Chief Compliance Officer

Compliance framework and policy. Own Mal's compliance policy estate and the overall framework that ensures regulatory adherence across the bank. Continuously evolve it in response to regulatory change, product change, and operational learning. Regulatory engagement. Act as Mal's primary interface with CBUAE on compliance matters. Own regulatory reporting, consultation responses, examination management, and proactive engagement on emerging supervisory priorities. Financial crime oversight. Run the AML/CFT, sanctions, and anti-bribery programs. Oversee transaction monitoring, screening, SAR/STR processes, customer risk rating, and the investigations function. Ensure the bank's posture meets CBUAE, FATF, and international sanctions expectations. Model and AI compliance governance. Chair or co-chair Mal's AI governance forum. Set the standards and controls through which ML-driven decisions; credit, fraud, pricing, customer treatment remain explainable, fair, monitored, and defensible to regulators. Consumer protection and conduct. Oversee the bank's conduct framework: fair treatment, disclosure, complaints handling, vulnerable customer identification, and product oversight aligned with CBUAE's Consumer Protection Regulation and Standards. Data protection and privacy. Oversee Mal's UAE PDPL compliance in partnership with the Data Protection Officer, ensuring privacy-by-design in product and operational development. Sharia governance coordination. Work alongside the Internal Sharia Supervision Committee, Internal Sharia Control, and Internal Sharia Audit functions so that regulatory compliance and Sharia compliance are designed and operated coherently. Board and executive reporting. Report regularly to the Board Risk & Compliance Committee and executive management on the state of compliance, key risks, regulatory developments, and significant incidents. Second line of defence. Maintain compliance's independence from the first line. Review, challenge, and where necessary veto business decisions that would create unacceptable regulatory or conduct risk. Team, culture, and training. Lead, grow, and develop the compliance team. Own the firm-wide compliance training program and actively shape the compliance culture in a growing team, tone from the top is set by what the CCO does, not what they say. F&P application submitted and progressing. Your CBUAE Controlled Function application is in, with first meetings held with the CBUAE relationship manager. (Full approval may take longer than 60 days, which is normal.) Current-state diagnostic delivered. A written assessment of Mal's inherited compliance state: policies, controls, tooling, team, regulatory obligations, and the gaps that matter most before launch. Shared with the CEO, the Board Risk & Compliance Committee, and the ISSC. 12-month compliance roadmap approved. A sequenced plan for taking the function to launch-readiness and beyond policy development, regtech implementation, hiring, and regulatory engagement milestones. Endorsed by the Board Risk & Compliance Committee. Regtech requirements scoped. Defined requirements for transaction monitoring, sanctions/PEP screening, and case management. Vendor shortlist produced and RFP or procurement process initiated. Policy framework established. The structure of Mal's compliance policy estate defined, with drafts underway for the foundational policies (AML/CFT, sanctions, CDD, financial crime investigations). Existing policies reviewed and gaps triaged. Compliance team hiring plan agreed. Function shape defined, role sequencing agreed with the CEO, first JDs live, and search for the first hire (deputy or MLRO-track) under way. Sharia coordination model established. Working protocol agreed with the ISSC, Internal Sharia Control, and Internal Sharia Audit for how compliance and Sharia governance will operate alongside each other. • Built compliance at a digital bank. You've set up or materially scaled the compliance function at a CBUAE-licensed digital bank or a comparable top-tier digital bank globally ideally through a period of rapid growth and heightened regulatory scrutiny, not just steady-state operation. • Deep CBUAE fluency, or demonstrable ability to get there fast. If you're coming from outside the UAE, you can show how you've come up the curve on new regulatory regimes before. Mastery of CBUAE's Rulebook within your first 60 days is expected. • Hands-on financial crime leader. Not just oversight, you've designed and tuned transaction monitoring rules, reviewed and filed SARs, worked sanctions alerts, and sat through regulatory examinations. • Credible with regulators. The relationships you've built with supervisors are a material asset you bring to the role, not something you'll start from zero. • Comfortable operating pre-launch. You make decisions without full information, document them clearly, and revisit them as you learn. Pre-launch pace is familiar, not foreign. • Direct experience at an Islamic digital bank or Islamic window • Arabic language fluency • Hands-on experience with AI/ML governance in a financial services setting • Experience as part of a founding or near-founding team at a licensed bank • Relevant professional qualifications (ACAMS CAMS, ICA Advanced Diplomas, CISI)