Talent acquisition in fintech involves a strategic process of finding, attracting, and hiring skilled professionals for the rapidly evolving financial technology sector. fintechview meets Donna Stephenson, the Founder & CEO of Emerald Zebra, a specialist recruitment consultancy, with over 25 years in the FinTech, Tech, Financial Services and iGaming sectors in Cyprus.
What inspired you to launch Emerald Zebra, and how did the idea evolve into what it is today?
I’ve been recruiting in Cyprus since 2004, when I moved here and co-founded GRS Recruitment. At that time, the recruitment industry on the island was still developing, and we grew GRS into one of the largest agencies in Cyprus. It was an invaluable journey. I built teams, shaped a brand and worked closely with financial services and fintech companies in Malta and Cyprus just as they were becoming a hub for these industries.
After many years, I decided to sell my shareholding and step out to create something new. It wasn’t about leaving recruitment, it was about doing it differently. With Emerald Zebra, I wanted to build a consultancy that is specialised, agile and insight-driven. The team and I focus deeply on fintech, tech, iGaming and financial services – sectors where Cyprus has a real footprint and global relevance. That move was about stepping into my own show: taking everything I’d learned from scaling a large agency and applying it to a more focused, modern business model that combines recruitment with data, employer branding and true partnerships.
What hiring trends are you currently seeing across fintech and SaaS companies?
Technical demand remains strong i.e. engineering, DevOps, product delivery and compliance/risk. But what’s interesting is candidate behaviour. We’re seeing more “job hugging” people staying put, even when not completely satisfied, because they feel the market is uncertain and that means less short-term “job hopping” and more caution around career moves. To attract candidates, employers understand that they need to offer more than just a role, they need to present a compelling story: progression, flexibility and a culture that feels and is authentic. Our survey confirms this: the top reasons people change jobs in Cyprus are better pay, growth opportunities and improved culture.
We’re also seeing more companies bringing in talent from abroad, with ratios of around 70% external recruits to 30% local in some cases. Cyprus’s tax incentives for expats make this attractive, but it can’t be the whole solution. Employers also need to think long-term and many are, for example, partnering with universities, mentoring young professionals and investing in training pipelines to grow home-grown talent.
The best companies are taking a holistic approach to the employee experience and going beyond salary to invest in workplace design, ergonomics, wellbeing programmes, sports memberships, food and beverage options, team building, work flexibility, personal development budgets and counselling support. Just as importantly, they’re encouraging their own employees to build personal brands on LinkedIn, share vacancies and tell authentic stories about what it’s like to work in their organisation. But it isn’t always the companies with the biggest budgets that attract the best candidates. Many smaller organisations are finding creative, affordable ways to make the workplace more inviting.
Hiring trends in Cyprus are no longer just about demand. They’re about differentiation.
Why is there a high turn-over in the forex industry? Is the Cyprus regulator a blocker?
Turnover in forex is often seen as unique, but the drivers are the same across industries: people leave for higher pay, career progression and better work culture. The forex sector is fast-paced and commercially intense, which makes those drivers more pronounced.
The regulator, in my view, isn’t a blocker, it’s a catalyst. Stronger oversight means companies need better compliance, risk and control teams. That creates demand, but it also creates movement, as professionals with those skills become more mobile. The real challenge for employers isn’t regulation itself, but building work environments that retain people once they’re hired.
We see the PSP industry is becoming truly competitive. Your thoughts on this and how it supports recruitment?
Competition in payments and EMIs is increasing, and that’s a good thing. It forces companies to think about how they differentiate themselves, not just through salary, but through culture, flexibility and progression opportunities.
For recruitment, it means employer branding is critical. Smaller PSPs often feel they can’t compete with bigger names, but if they can clearly articulate their story and growth vision, they can. That’s where Emerald Zebra steps in, helping to amplify those messages through our networks, digital presence and talent pool so they can reach the right candidates.
Is fintech a male-dominant sector? Is it true that the % in having women in leadership roles is pretty low?
Globally, fintech does lean male, and our survey in Cyprus reflects that: women make up a significant share of the workforce, but fewer hold leadership roles. However, the point isn’t about filling quotas, it’s about merit and fairness in my opinion. Everyone with the right skills and experience should have the chance to progress.
That starts with removing bias in hiring so women have the same access as men to leadership opportunities. It also requires flexibility. Women are often primary caregivers, but increasingly we see parents share responsibilities, one requests flexible working days, while the other covers the rest. Legislation in Cyprus already enforces the right to disconnect after hours, and when embraced by employers, it supports balance for both men and women alike.
Ultimately, men and women bring different strengths to leadership. What matters most is ensuring that the best person for the role can succeed on merit, with the right support to balance work and life. For that to happen, there must be clear and accessible paths for both genders to progress into leadership when they are ready.
Which industry is emerging and what roles are promising?
In Cyprus, fintech, payments and SaaS continue to expand, with growing demand for software engineers, DevOps, compliance/risk professionals and data and finance specialists, supported by sales, marketing, customer success roles. Cybersecurity and privacy roles are increasing, driven by new regulations like DORA and NIS2.
Globally, the trends are aligned: the fastest growth is in AI, cybersecurity and data.
How is AI impacting the recruitment sector?
AI is reshaping processes, but I see it as an augmentation tool, not a replacement. At Emerald Zebra our ATS helps reduce the admin load and for example, we’ve developed a GPT tool for producing job adverts, trained on our data to distinguish between job descriptions and job adverts. It speeds up content creation and ensures sharper messaging, but it doesn’t replace the human consultation we always have with clients to understand must-have skills, business objectives and the role’s place in the bigger picture.
