Fintech sits at the point where financial services and technology meet, and that shapes who you hire. In the financial services sector, recruitment is generally for Regulatory Qualification Framework (RQF) 6+ roles rather than RQF 3-5, according to the GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report (2026). In plain terms, these are degree-level and higher positions. For fintech teams that means the people you need most are senior, qualified and in demand.
On the technology side, the picture is more self-sufficient than you might expect. For the engineering profession, the vast majority of new hires come from the resident labour force, which points to low reliance on international recruitment, as GOV.UK's Professionals in IT and engineering review (2025) sets out. So when fintech teams look abroad, it is often for specialist skills they cannot source at home, not for volume hiring.
EU rules push certain roles to the top of the list. Data protection under the GDPR, anti-money-laundering checks, payment-services licensing and consumer-credit compliance all need named, accountable people. These are the RQF 6+ qualified roles that dominate financial services recruitment, as the GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report (2026) describes. Hiring in an EU member state can mean you need staff who understand that country's regulator as well as the wider EU framework.
Pay dynamics shape competition for the best people, too. Top technology firms can pay sizeable wages to skilled migrants, leading to wages far above the salary threshold, while pay for engineering professionals on the Skilled Worker route is broadly in line with the UK average, according to the Migration Advisory Committee's Professionals in IT and Engineering report (2025). For fintech founders, that split is a signal: your scarce, specialist hires sit at one end, and your core engineering team at the other.
Start with the regulation, not the headcount. Map the EU rules that apply to your product, then work backwards to the roles that keep you compliant. A payments business entering a new market needs licensing and AML expertise before it needs more engineers. Because financial services recruitment is weighted towards RQF 6+ roles, as the GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report (2026) notes, you are competing for senior, qualified people, so define each role tightly and move quickly once you find the right fit.
Decide where each role should sit. Some compliance functions are local by nature and belong in the member state you serve. Engineering, by contrast, tends to draw on the resident labour force, which GOV.UK's Professionals in IT and engineering review (2025) links to low reliance on international recruitment. Build the plan around proximity to the regulator, language and the depth of the local talent pool, and keep your interview process consistent across every country so you can compare people fairly.
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