Merchant Onboarding Intern - Fluent Spanish speaker (6-month internship)

 

At Scalapay, we’re shaping a culture with high standards, independent and critical thought, innovation, ownership, and continuous learning. We operate in a fast-moving, tech-driven environment, and we’re looking for people who thrive in change, think boldly, and take initiative.

If you’re ready to put your potential to the test in a hiring process designed to spotlight exceptional talent, this is your chance to stand out and grow with one of Europe’s most ambitious fintech teams.

#MakeItHappen #PlayAsATeam #StayCurious #FocusOnCustomer.

The Role in One Line

You're the gateway. Every merchant that goes live with Scalapay passes through you first.

Why This Role Matters

Scalapay doesn't grow without merchants. And merchants don't go live without onboarding.

This isn't a back-office compliance role. You're the first operational touchpoint for businesses that want to offer Scalapay to their customers. You control the speed, the quality, and the experience of how merchants enter our ecosystem.

In a regulated Payment Institution (supervised by Bank of Italy), onboarding is where compliance meets commercial. You'll learn how KYB, documentation, and regulatory requirements actually work—skills that transfer directly to roles in compliance, risk, operations, or account management across fintech and financial services.

What You'll Own

End-to-end merchant activation

• Manage standard and complex onboarding cases from first contact to go-live
• Conduct KYB checks and documentation review for regulatory compliance
• Run daily onboarding calls with prospective merchants—solving blockers in real-time
• Create and maintain merchant records in internal systems

Merchant success in the critical window:

• Support merchants through their first transactions post-go-live
• Monitor documentation completeness and flag risks early
• Be the voice of the merchant internally — escalate friction points

Process improvement:

• Identify bottlenecks that slow down onboarding
• Propose and test improvements to reduce time-to-live
• Feed insights back to Product, Sales, and Compliance teams

The Skills You'll Build

• Regulatory fluency: Deep understanding of KYB, AML requirements, and how Payment Institutions operate under Bank of Italy supervision
• Commercial instinct: You'll know what merchants care about, what frustrates them, and how to move deals forward
• Operational excellence: Process design, system management, cross-functional coordination
• Stakeholder management: Working with Sales, Legal, Compliance, and Product daily

These skills open doors to Operations leadership roles — in fintech or traditional financial services.

Who We're Looking For

Non-negotiables:

• You are fluent in Spanish (C1-C2) as you'll be the voice of Scalapay for Spanish merchants
• You are in your final year studying towards an economic degree or equivalent; 
• You are proficient in English and Italian (B2 level minimum in both)
• You're data-driven and organized, you like things to run like a machine

What separates good from great:

• You hate inefficiency—when you see a broken process, you fix it
• You're comfortable with ambiguity and can prioritize without hand-holding
• You communicate clearly and directly (no "corporate speak")
• You care about the merchant experience, not just completing tasks
• You have already completed a prior internship in a regulated entity or experience as KYC analyst is a definite asset (but not compulsory!)
• You have previous exposure to startup/scale-up environments (you know what "fast" means)

What We're NOT Looking For

• People who want to "just follow the process" without questioning it
• Candidates who see this as a stepping stone to something "more interesting" — this IS interesting if you approach it right
• Anyone uncomfortable with direct merchant communication

Logistics

• Location: [Milan /2-days remote weekly]
• Language: Spanish (C1-C2) + English (working proficiency)

Hiring Process

1. Quick intro with Talent Acquisition
2. Deep-dive interview with Hiring Manager and COO (your experience + motivation)
3. In-office Case study (show us how you think through real onboarding scenarios) with different stakeholders along with a chat with the CFO
4. Final chat with Simone Mancini (CEO)

Yes, you'll meet the CEO. We take hiring seriously.

Want to learn more? Don't hesitate to explore our Careers website, our LinkedIn and Glassdoor pages. 

Pro tip: send your CV in English 😉

Super Pro tip: we know that application processes can be scary and frustrating but… we look for talent, not people that tick all our boxes.