Associate Operations Manager

Cardo AI; Lombardia; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Regular team events

Annual company retreat

Referral bonus programme

Growth opportunities

Collaborative culture

Job summary

Cardo AI in Milan is seeking an Operations Manager for Talent & Finance to own onboarding, payroll, and cost reporting as we scale across five cities.

Based in Milan, you’ll streamline HR and finance processes, coordinate payroll with external consultants, ensure Italian labor compliance, and support leadership with clear spend visibility. Strong communication in Italian and English is essential.

Qualifications

• Experience in operations, HR or finance admin, ideally in international settings.
• Fluency in Italian and English, written and spoken.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to handle confidential information with discretion.
• Proactive ownership mindset and ability to drive processes.
• Familiarity with Google Workspace, Slack and spreadsheets.

Responsibilities

• Own Talent Operations from onboarding to offboarding and contracts.
• Prepare employment docs, maintain personnel files, and payroll inputs.
• Coordinate payroll with external consultants for accuracy and timeliness.
• Manage leaves, benefits, vouchers, and visa/work-permit processes.
• Ensure compliance with Italian labour regulations and health & safety docs.
• Oversee Finance Operations: spend tracking, vendor payments, month-end prep.
• Maintain HR, finance, and internal tools; design scalable processes.

Skills

Fluent Italian

Fluent English

Excellent organizational skills

Discretion with confidential info

Ownership mindset

Google Workspace

Slack

Spreadsheets

Tools

HRIS

Expense management tools

Employer of Record platforms

Job description

About Cardo AI

Since 2018, Cardo AI has been building the technology that makes Private Credit and Asset-Based Finance (ABF) markets more accessible and efficient. More than $40 billion in assets now run on our platform, helping banks, trustees, and investors move faster, make better decisions, and get more from their portfolios.

Our ambition is to help the ABF market grow beyond $40 trillion, and we're pursuing it as one international team spread across Milan, London, New York, Tirana, and Prishtina.

Learn more at www.cardoai.com.

The Role

Every growing company depends on two things working quietly in the background: people being hired, paid, and supported properly, and money being spent carefully and accounted for accurately. In this role, you'll own both.

As Operations Manager for Talent & Finance, you'll be based in our Milan office and report directly to our VP of Operations. You'll make sure new colleagues have a smooth start, that payroll is right every single month, and that leadership always has a clear picture of where our money goes. Just as importantly, you'll have the freedom to improve how things work as we continue to scale across five cities.

This role is a great fit for someone who takes pride in getting the details right, enjoys being the person others rely on, and wants genuine ownership rather than a narrow list of tasks.

What You’ll Do

Talent Operations

• Own the operational side of the employee journey, from onboarding and contract changes through to offboarding

• Prepare offer letters and employment documentation, and keep personnel files complete and up to date

• Collect and verify monthly payroll inputs, working with our external payroll consultants so everyone is paid accurately and on time

• Manage leave and absences, benefits, meal vouchers, and welfare programmes

• Coordinate recruiting logistics, including interview scheduling and candidate travel

• Manage visa, work permit, and invitation letter processes together with our immigration partners

• Keep us compliant with Italian labour regulations, including occupational health and safety documentation

Finance Operations

• Track, categorise, and reconcile operational spend across our entities

• Manage company cards, employee reimbursements, refunds, and vendor invoices and payments

• Serve as the day-to-day contact for our external accountants and auditors

• Support month-end close by preparing documentation and resolving discrepancies

• Help build and monitor operational budgets, giving leadership clear and reliable visibility on spend

• Oversee SaaS subscriptions and vendor contracts, and actively look for savings

Processes & Systems

• Maintain and improve the HR, finance, and internal tools the team relies on

• Spot bottlenecks early and design simple, practical processes that scale with the company

• Write clear documentation and playbooks so things run consistently across all our offices

What You’ll Bring

• Membership in the protected categories under Law 68/99 (required)

• At least 3 years of experience in operations, HR administration, finance administration, or a similar role, ideally in a growing or international company

• Practical knowledge of Italian employment administration, including contracts, CCNL, and payroll processes, along with a solid grasp of basic accounting

• Experience working with external payroll consultants, accountants, or immigration advisors

• Fluency in Italian and English, both written and spoken

• Excellent organiser skills and the ability to juggle several priorities without losing accuracy

• Discretion with confidential information and confidence working alongside senior leadership

• A proactive, ownership mindset: when something lands on your desk, you see it through to the end, even when there's no playbook to follow

• Strong skills in Google Workspace, Slack, and spreadsheets

Nice to Have

• Experience with HRIS, expense management, or Employer of Record (EOR) platforms

• Exposure to operations spanning multiple countries

What We Offer

• A competitive salary

• Regular team events and an annual company retreat

• A referral bonus programme

• Real room to grow within a fast-scaling fintech company

• A collaborative, entrepreneurial culture where initiative is noticed and valued

Inclusion & Accessibility

We want everyone at Cardo AI to be able to do their best work. If you need any adjustments during the hiring process or in the role itself, such as changes to your workspace, schedule, or interview format, just let us know and we'll work with you to make it happen.