Fintech Careers: The Skills and Profiles Companies Are Hiring

Fintech careers: the skills and profiles companies are hiring

Overview

The fintech sector no longer competes only with traditional banking: it competes for talent. In this MERGE Madrid talk, the careers department at IE University (Instituto de Empresa) explains how the school prepares students to work in fintech, which skills companies demand today and what the career path looks like, from internships to country head.

What you'll learn

• Most in-demand skills: Python, SQL, data analytics, machine learning, financial modeling and quantitative finance
• The fintech profile: the blend of technology, finance and business that companies look for
• Roles and progression: sales, operations, finance, marketing, product and data, from intern to country head
• Where the demand is: fintechs, consultancies, big tech, banks and their digital units
• International hubs: Madrid, Barcelona, New York and the expansion into the Middle East
• The junior market: the strong growth of professionals with 0 to 5 years of experience

Session summary

IE University and its community: the talk presents IE as a private university with over 9,000 on-campus students, more than 84,000 alumni worldwide, broad national diversity (around 85% international students) and over 52% women, with campuses in Madrid, Segovia and a new college in New York.

A new Fintech master's: in addition to current programs (finance, MBA, management, BBA and the technology school with software engineering, big data and computer science degrees), IE will launch a much more specialized master's in Fintech in September 2026.

Fintech as a hybrid discipline: as an innovative business school, IE combines finance, data and technology, based on the idea that without technological skills it is very hard to find a job today.

Market analysis: drawing on sector studies and LinkedIn data, the talk identifies the most sought-after skills (technology, financial modeling, quantitative finance, operations and credit/risk management) and notes growth of around 48% in junior professionals (0-5 years) in recent years.

Role map: the talk walks through the typical positions in a fintech by area (sales/business development, operations, finance, marketing, product and data) and their progression, from intern and associate to roles such as growth manager, head of partnerships or country head, highlighting product and data as highly demanded roles.

Beyond fintech: the profile is also attractive to consultancies (such as Deloitte or EY), big tech (such as Amazon or Accenture) and banks with their own units; IE works by subsectors (payments, banking, insurance, lending) and internationally, with plans to grow in the Middle East as well.

Watch the full talk

Watch the full recording on MERGE's YouTube channel, featuring IE University on careers, skills and profiles in the fintech sector.

FAQs

What skills are needed to work in fintech?
A combination of technology (Python, SQL, machine learning, data analytics), finance (financial modeling, quantitative finance, risk) and business; the ideal profile blends all three areas.

What roles exist in a fintech company?
Roles in sales/business development, operations, finance, marketing, product and data, with progression from intern or associate to positions such as growth manager, head of partnerships or country head.

Which sectors, beyond fintech, look for this profile?
Consultancies, big tech and banks with their own digital units also demand profiles with technological and financial skills.

When is IE University launching its Fintech master's?
According to the talk, IE will launch a new master's in Fintech in September 2026, in addition to the specializations already available in its current programs.