Regional Chief Financial Officer — Insurance Distribution Network

The mandate

An institutionally backed insurance distribution network has entered its planning cycle without a reliable comparison of regional performance. Distributor incentives are recorded differently by market, policy cancellations arrive after revenue decisions, and local capital requests use inconsistent assumptions. Management needs to restore confidence in cash and forecast quality.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer will oversee approximately AED 4,350 million in assets and investments and lead about 150 finance employees and material partners. The remit covers controllership, planning, treasury, capital, tax, procurement and commercial finance across the distribution network. It reports to the Group Chief Executive and relevant board committee, with exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors.

The first requirement is an auditable remediation envelope. The CFO must connect affected customers, distributor behaviour, product terms, redress methodology, operating capacity and cash timing without claiming certainty where evidence remains incomplete. The second is a regional performance model that shows fully loaded value by market, channel and product. Together, these views will determine which businesses receive capital and which commercial practices cannot continue.

Finance must remain independent while helping the network act. This executive should challenge sales forecasts, sign board financial statements, govern liquidity and evaluate investment cases at the stated scale. They will not absorb compliance ownership, but they must expose the financial consequences of conduct choices plainly and early.

Why this seat is open

An accelerated leadership transition has left interim accountability split while remediation and the next capital plan progress. The board wants a permanent replacement within six to eight weeks. The predecessor’s departure is being handled professionally, and the external process remains confidential until candidate and transition arrangements are settled.

What you will own

• Establish the remediation population, provision range, cash calendar and independent challenge.
• Standardise distributor and product economics across commission, cancellation, redress and service cost.
• Govern AED 4,350 million of assets, investments, allocation and liquidity.
• Rebuild the regional forecast around observable policy, channel, cash and capital drivers.
• Strengthen close, balance-sheet substantiation and board reporting while reducing manual adjustments.
• Set investment gates and withdraw capital from cases that cannot meet economic or conduct tests.
• Lead 150 employees and partners, clarifying regional and local finance accountabilities.
• Give the board downside scenarios and early variance rather than a single management case.

The first 12 months

In the opening 90 days, reconcile affected customers, provision assumptions and cash requirements. Meet the 30 stakeholders most important to finance discipline, including market leaders, distributors, actuaries, risk, compliance, auditors and capital sponsors. Review material pricing and commission exceptions and identify any liquidity or reporting deadline requiring immediate action. Assess the team and agree explicit board decision gates.

Months four to nine should embed one economic model across markets, rebase the forecast and place remediation spend under closure governance. Resolve critical leadership gaps and deliver measurable cash, capacity or customer value. Investment cases should include downside, conduct cost and an accountable stop decision; spreadsheet reconciliations affecting material balances should have dated owners.

At year end, the value case should be within 10% of its approved baseline and forecasts should reconcile operating, cash, customer and people assumptions over three consecutive quarters. The highest-priority issues must close by board dates with independently evidenced sustainability. No material surprise should be withheld, and no high-severity escalation should remain open beyond 30 days.

What the board will measure

• Stability and evidence quality of remediation provisions and cash forecasts.
• Fully loaded contribution by distributor, product and market.
• Regional liquidity, capital efficiency and forecast confidence.
• Timely close and reduction in unsupported manual adjustments.
• Retain no less than 90% of pivotal finance talent and secure immediate successor cover for 70% of direct-report positions.
• Quantified improvement in regional capital and performance discipline, with a clean baseline and data owner.

The person

You are a Regional CFO, Divisional CFO or Finance Vice President with 22–28 years in financial services or a comparable regulated distribution business. You have directly owned board accounts, liquidity decisions and investment cases, including uncertainty arising from remediation or another contingent exposure.

Your accountable P&L, book, budget or portfolio has been at least AED 2,500 million, and you have led 150 or more people. You understand the timing differences among policy sale, cash receipt, cancellation, commission and redress. You can show where a regional comparison changed a capital decision and where your intervention produced results sustained across two reporting periods.

The role suits a finance leader who is exact without becoming paralysed by imperfect evidence. You must challenge optimistic forecasts, preserve constructive relationships with commercial and control leaders and make uncertainty intelligible to capital sponsors.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated package is AED 1.9–2.7 million fixed plus annual incentive and LTI. The permanent role is onsite in Dubai, supports international relocation and can accommodate up to six months’ notice. Final structure reflects scope and current remuneration.

Confidentiality

The client remains unnamed until both sides elect to proceed under confidentiality. Published facts are composite and must not be treated as brand or ownership clues.