Founding Internal Controls Lead — Fintech & SOX Ready

Cleo; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health insurance

Pension

Learning and development platform

Paid sabbatical after four years

Location-specific leave entitlements

Job summary

Cleo is seeking a founding member for its Internal Controls team to design and embed a robust controls environment as the company scales. Reporting to the Financial Reporting & Tax Lead, you’ll drive controls across finance and the wider business, ensuring readiness for growth and regulatory expectations.

You’ll partner with auditors and cross-functional teams to implement scalable, compliant processes, build playbooks for new products, and foster a culture of accountability and excellence in

Qualifications

• Big 4 experience—ideally in controls or internal audit.
• ACA, CIA or equivalent qualification preferred.
• Experience in Fintech or regulated Financial Services.
• Hands-on experience designing and/or testing a controls framework from scratch.
• Familiarity with SOX 404, COSO or equivalent.
• Exposure to multi-entity or multi-jurisdiction environments.
• Collaborative mindset—balance enablement and auditing.
• Strong communicator—translate complex topics to non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and own Cleo’s internal controls framework across financial reporting, compliance, and operational processes.
• Lead control testing and self-assessment across major business processes and implement improvements.
• Partner with external auditors on controls matters and support audit processes.
• Create controls playbooks for new products and entity launches.
• Lead the journey towards a public-company-ready controls environment, including SOX 404.
• Champion a strong controls culture through training, guidance, and accountability.

Skills

Big 4 experience

SOX 404

COSO

Controls design

Stakeholder communication

Collaboration

Strong communicator

Education

ACA or CIA

Job description

Cleo is seeking a founding member for its Internal Controls team to design and embed a robust controls environment as the company scales. Reporting to the Financial Reporting & Tax Lead, you’ll drive controls across finance and the wider business, ensuring readiness for growth and regulatory expectations.

You’ll partner with auditors and cross-functional teams to implement scalable, compliant processes, build playbooks for new products, and foster a culture of accountability and excellence in