Head of Sanctions

Qonto; Paris; Sur place; EUR 120 000 - 180 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Qonto in Paris seeks a Head of Sanctions to design and lead the sanctions framework across Europe, reporting to the Anti-Financial Crime Director. You will shape policy, governance and controls, working with MLROs, Operations, AML, Fraud, Product and Tech to embed sanctions into payments and products.

You will manage a small but growing team, own day-to-day alert treatment, and maintain strong external relationships with regulators and banking partners while driving scale and compliance.

Qualifications

• Deep sanctions expertise with embargos and AFC/compliance topics.
• Experience translating complex regulatory expectations into clear policies and controls.
• Strong knowledge of payment schemes and how sanctions affect them.
• Experience with screening tools, false-positive reduction and data quality.
• Proven hands-on leadership, coaching and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ability to own strategic scope with limited guidance and clear risk communication.
• Excellent English communication; French or another European language is a plus.

Responsabilités

• Define and document sanctions policies, standards, governance across markets.
• Lead oversight and controls to ensure robust compliance posture.
• Improve screening operations, minimize false positives and optimize data quality.
• Collaborate with MLROs, Banking Ops, AML, Fraud, Product and Tech to embed sanctions in products.
• Represent Qonto with regulators (ACPR, DGT) and external partners.
• Manage the sanctions team and grow the function over time.

Connaissances

Sanctions expertise

Multi-country regulatory

Payment ecosystem knowledge

Screening tooling

Leadership

Autonomous operator

English proficiency

French language

Outils

FircoSoft / FICO

World-Check One

ComplyAdvantage

Neterium

Description du poste

Our mission and customers: We are creating the freedom for SMEs to succeed by delivering Europe's leading finance workspace with banking at its core, augmented by financial tools. We are proud to be rated 4.8 on Trustpilot based on 55,000+ reviews. Our culture puts customer satisfaction at the core of what we do, as proven by our Net Promoter Score of 75 (more about our culture here).

Our journey: Founded in 2017 by Alexandre and Steve, Qonto has grown to 1,600+ Qontoers serving over 600,000+ customers across 8 European countries. We have been profitable since 2023, and we are just getting started.

Our beliefs: We hire for skills and potential. With 80+ nationalities, 45% women, of which 56% of women in our leadership team, diversity isn't a program; It's who we are. We’ve built a discrimination-free hiring process because the best teams are built on merit.

AI at Qonto: AI is deeply embedded in how we work here- Every Qontoer gets unlimited access to the best AI tools. We want people who experiment without waiting for permission, push AI beyond the obvious, know when to trust it, and when to question it.

Join our Anti-Financial Crime team as a Head of Sanctions, based in Paris, to build and lead Qonto’s sanctions framework across all our markets. You will report to Florence, our Anti-Financial Crime Director (Western Europe), and play a key role in Qonto’s transition towards becoming a Credit Institution by ensuring we meet the right regulatory standards on sanctions, PEP and adverse media screening. Your work will directly support Qonto’s ability to grow safely, compliantly and at scale across Europe, while building the foundations of a new central sanctions function.

What you'll do

• Build Qonto’s sanctions framework: define, document and continuously improve sanctions policies, standards, governance and operational processes across all Qonto markets.
• Lead sanctions oversight and controls: create the right control and quality assurance mechanisms to challenge investigation decisions, monitor risk, and ensure Qonto maintains a strong compliance posture.
• Optimise screening operations: improve how Qonto uses screening tools and data to manage alert volumes, reduce false positives, strengthen matching quality and maintain efficient, accurate screening.
• Partner with internal teams: work closely with MLROs, Banking Operations, AML, Fraud, Product and Tech teams to embed sanctions requirements into products, payment flows and operational processes.
• Represent Qonto externally: conduct regulatory watch and maintain trusted relationships with external authorities such as ACPR, DGT and equivalent regulators across Qonto markets, as well as with industry peers and banking partners.
• Lead and grow the team: manage the sanctions team, including the production team lead and expert profiles, while staying close to day-to-day alert treatment to understand operational reality and continuously raise the bar.

What we’re looking for

• Deep sanctions expertise: you have strong experience in sanctions, embargoes, and broader AFC / compliance topics, ideally gained in a large bank or international financial institution.
• Multi-country regulatory experience: you understand how sanctions requirements vary across European markets and can translate complex regulatory expectations into clear policies, controls and operational processes.
• Strong payment ecosystem knowledge: you understand payment schemes and flows, and can assess how sanctions requirements apply to them.
• Screening and tooling expertise: you have experience with screening tools and methodologies, such as matching logic, false-positive reduction, data-quality improvements and vendor management. Knowledge of tools such as FircoSoft / FICO, World-Check One, ComplyAdvantage or Neterium is a strong plus.
• Hands-on leadership: you are able to lead at a senior level while staying close to operational detail, and can coach team leads / expert profiles effectively.
• Autonomous, pragmatic operator: you are comfortable owning a high-impact scope with limited guidance, making sound decisions in ambiguity, and communicating risks clearly with concrete options.
• Languages: you communicate clearly and professionally in English. French or another European language is a plus.

What we can offer you

• Direct regulatory impact: your work will help Qonto meet ACPR and equivalent regulatory expectations as we strengthen our framework and move towards Credit Institution status.
• A build-from-scratch opportunity: this is a newly created role where you will design the foundations of Qonto’s sanctions function, from policies and governance to controls, tooling and operating rhythms.
• High autonomy and visibility: you will own a central, market-spanning scope with strong exposure to senior Risk & Compliance leaders, MLROs, Product, Operations and external authorities.
• Operational and strategic influence: you will improve both Qonto’s strategic sanctions framework and the day-to-day efficiency of screening operations, including alert volumes, data quality and tooling costs.
• A growing team and scope: you will manage and develop a small team today, with potential for the scope and team to grow as Qonto scales across markets and payment schemes.

Your future manager

Your manager will be Florence Cervoni, our Anti-Financial Crime Director (Western Europe).

• Her path? Florence is a certified AML specialist with strong experience in financial crime, AML/CFT and sanctions. Before Qonto, she led BoursoBank’s Financial Crime framework and held several senior compliance roles at Société Générale & Crédit du Nord.
• What does she bring to the team? Florence brings hands-on AFC expertise, strong process-improvement skills and solid leadership in regulated environments. She will provide clear priorities and technical guidance while trusting the person to own the sanctions scope autonomously.

At Qonto, we understand that true diversity isn’t just about ticking boxes on a hiring checklist. Apply regardless of the boxes you tick — who knows? You may have the missing piece of the puzzle we’ve been searching for all along.

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On average, our hiring process lasts 20 working days. More information on our candidate journey here.

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