Managing Director – Regional Business — Digital Bank

The mandate

A change in the economics of the sector has made urgent several country operations requiring a single commercial and operating owner within a institutionally backed regulated universal or specialist bank. The immediate arena is the digital bank during a deposit-growth challenge. For mandate 085, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Managing Director – Regional Business operating perimeter covers approximately AED 54,400 million in loan and deposit book, with activity spanning several digital bank customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Managing Director – Regional Business Banking remit carries direct influence over roughly 1,425 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Managing Director – Regional Business who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the digital bank. The Managing Director – Regional Business Banking seat must resolve a deposit-growth challenge, while preserving the underlying strengths of the digital bank. For mandate 085, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Managing Director – Regional Business’s first year on the digital bank is expected to end with portfolio profitability, leadership consistency and selective expansion. In mandate 085, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created Managing Director – Regional Business — Digital Bank seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the digital bank remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the Managing Director – Regional Business value-creation thesis for the digital bank, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately AED 54,400 million in loan and deposit book, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Managing Director – Regional Business Banking organisation of about 1,425 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the digital bank economics and execution constraints created by a deposit-growth challenge, with Managing Director – Regional Business-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Managing Director – Regional Business operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the digital bank; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have led a country, division or operating entity with direct commercial, people and governance accountability in mandate 085.
• Build the Managing Director – Regional Business’s three-year succession and capability plan for the digital bank, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Banking organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the digital bank baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to several country operations requiring a single commercial and operating owner, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Managing Director – Regional Business portfolio and organisation choices for the digital bank, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable digital bank trend against portfolio profitability, leadership consistency and selective expansion, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Managing Director – Regional Business’s agreed first-year digital bank value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Managing Director – Regional Business forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the digital bank’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Managing Director – Regional Business mandate’s highest-priority digital bank risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical digital bank talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Managing Director – Regional Business’s direct reports.
• A quantified Managing Director – Regional Business-owned improvement in the digital bank operating constraint behind a deposit-growth challenge, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 085: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Regional MD, Area President or multi-country General Manager in a institutionally backed Banking or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the digital bank, your Managing Director – Regional Business track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Managing Director – Regional Business brief.

As a Managing Director – Regional Business candidate, you bring 28+ years of progressive Banking or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 28-plus experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of AED 31,550 million and led an organisation of at least 1,000 people.

For mandate 085, the board wants two transitions: a difficult digital bank portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a deposit-growth challenge. As the prospective Managing Director – Regional Business for this digital bank, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 085 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Managing Director – Regional Business must be based in Dubai; international relocation is supported, but this Banking role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Regional MD, Area President or multi-country General Manager, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Banking governance forum.
• Proven Managing Director – Regional Business ownership of at least AED 31,550 million and leadership of no fewer than 1,000 employees in a comparable digital bank context.
• One completed Banking or adjacent-sector example of several country operations requiring a single commercial and operating owner with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks Managing Director – Regional Business-level digital bank consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Dubai location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 085.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Managing Director – Regional Business package is AED 2.8–4.0 million fixed + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final digital bank scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 085 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Managing Director – Regional Business appointment in Dubai, centred on the digital bank, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 085.

Confidentiality

To protect the board, incumbent team and candidate, the organisation remains unnamed until a confidential conversation confirms mutual relevance for mandate 085. The operating facts have been rounded and blended expressly to remove identifying signals for mandate 085.