Licenses Acquisition Manager

Location: Manila, Philippines (initially on-site, remote after a period)

The Licenses Acquisition Manager owns and executes all regulatory licensing initiatives across Salmon corporate entities and in all current and future markets.

The role spans all regulated entities, products, and jurisdictions, and requires strong business and technology understanding, sound regulatory judgement, and the ability to work independently with senior, time-constrained stakeholders. The role requires a parallel-execution mindset, with the ability to manage and progress multiple licensing initiatives concurrently across entities, products, and jurisdictions.

The objective is to secure licenses efficiently and pragmatically, avoiding unnecessary depth or completeness, to minimize time taken from other functions, especially where requirements can be addressed post-licensing.

The role has direct access to and full support from the Salmon founders and works closely with them on licensing strategy, prioritization, and regulatory engagement.

Responsibilities:

1. Drive Group-Wide Licensing Execution 

• Own and lead all regulatory licensing initiatives across Salmon Group, covering current and future entities, products, and markets.

• Manage multiple licensing applications in parallel across corporate entities and jurisdictions, rather than sequentially.

• Maintain accountability for licensing timelines, deliverables, and outcomes.

2. Extract and Translate Business and Technology Inputs 

• Independently engage and interview key business and technology stakeholders, with input from supporting teams and functions as needed, to extract regulatory-critical requirements without distracting stakeholders from business-as-usual activities.

• Translate business strategy, technology capabilities, and operating realities into regulator-ready documentation, owning drafting end-to-end.

3. Apply Regulatory and Business Judgment to Secure Approvals 

• Determine what is required for initial license approval versus what can be completed post-licensing, applying proportionality to scope and detail.

• Lead submission strategy, regulator engagement, and application sequencing to efficiently secure approvals.

• Where required, coordinate focused business and technology inputs for demos or proof-of-concepts without building premature full-scale solutions unless explicitly required by regulation.

Requirements:

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex licensing or regulatory initiatives in parallel, with strong prioritization and execution discipline.

• Experience owning or leading financial services licensing or regulatory approval processes.

• Strong understanding of financial services businesses, operating models, and technology platforms.

• Ability to engage senior stakeholders and extract relevant inputs through structured conversations.

• Strong written communication skills and ability to produce clear, regulator-appropriate documentation.

• High comfort level using ChatGPT and other AI and automation tools to accelerate research, drafting, synthesis, and review of licensing documentation, while applying sound judgment to ensure accuracy and regulatory appropriateness.

• Practical understanding of regulatory expectations, licensing processes, and post-approval remediation periods.

• Comfortable operating at group level across multiple entities and jurisdictions.

What Success Looks Like:

• Licenses are secured on time with proportionate, regulator-ready documentation.

• Business and technology teams are engaged where critical, while other functions are involved proportionately and at the appropriate stage.

• Salmon enters new markets and launches regulated products with speed and confidence.

Why would it be cool to work with us?

What we create

• Modern banking services for millions of Filipinos

• Cutting-edge solutions based on the best world practices and AI implementation

• Licensed neobank aiming to be a unicorn and leading fintech in the fast-growing region of Southeast Asia

• A business capable of raising over $200MM from the ADQ (the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi), World Bank Group and other investors despite the challenging market

• An environment that allows you to launch new products in 3-4 months

• A basis for expanding into new markets all over the world

What we offer

• Passionate international team spanning the globe

• Rapid professional growth. Merit (and merit only) rules the day

• Reward for performance and long-term success of Salmon

• Fast track to grow internationally

• New office in Manila, Philippines

• Relocation support for eligible candidates

• Medical insurance, health and wellness benefits

• Program of events and activities both online and in person