Head of Operations UAE
TLDR
Oversee day-to-day operations for a fintech/blockchain group, establishing processes, licensing readiness, and regulatory compliance across trading, payments, and client lifecycle.
-
Oversee daily operations across trading, payments, and client lifecycle.
-
Establish and maintain operational processes, controls, and monitoring frameworks.
-
Support licensing and act as a key point of contact for regulators, including VARA.
-
Ensure alignment with compliance, risk, and internal policies.
-
Identify and manage operational risks, including incident handling and escalation.
-
Collaborate with global teams and provide regular reporting to senior management.
-
Support hiring and build-out of the local operations function.
-
Proven track record of operations experience in financial services, fintech, or VASP.
-
Experience in a regulated environment with ownership of operational controls, policies and procedures.
-
Working knowledge of trading operations, payments, or client-facing operations workflows.
-
Familiarity with the UAE regulatory landscape, particularly VARA requirements, is strongly preferred.
-
Ability to meet VARA fit and proper requirements.
-
UAE resident or national,UAE-based or able to relocate.
-
Strong interpersonal communication and stakeholder management skills across internal teams, regulators and external partners.