Regional Chief Financial Officer — Insurance Distribution Network

The mandate

The next planning cycle has brought into focus regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard within a institutionally backed diversified financial-services platform. The immediate arena is the insurance distribution network during conduct-risk remediation. For mandate 023, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer operating perimeter covers approximately AED 4,350 million in assets under oversight, with activity spanning several insurance distribution network customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Regional Chief Financial Officer Financial Services remit carries direct influence over roughly 150 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Regional Chief Financial Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the insurance distribution network. The Regional Chief Financial Officer Financial Services seat must resolve conduct-risk remediation, while preserving the underlying strengths of the insurance distribution network. For mandate 023, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer’s first year on the insurance distribution network is expected to end with cash, forecast confidence and investment governance. In mandate 023, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is an urgent replacement for the Regional Chief Financial Officer — Insurance Distribution Network seat following an accelerated leadership transition. Interim accountability is in place for the insurance distribution network, but the board wants a permanent appointment within 6–8 weeks because conduct-risk remediation cannot remain under split ownership. The predecessor’s outcome is being handled neutrally and professionally. The external search remains confidential until the preferred candidate and transition plan are agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Regional Chief Financial Officer value-creation thesis for the insurance distribution network, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately AED 4,350 million in assets under oversight, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Regional Chief Financial Officer Financial Services organisation of about 150 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the insurance distribution network economics and execution constraints created by conduct-risk remediation, with Regional Chief Financial Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Regional Chief Financial Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the insurance distribution network; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have signed or directly owned board financial statements, liquidity decisions and investment cases at the stated scale in mandate 023.
• Build the Regional Chief Financial Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the insurance distribution network, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Financial Services organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the insurance distribution network baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Regional Chief Financial Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the insurance distribution network, 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 insurance distribution network trend against cash, forecast confidence and investment governance, 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer’s agreed first-year insurance distribution network value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Regional Chief Financial Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the insurance distribution network’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Regional Chief Financial Officer mandate’s highest-priority insurance distribution network risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical insurance distribution network talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Regional Chief Financial Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Regional Chief Financial Officer-owned improvement in the insurance distribution network operating constraint behind conduct-risk remediation, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 023: 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 CFO, Divisional CFO or Finance Vice President in a institutionally backed Financial Services or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the insurance distribution network, your Regional Chief Financial Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Regional Chief Financial Officer brief.

As a Regional Chief Financial Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Financial Services or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of AED 2,500 million and led an organisation of at least 150 people.

For mandate 023, the board wants two transitions: a difficult insurance distribution network portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during conduct-risk remediation. As the prospective Regional Chief Financial Officer for this insurance distribution network, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 023 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer must be based in Dubai; international relocation is supported, but this Financial Services role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Regional CFO, Divisional CFO or Finance Vice President, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Financial Services governance forum.
• Proven Regional Chief Financial Officer ownership of at least AED 2,500 million and leadership of no fewer than 150 employees in a comparable insurance distribution network context.
• One completed Financial Services or adjacent-sector example of regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks Regional Chief Financial Officer-level insurance distribution network consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Dubai location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 023.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Regional Chief Financial Officer package is AED 1.9–2.7 million fixed + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final insurance distribution network scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 023 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Regional Chief Financial Officer appointment in Dubai, centred on the insurance distribution network, 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 023.

Confidentiality

This search is being conducted without naming the client for mandate 023. Identifying information will follow only when both sides elect to proceed under confidentiality; nothing in the published mandate should be treated as a clue to ownership or brand for mandate 023.