Country Manager for Romania

About the Role Wise is seeking a Country Manager for Romania to lead our local team and operations, define market expansion and product localisation strategies, and serve as the face of Wise in Romania. You will define opportunities for Wise's products in Romania, drive market expansion, and ensure regulatory compliance and governance. You will collaborate with global and regional teams to deliver hyper-localised products and experiences for Romanian customers. What You'll Do

• Lead our Romanian branch and oversee day-to-day operations and governance to ensure strong operational footing.
• Define the opportunities and direction for Wise's products in Romania and translate them into local strategies.
• Collaborate with product managers and product engineers to develop our vision and build hyper-localised products for Romanian customers.
• Work with global teams (Product, Finance, Treasury, etc.) to keep customers at the centre of Wise’s mission.
• Deepen Wise’s presence and infrastructure in Romania and identify the most appropriate growth path, including managing licences/registrations with central banking and expansion teams; prepare, coordinate, submit applications, and obtain regulatory licences as required.
• Manage day-to-day requirements for authorisation in Romania from a product and compliance perspective.
• Lead the Romanian branch and operations through its next stage of growth; serve as Country Manager and Director/Legal Representative; manage relationships with regulators and other strategic partners with strong governance.
• Collaborate with the European HQ to maintain oversight of Wise’s Romania operations; provide strategy, leadership, and alignment across functions responsible for the entity.
• Represent Wise in Romania, engaging with Public Relations, Government Relations, and Product Marketing to drive brand awareness and position Wise as a key industry player.
• Take ownership of maintaining and expanding relationships with industry partners and financial institutions; drive sustainable and competitive service and identify new opportunities within existing relationships to improve product (speed, cost, visibility, etc.).
• Lead commercial and relationship discussions with partners to ensure Wise offers a leading service in the market.
• Translate high-velocity global/regional operating frameworks into granular, local execution and orchestrate rapid responses to incidents to minimise risk and ensure business continuity. What We're Looking For
• Excellent at creating and managing relationships with regulatory authorities and government bodies, constantly creating opportunities to improve them.
• Strong understanding of managing local entity operations and ensuring compliance.
• Entrepreneurial mindset who can get things done in a fast-growing company.
• Deep understanding of financial and payments systems, how regulators work, and the risk and AML controls involved.
• Familiarity with different licensing frameworks and requirements in Romania.
• Business fluent in Romanian and English.
• Able to work independently and flexibly in a fast-moving environment; able to travel to other offices as needed.
• Passionate about transforming the financial industry for good.