UAE Country Manager

What youll do

This is a career-defining opportunity to lead Airwallexs Middle East business. You will be leading the full commercial operational and cultural agenda for the region. You will be the most senior Airwallex leader on the ground in the Middle East responsible for building and executing the country strategy growing the team and delivering sustainable cash-flow-positive growth.

Responsibilities:

Commercial Success & Vision

• Lead SME and Enterprise commercial teams towards KPI achievement across revenue customer acquisition and product adoption

• Own the end-to-end go-to-market strategy and customer experience for the Middle East

• Define and drive the long-term commercial vision for the region identifying emerging segments and verticals with high growth potential

• Partner with the Legal Risk & Compliance (LRC) team to drive the necessary licensing and regulatory approvals required to operate and expand in the region

  P&L Management

• Own full P&L responsibility for the Middle East managing commercial contribution margin towards cash-flow-positive performance

• Manage and optimise the regional marketing budget in alignment with global priorities

• Design and own commercial team incentive structures within the globally approved framework

  Brand & Corporate Affairs

• Build Airwallexs brand presence and awareness across the Middle East through targeted events campaigns and partnerships in close collaboration with the global marketing team

• Act as a credible external voice with regulators government bodies and industry associations shaping the narrative around Airwallexs regulatory posture and commitment to operating responsibly in the region

• Represent Airwallex at industry forums regulatory engagements and speaking opportunities through the corporate affairs function

  People Leadership & Culture

• Build attract and retain a high-performing diverse team across commercial and operational functions in the region

• Own culture and staff engagement for the Middle East office partnering with the People & Talent team

• Ensure the team is aligned with Airwallexs global values and has regular clear business updates and context

Who you are

Were looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have but are not mandatory.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 12 years of experience in financial services fintech or technology with significant leadership experience in the Middle East market

• Proven track record of owning a P&L and delivering commercial growth in a high-growth or scaling business

• Deep understanding of the payments banking or cross-border financial services landscape in the UAE and/or Saudi Arabia

• Demonstrated ability to build and lead high-performing teams across commercial and operational functions

• Experience navigating regulatory and licensing environments in the region

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience scaling a fintech or payments business in the Middle East from early or greenfield stage ideally at a Series BD company building its GCC presence such as a cross-border payments embedded finance or B2B financial services platform

• Demonstrable track record of personally driving a licensing or regulatory approval with local regulators not just working alongside compliance teams but leading senior regulatory engagement through to a milestone outcome

• Prior Country Manager GM or equivalent role where they were the most senior person on the ground in the Middle East operating with limited HQ support and genuine P&L ownership

• Existing relationships within the UAE and KSA fintech and banking ecosystem regulators banking partners enterprise clients and platform partners

• Experience closing or overseeing significant enterprise commercial deals in the region ideally in financial services B2B payments or SaaS

• Arabic language proficiency a strong advantage; deep cultural fluency in GCC business norms required regardless

• Has stayed long enough in a previous market-building role to see it through multiple stages of growth from zero to scaled demonstrating resilience and follow-through beyond the initial build phase

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters

Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit qualifications competence and talent. We dont regard color religion race national origin sexual orientation ancestry citizenship sex marital or family status disability gender or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation please let us know.

Required Experience:

Manager