Director of UAE Operations and Regulatory Affairs

About PFM
Prop Firm Match Global FZCO is a leading platform for discovering, comparing, and selecting top proprietary trading firms. We provide traders with tools and features to easily compare challenge details, read verified reviews, see accurate payout data, and much more. We're a fast-moving, fully remote team with members from all around the world caring deeply about the quality of what we build. Our culture values ownership, clear communication, and practical impact over fluff. Whether you're a trader, technologist, marketer, or operator - your work here shapes how thousands of users find and trust prop firms.

About the department
UAE Operations & Regulatory Affairs sits at the intersection of Finance, Legal, and Operations. It owns the integrity of PFM's UAE-based entity (Prop Firm Match Global FZCO) — governance, free-zone compliance, banking, tax, audit, visa sponsorship, and regulator-facing relationships. Our current priority is professionalising the local operating layer so the business can scale internationally without regulatory or operational drag.

About the role
Own everything PFM does in the UAE — entity governance, regulatory standing, banking and tax compliance, audit readiness, free-zone licensing, visa sponsorship, and relationships with local authorities and service providers. Be the senior PFM presence on the ground in the UAE and the trusted commercial-regulatory bridge between leadership and the UAE ecosystem.

Performance objectives

Objective 1 - Own UAE entity governance and free-zone compliance
Outcome: Prop Firm Match Global FZCO is fully compliant, in good standing, and audit-ready at all times.

Typical tasks:

• Maintain free-zone licence, share capital, and corporate documentation up to date.
• Ensure timely renewals, statutory filings, and entity-level reporting.
• Coordinate with the free-zone authority on all governance matters.
• Run quarterly governance reviews with the CFO.

Objective 2 - Lead regulatory affairs and authority relationships
Outcome: PFM operates with regulatory clarity in the UAE and can navigate questions from authorities quickly and credibly.

Typical tasks:

• Own the regulatory map for PFM's activities in the UAE (free-zone, federal, financial-services adjacencies).
• Build and maintain relationships with regulators, free-zone authorities, banks, and key service providers.
• Track regulatory changes affecting PFM and translate them into business impact and action items.
• Lead any direct regulator engagement or audit on PFM's behalf, in coordination with legal counsel.
• Partner with internal and external legal counsel on the UAE legal landscape — contracts, employment law, FZCO governance, commercial agreements, and dispute resolution.

Objective 3 - Manage UAE operations: banking, tax, audit, and admin
Outcome: All UAE-side operational rails (banking, corporate tax, VAT, audit, visas, office, vendors) run smoothly with no surprises.

Typical tasks:

• Manage banking relationships and resolve account-, transaction-, or compliance-related issues.
• Oversee UAE corporate tax (9%) and VAT registration, filings, and compliance with the Federal Tax Authority.
• Lead the annual statutory audit cycle in coordination with the Finance function.
• Sponsor visas for UAE-based hires and manage related immigration, residency, and renewal workflows.
• Own the UAE office presence (if applicable), vendor contracts, insurance, and local administration.

Objective 4 - Partner with leadership on UAE strategic initiatives
Outcome: Leadership has a trusted UAE partner who can scope, scale, and de-risk any new initiative anchored in the region.

Typical tasks:

• Advise leadership on the regulatory and operational implications of new products, partnerships, or markets.
• Lead UAE-specific initiatives such as banking expansion, new entity structures, or regulatory licensing.
• Represent PFM in select UAE industry forums and at high-trust meetings with partners or authorities.
• Surface risks and opportunities to the CFO and CEO with clear written analysis.

What we look for

Must have

• 7+ years of operations, regulatory, or compliance leadership experience in the UAE.
• Hands-on familiarity with one or more UAE free zones (e.g., DMCC, IFZA, DIFC, ADGM, JAFZA).
• Strong working knowledge of UAE corporate tax, VAT, and Federal Tax Authority requirements.
• Experience managing banking relationships and resolving compliance / KYC matters with UAE banks.
• Track record of running statutory audits and filings end-to-end.
• Demonstrated experience working with internal or external legal counsel on UAE-specific matters — contracts, employment law, free-zone governance, or commercial agreements.
• Excellent English; comfortable operating in a remote-first, async-first environment.

Nice to have

• Background in fintech, financial services, brokerage, or trading-adjacent industries.
• DIFC or ADGM-specific licensing experience.
• Working Arabic — useful for direct regulator and bank conversations.
• Existing relationships with UAE regulators, free-zone authorities, or top legal / audit firms.
• Experience scaling a UAE entity through tax or regulatory transitions (e.g., corporate tax rollout).

Compensation

$6,000–$10,000 / month gross

Reporting cadence
Reports to: Albert B., CFO.
Direct reports: None at hire. May grow to include UAE-based operational staff over time.
Key cross-functional partners: Finance, Leadership (Martin J., John R., Ashlee C.), HR, Legal counsel, external auditors and bankers.
Upward reporting cadence: Weekly 1:1 with CFO; monthly written summary covering compliance, regulator interactions, and operational risks; quarterly strategic review with leadership.

Location & work setup

• Location: UAE-based (Dubai preferred), with the ability to be physically present at relevant authorities, banks, and the free-zone office when needed.
• Working hours: Flexible, with reasonable overlap with CET hours (4+ hours of overlap).
• Employment type: Full-time.

Hiring stages

We keep our process simple, transparent, and respectful of your time. Here's what to expect:

1. Application screening
We carefully review all applications to identify candidates whose background aligns with the role's requirements. You'll receive a timely and transparent update on your application status.

2. Video intro + role fit questionnaire
A short async step - no scheduling required. You'll record a brief video introduction and complete a written questionnaire. This helps us understand who you are, your relevant background, and how your experience aligns with the role without either side committing to a live call upfront.

3. Discovery HR Interview
A conversation with our HR team focused on company and culture match. We'll walk you through how PFM works, what remote ownership looks like in practice, and what success in this role looks like. You'll have plenty of space to ask questions and share your goals.

4. Real-world task (paid)
A short, scoped exercise based on a real PFM UAE operations or regulatory challenge. We compensate for your time because we believe that's the right way to do it. This stage is designed to give both sides a realistic view of the work before committing further.

5. Professional interview
You will meet our CFO, Albert B., to focus on your UAE operations and regulatory expertise — entity governance, banking, tax, free-zone matters, and how you approach complex regulatory situations. This is the decisive conversation on domain skills and role-specific experience.

6. Peer & values conversation
A cross-team interview evaluated against PFM's structured values scorecard. You'll meet a peer (Rana Eh.) and a bar raiser (Konstantinos K., Head of Data & Analytics) from outside the immediate team.

7. Leadership interview (optional)
A conversation with a peer from across the team focused on values, culture, and how you work best. You'll have plenty of space to ask questions and get a real feel for life at PFM.

If there's a strong mutual match, we start with an informal conversation to align on expectations, then follow up with a formal written offer. Full transparency throughout, and time for you to make an informed decision.

Not the right fit for this role?
If this role isn’t the right match but you have experience in trading operations, customer success, compliance, support, partnerships, or a related area - we still want to hear from you. Join our Talent Pool and we’ll reach out when a relevant role opens. Every submission is reviewed, and the pool is always the first place we look before opening a new search.