFO
• How to hire a company President

I also have full collections of guides on hiring for senior management roles, and staffing c-level executives.