Finance Lead - Payments / HK MSO

Hua Ao; Hong Kong; On-site; HKD 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Hua Ao in Hong Kong seeks a hands-on Finance Lead to build and lead the finance function for its payments business. This role focuses on MSO licensing, regulatory submissions, audits, and robust financial controls in a fast-moving payments environment.

You will own planning, treasury, reconciliations and multi-currency operations, collaborating with Compliance, Operations and Banking to enable scalable growth.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of finance/accounting experience, including 2–3 years in a direct hands-on role in a payments company.
• Demonstrated involvement in maintaining a Hong Kong MSO licence, submissions or renewal, and audit support.
• Strong knowledge of payment flows, settlements, reconciliation, treasury and multi-currency operations.
• Hands-on ability across close, management reporting, budgeting and internal controls.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance; strong Excel and ERP skills.
• Strong written and spoken English; Cantonese/Mandarin a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own the full finance scope, including accounting, month-end close, management reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow planning and controls.
• Build payment-focused financial models and KPIs covering volumes, take rate, fees, FX margins, liquidity and unit economics.
• Lead HK MSO licence maintenance, regulatory submissions, audits and information requests.
• Coordinate with Compliance, Operations, Banking, Product and Commercial teams to scale processes.

Skills

Finance leadership

Cash flow planning

Regulatory finance

Multi-currency operations

Financial analysis

Audits

ERP systems

Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance

Tools

Excel

ERP systems

Job description

We are looking for a hands-on Finance Lead to build and lead the finance function of our Hong Kong payments business. This is not a general accounting or corporate FP&A role. The successful candidate must have at least 2-3 years of direct, practical experience in a third-party payment company, payment gateway/processor, remittance/MSO business or payments start-up.

The role requires proven experience maintaining a Hong Kong Money Service Operator (MSO) licence, supporting licence renewal and regulatory submissions, and preparing the finance function for statutory audits, regulatory reviews and transaction-level scrutiny.

Key Responsibilities

1. Finance Leadership & Planning

• Own the full finance scope, including accounting, month-end close, management reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow planning and financial controls.
• Build payment-focused financial models and KPIs covering transaction volumes, take rate, payment fees, FX margins, settlement costs, liquidity and unit economics.
• Provide management with clear financial insights on pricing, new products, payment channels, market expansion and business performance.

2. Treasury, Settlement & Reconciliation

• Manage multi-currency liquidity, daily cash positioning, funding requirements, banking relationships and settlement obligations.
• Understand and oversee end-to-end payment flows between customers, banks, payment partners and settlement accounts.
• Ensure timely reconciliation of bank, customer-fund and settlement balances; establish controls and escalation for breaks, aged items and unusual movements.
• Monitor FX exposure, payment cut-off times and liquidity requirements to support uninterrupted payment operations.

3. HK MSO Licence, Audit & Regulatory Finance

• Lead the finance-related aspects of ongoing HK MSO licence maintenance, periodic transaction reporting, licence renewal and regulatory information requests, in partnership with Compliance and Operations.
• Maintain audit-ready records and clear transaction-to-ledger traceability, including bank and settlement reconciliations, cut-off, revenue/fee/FX recognition and supporting evidence.
• Ensure appropriate controls over customer funds, operating funds, settlement accounts, payment flows and access/approval authorities.
• Coordinate statutory audits and support regulatory reviews, inspections and remediation of finance-related findings.
• Keep finance records, regulatory submissions and audit evidence complete, consistent and readily retrievable.

4. Process & Team Development

• Build practical finance policies, operating routines and control frameworks suitable for a growing payments business.
• Improve and automate reconciliation, settlement, reporting and accounting processes as transaction volumes scale.
• Partner with Operations, Compliance, Banking, Product and Commercial teams, and manage junior or outsourced finance resources where applicable.

Qualifications & Experience

• 8+ years of finance/accounting experience, including at least 2-3 years of direct hands-on experience in a third-party payment company, payment processor/gateway, remittance/MSO business or payments start-up.
• Demonstrated personal involvement in maintaining a Hong Kong MSO licence, including regulatory submissions or data preparation, licence renewal, audit support and responses to regulatory enquiries.
• Strong practical knowledge of payment flows, settlement cycles, reconciliation, customer-fund controls, treasury, liquidity and multi-currency operations.
• Hands-on ability across accounting close, management reporting, budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, audit and internal controls.
• Able to work independently, resolve operational finance issues and build fit-for-purpose processes in a fast-moving or start-up environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline; strong Excel and accounting/ERP system skills.
• Strong written and spoken English. Cantonese and/or Mandarin is an advantage.

Preferred

• Professional accounting qualification such as HKICPA, ACCA, CPA Australia or equivalent.
• Experience with cross-border payments, payment pricing, FX/margin analysis, safeguarding/customer-fund arrangements or finance-system implementation.