Country Lead Italy

Job description

About Swan is Europe’s embedded banking specialist. We empower software companies to embed banking features like accounts, cards, and payments directly into their products, under their own brand.Swan processes over €1.5 billion in monthly transactions for more than 150 companies—like Pennylane, Indy, Agicap, Libeo, and Lucca. Founded in 2019, the company has received growth capital from leading investors such as Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Bpifrance and Eight Roads. Swan is a principal member of Mastercard and a licensed financial institution, regulated by the French banking authority (ACPR). Our mission Banking belongs in business software Many software companies already serve small businesses incredibly well: helping them send invoices, run payroll, manage inventory, and more. They’re on a mission to become the central hub for managing every aspect of business life. But when it comes to financial workflows, there’s still a gap. Too many critical tasks like managing cash flow, tracking payments, or reconciling accounts happen outside the software, across spreadsheets, email threads, banking portals. It’s a missed opportunity. Business software shouldn’t just record financial activity — it should run it. To learn more about us: About Swan ; Our story . Job description Swan is looking for a Country Lead Italy . Based in our Milano office , this person will lead our new business sales motion in Italy while also supporting our retention efforts. During your first 1-2 years in the role, your success will be measured by your ability to source and close strategic partnerships, but also grow these partnerships once signed, ensuring they deliver their full potential. As you help Swan expand in Italy, you should be comfortable transitioning toward a role with increasing focus on existing partners. We expect you to secure long-term relationships with our strategic clients, helping them grow and maximize the full potential of our platform. Beyond your commercial responsibilities, you will be the face of Swan in the region. You'll publicly represent the company at events, on LinkedIn, and in the press. You will be Swan's Legal Representative and, together with our Italian MLRO (Money Laundering and Reporting Officer), you'll also manage our relationships with the local regulator. The last aspect of your job, will be to be Italy's advocate internally at Swan, pushing the product requirements and localisation and being the voice our Italian partners and end-users. Additionally, we expect you to collaborate with our Head of Sales based in Barcelona to lead the Milano office, which will consist in you only to begin with, with potential new hire in the coming years In summary, this is a hybrid role where you'll act as a thought leader for your region, requiring hands-on involvement. You need to enjoy being an individual contributor—actively hunting prospects, deeply engaging in closing new deals, and leading sales on our larger opportunities (with support from the rest of the team). We're seeking someone with strong business acumen who's excited by sales challenges. We also need a strategic thinker who can understand customer needs and perform consultative sales while considering the broader context to ensure Swan's long-term success in Italy and the region. We need a curious person who's eager to learn and comfortable with the technical aspects of our product. We're also looking for a team player who will collaborate with our product and compliance teams to ensure our roadmap addresses the key requirements of our top prospects and partners in your territories, and to continuously improve our onboarding processes. ✨ Main tasks Be accountable for new business revenue and new client acquisition in our enterprise segmentDevelop a consultative and solution-based sales approach to answer our customers needs Be the local representative of the Strategic Account Management team, making sure the partners are well taken care of, but also our product is fully localised With the support of our sales and growth teams, develop outbound strategies to create and nurture opportunities Be the internal and external point of contact for our marketing and PR activities in Italy Build Swan’s offer to tackle new verticals Be the voice and face of Swan for the region (at events and in the press) Attend industry events to meet new prospects and spot new opportunities for Swan Be in charge of relationships with local regulators to make sure Swan correctly meets its requirements Effectively work cross-functionally across the organization to shape Swan’s solutions to meet customer needs Preferred experience ✨ You’re a great match if: 6+ years of sales experience, preferably selling a technical product in Fintech or Payments, with previous experience in an international or European environment. You are experienced and not afraid to do your own outbound prospecting. Passionate about startups and new technology businesses. Ability to understand and articulate technical concepts and translate them into industry- or business-relevant terms. Proven ability to sell and manage large accounts: you know how to navigate complex organizations and manage long sales cycles. Strong interpersonal skills, an excellent team player, and fun to work with. Bilingual in Italian with professional proficiency in English. Our ideal teammate: Empathetic. Skilled. Frank. We love to challenge each other, and we leave our egos at the door. It’s okay if you don’t tick all the boxes — don’t let imposter syndrome prevent you from applying! 🙌 Swan is committed to providing a caring work environment for all employees, regardless of age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion, or belief. When it comes to recruitment, we’re interested in your work experience, skills, and overall personality. Because diversity makes the workplace stronger and is necessary for Swan’s success, we are intensifying efforts to incorporate concrete actions to help us improve in this area. About Swan ✨ Our values: Swan’s core values guide our actions daily. Individually, they may seem obvious, but together, they form a unique culture. Simplicity: Leonardo Da Vinci said: “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” If something's convoluted or confusing, we work extra hard to break it down. - Making complex things simple is what we do. Long Term : We always play the long game, whether it's to support our partners in their growth journey, or make tangible commitments to climate action. Excellence : We are a team of experts who consistently go all out to create pixel-perfect banking services and exceed our partners' expectations— whatever it takes. Be Human : We believe in the power of kindness and the importance of acting with integrity. But embracing our humanity extends beyond interpersonal interactions, it means caring about greater issues that affect our planet. You can find out more about our culture . Recruitment process A 30-min video call with our Talent Acquisition Manager, to get to know you, understand your career expectations and answer your questions An interview with Victor, our Head of International A peer interview An interview with Julio, our Head of Sales Business case and last interview with Luka, our CRO