Director of Banking Operations

About the role

We are partnering with a leading UAE financial institution that is building a digital‑first, AI‑enabled banking platform. The Director of Banking Operations will shape the people, operational and service foundations of this new venture, overseeing customer‑facing and physical banking functions from day one.

Key responsibilities

• Stand up and lead customer service, contact‑center and branch‑service capabilities, defining service standards, quality assurance and capacity planning.
• Establish and monitor maker‑checker procedures for branch transactions with clear delegations and control effectiveness.
• Direct physical‑enterprise readiness, including premises, facilities, workplace services and archival management.
• Define, track and report operational KPIs, SLAs, customer‑experience metrics and risk indicators, driving remediation when needed.
• Own operational risk management: conduct RCSAs, manage incidents, perform root‑cause analysis and close audit/regulatory findings.
• Partner with Technology, Product, Risk and Compliance to embed operational requirements, assisted‑channel fallbacks and consumer‑protection controls.
• Lead Day‑1 readiness testing, rehearsals, cut‑over and contingency planning for critical processes.
• Build and develop the banking‑operations team while championing responsible AI, automation and analytics with appropriate human oversight.

Required profile

• 12+ years of experience in banking or financial‑services operations, including senior leadership of an operations team.
• Deep expertise in customer service, contact‑center and branch operations, maker‑checker controls and physical‑enterprise management.
• Proven track record of designing and scaling digital‑first operating models.

Required skills

• Customer service
• Operational analytics
• Branch Operations
• Maker‑checker controls
• Operational Risk Management
• Banking Operations
• Workforce tooling
• AI‑enabled service operations
• Intelligent document processing