Fintech Unicorn Spendesk, has announced the appointment of Richard Rosenberg as its Group Chief Technology Officer.

Richard will lead the Group’s engineering team as part of the Spendesk executive team. As the company continues its rapid expansion across Europe, he will provide guidance in the security of Spendesk’s systems, drive continuous improvement in the quality and delivery speed of the company’s software product development. He will also lend his expertise to the operational functions of the business to help ensure the smooth running of Spendesk’s services, which are used by 150,000 users around the clock.

Richard was previously Chief Technology Officer at the Financial Times, where he was responsible for the technology behind one of the world’s leading and innovative digital subscription news services, with a global reach, as well as the information technology that helped the company thrive as the workforce stepped into a new world of hybrid working.

After graduating from the University of Salford with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Richard spent 16 years in a variety of software leadership roles at Sky, Europe’s leading entertainment company. As Head of Engineering, he led the technology function behind the award-winning Sky Go IPTV service. He has also held the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer role at both Hotwire and Hotels.com.

Commenting on his appointment, Richard said: “I am incredibly excited to join Spendesk. I think of the software team as the creators in the organisation. A big part of my role, therefore, is ensuring there is an environment where people can do their best work.

It is a very exciting time to be part of the Spendesk journey right now, as we are expanding across Europe, and this, combined with our unique culture, means we will be constantly improving all aspects of our architecture and processes — and hopefully achieving this while delivering software that really helps improve the daily work of our customers.”

Spendesk Co-founder and CEO, Rodolphe Ardant, said: “Richard’s experience in software development and directing engineering teams to create award-winning products aligns perfectly with Spendesk’s rapid growth plans. Our strategy has been to win locally, expand globally, and our spend management solutions are designed in a way that takes into account local specificities. That specificity demands different product answers and Richard’s appointment as CTO further demonstrates our commitment to empowering finance teams through technology.”

Richard’s appointment follows that of Julien Lafouge as Spendesk’s new Chief Finance Officer last month. The company has also recently announced further European expansion, with new offices opening in Spain and Italy in 2023.