I’ve reviewed countless ATS and AI products targeting the recruitment sector, often launched with bold claims that recruiters are no longer needed. Frankly, many feel like snake oil! Every week there’s another tool promising to replace us, yet none can replicate what recruiters actually do. Recruitment is built on trust and networks, and those can’t be replicated by software. I’ve spent 25 years building relationships in Cyprus and internationally; no AI can replicate the credibility that comes from that.
Candidates know the difference between an automated outreach and a genuine conversation with someone who understands their market and career journey. I’ve reviewed early AI video-interview platforms, which produced terrible candidate experiences. It confirmed for me that while AI can make processes smarter, it cannot replace human communication, connection, empathy and judgment. AI may help to tackle human bias, but it is only as strong as the data and human input behind it. Machine learning allows it to evolve, yet that doesn’t make it a reliable replacement for human recruiters. I’m always curious and open to innovation, but never at the expense of the human element. The future is about blending efficiency with empathy: AI for speed and insight, recruiters for trust, their deep networks and expertise and connection.
Why the name Emerald Zebra? What’s the story behind it?
The name Emerald Zebra is layered with meaning, drawing both from symbolism and from my own personal journey.
Emeralds often associated with renewal, wealth, wisdom and rebirth. For me, emeralds have always held a deep personal resonance: they are a reminder of vitality, growth and the energy of the heart. They also connect to the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz, a place of discovery, vision, and the pursuit of wisdom. An apt metaphor for building a company that helps people and organisations pursue their own journeys of growth.
Zebras, their black and white stripes represent balance and the harmony of opposites – light and dark, individual and collective. Every zebra’s stripe pattern is unique, reminding us of individuality, while their instinct to thrive in herds speaks to the power of community and unity. I drew inspiration from a safari I took in the Maasai Mara, watching zebras in their natural environment, and later from a zoological study often cited by Jordan Peterson: predators struggle to single out zebras in a herd because their stripes create collective protection, but once one zebra is marked, it becomes vulnerable. For me, the zebra became a powerful metaphor for resilience, unity and the importance of teams thriving through harmony and collective strength.
Together, these two symbols merge into something greater: Emerald Zebra reflecting the importance of valuing individuality while building collective strength and of balancing purpose with growth.
Of course the spin on that at a practical level is exactly what we set out to do for our clients and candidates. At Emerald Zebra, we don’t just fill vacancies, we align people with purpose, values and potential. We help our clients to build resilient teams that can grow and prosper and bring clarity and insight to every recruitment process. For me personally, the name also marks a shift in my own journey, from co-founding and scaling one of Cyprus’s largest agencies to creating my own specialised consultancy.
What gaps did you see in the recruitment industry, especially within the fintech industry?
When I founded Emerald Zebra, I had already spent over a decade working closely with fintech and regulated companies in Cyprus. The gaps were clear:
Reach: Employers struggled to access passive or niche talent, while candidates often felt invisible and unsure how to get in front of the right companies.
A partnership model: we work with in-house recruiters to extend their reach, not compete with them.
Insight: Both employers and candidates lacked reliable, Cyprus-specific data on salaries, progression opportunities and workforce expectations making it difficult to plan careers or hiring strategies with confidence. We’ve been championing salary transparency for years to benefit both sides of the market.
Branding: Many companies, particularly smaller ones, under-communicated their culture and growth story. As a result, candidates often overlooked great opportunities simply because the employer brand wasn’t visible enough and that’s been a mission of ours too, to position Emerald Zebra differently. We built a talent pool and digital presence that extends employers’ reach. We invest in Workforce Insights surveys that give the market real data.
That combination of specialist reach + local insight is what allows us to fill the gaps and support hiring managers, whether it’s for a three-person startup or a multinational scaling its Cyprus hub.
What’s your view on outsourcing or building in-house acquisition teams?
The best model is hybrid. In-house TA teams are essential for embedding culture and managing day-to-day hiring. But they don’t always have the time or resources to tap into wider networks or engage passive talent. Emerald Zebra partners with TA teams to extend their reach through our networks, digital channels and market presence. We also bring speed and intelligence: because we’re immersed daily across fintech, tech, financial services and iGaming, we can advise on so many levels. The result is that clients get the best of both worlds: the cultural alignment of their in-house recruiter and the market access and insight of a specialist partner.
What’s next for Emerald Zebra? Any exciting expansions or new verticals?
We’re building Emerald Zebra into a talent intelligence and workforce partner. That includes:
- Expanding our Workforce Insights surveys into sector-specific reports.
- Growing our employer branding offering with career microsites, content and campaigns.
- Helping our Cyprus-based clients expand through cross-border hiring in the UK, EMEA and Asia.
- Developing training and toolkits for in-house recruiters to strengthen their own capability.
Check out the fintechview digital magazine issue 6 for more insights and the full interview
Who is who
Donna Stephenson, originally from the UK, has lived in Cyprus since 2003. She is the Founder & CEO of Emerald Zebra, a specialist recruitment consultancy for the FinTech, Tech, Financial Services and iGaming sectors in Cyprus. With over 25 years in recruitment, including co-founding and scaling GRS Recruitment until selling her shareholding in 2018, Donna has been at the forefront of hiring for the fintech sector in Cyprus since its early days. Since 2021, she has led Emerald Zebra with a focus on talent intelligence, employer branding, and consultative recruitment, helping companies build resilient teams and individuals grow purposeful careers.