Regional Chief Financial Officer — Digital Bank

The mandate

The next planning cycle has brought into focus regional capital and performance discipline lagging the enterprise standard within a institutionally backed regulated universal or specialist bank. The immediate arena is the digital bank during a succession transition. For mandate 073, 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 70,700 million in loan and deposit book, with activity spanning several digital bank customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Regional Chief Financial Officer Banking remit carries direct influence over roughly 750 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 digital bank. The Regional Chief Financial Officer Banking seat must resolve a succession transition, while preserving the underlying strengths of the digital bank. For mandate 073, 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 digital bank is expected to end with cash, forecast confidence and investment governance. In mandate 073, 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer — 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 70,700 million in loan and deposit book, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Regional Chief Financial Officer Banking organisation of about 750 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 succession transition, 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 digital bank; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have signed or directly owned board financial statements, liquidity decisions and investment cases at the stated scale in mandate 073.
• Build the Regional Chief Financial Officer’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 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 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 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 digital bank 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 digital bank’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 Regional Chief Financial Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Regional Chief Financial Officer-owned improvement in the digital bank operating constraint behind a succession transition, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 073: 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 Banking or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the digital bank, 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 financial services, payments, lending, insurance 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 Banking 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 41,000 million and led an organisation of at least 525 people.

For mandate 073, the board wants two transitions: a difficult digital bank portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a succession transition. As the prospective Regional Chief Financial Officer for this digital bank, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 073 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 Banking 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 Banking governance forum.
• Proven Regional Chief Financial Officer ownership of at least AED 41,000 million and leadership of no fewer than 525 employees in a comparable digital bank context.
• One completed Banking 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 financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks Regional Chief Financial Officer-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 073.

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 digital bank scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 073 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Regional Chief Financial Officer 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 073.

Confidentiality

This search is being conducted without naming the client for mandate 073. 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 073.