About ZAD
ZAD is the brainchild of a group of young, passionate Kuwaiti financial professionals driven by a vision of fostering a culture of investment in Kuwait. And for this team, Zad began as a means to answer a need in the market: the need to make investment an accessible concept and viable choice for a broader audience
Role Summary
The Director of Operations is a senior leadership appointment responsible for the strategic direction, operational integrity, and continuous evolution of ZAD's operations function across all markets. This role carries full ownership of the trade lifecycle, back-office processing, regulatory compliance, client operational support, and risk management, while building and leading a high-performing operations team capable of scaling with ZAD's growth.
The Director of Operations is expected to operate at both the strategic and execution level, bringing the judgement of a seasoned capital markets professional and the hands-on leadership of someone who understands what it takes to run a regulated brokerage at scale.
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Operations Leadership
- Define and execute ZAD's operational strategy across all markets, aligning it with the company's growth objectives and regulatory obligations.
- Own the operational readiness of ZAD's platforms, ensuring the function scales effectively as new markets, products, and client segments are added.
- Serve as the operational authority in the executive team, providing the Deputy CEO with clear, data-driven visibility into operational performance, risks, and priorities.
2. Trading Operations and Trade Lifecycle Management
- Lead and continuously improve ZAD's end-to-end trade lifecycle, including order execution, settlement, reconciliation, corporate actions, and fund movements across all markets.
- Set and enforce standards for accuracy, timeliness, and reliability, holding the function accountable to measurable SLAs.
3. Back-Office, Onboarding and Client Operations
- Own all back-office processes including KYC, client onboarding, deposits and withdrawals, transaction processing, settlement, and dispute resolution.
- Ensure client-facing operational touchpoints are seamless, compliant, and consistently delivered to the highest standard.
4. Process Architecture and Continuous Improvement
- Design, implement, and maintain robust operational workflows, SOPs, internal controls, and reconciliation frameworks across the full function.
- Drive a culture of continuous improvement, identifying inefficiencies and leading automation and standardisation initiatives that materially reduce manual workload and operational risk.
5. Regulatory Compliance and Governance
- Take executive accountability for the operational compliance posture of ZAD, ensuring all processes meet CMA requirements and relevant market infrastructure obligations.
- Maintain audit-ready documentation and controls at all times, and lead the function's response to regulatory reviews and findings.
6. Risk Management and Business Continuity
- Own ZAD's operational risk framework, including incident management, escalation protocols, and recovery planning.
- Proactively identify and mitigate operational risks before they translate into client, regulatory, or reputational impact.
- Maintain and regularly test operational business continuity and disaster recovery plans.
7. Team Leadership and Organisational Development
- Build, develop, and retain a high-performing operations team, establishing a clear structure, capability development pathways, and a culture of accountability and excellence.
- Set and manage KPIs across the team, providing coaching, performance management, and succession planning for key roles.
8. Cross-Functional and External Stakeholder Management
- Act as the primary operational interface between Operations and Technology, Compliance, Finance, Product, and Client Relations, ensuring smooth cross-functional execution.
- Manage relationships with brokers, custodians, and market infrastructure providers, holding them to contractual and service standards.
9. Technology, Automation and Innovation
- Identify system gaps and lead the evaluation and implementation of technology solutions that strengthen operational capability.
- Drive UAT and systems integration requirements in close partnership with the Technology team, ensuring operational needs are properly translated into technical deliverables.
10. Executive Reporting and Operational Intelligence
- Build and maintain KPI dashboards, incident logs, risk registers, and performance reports that give executive leadership real-time visibility into operational health.
- Present operational performance, risks, and strategic recommendations to the Deputy CEO and board as required.
Qualifications and Experience
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, or a related field.
- 10 or more years of progressive experience in financial operations, with a minimum of 5 years in a senior leadership role within a regulated brokerage, capital markets, or fintech environment.
- Proven track record of building and scaling operations functions, including team development, process architecture, and regulatory compliance management.
- Deep understanding of the full trade lifecycle, settlement, reconciliation, and back-office operations in a multi-market environment.
- Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional relationships and external counterparties at a senior level.
- Strong command of operational risk management and regulatory compliance frameworks relevant to capital markets.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex operational matters clearly to executive and board-level audiences.
Preferred
- Professional qualification in finance, operations, or risk management.
- Experience operating across multiple markets or jurisdictions simultaneously.
- Track record of leading large-scale technology, automation, or digital transformation initiatives within an operations function.
- Established relationships with market infrastructure providers, custodians, or regulatory bodies in the capital markets space.
- Strong Arabic and English language skills.
Skills and Competencies
Strategic Operations Leadership: Thinks beyond day-to-day execution, setting the operational direction that enables ZAD to scale confidently into new markets and products.
Operational Expertise and Judgement: Brings deep, current knowledge of capital markets operations and exercises sound, data-driven judgement under pressure.
Leadership and Organisational Development: Builds high-performing teams, develops successors, and creates accountability structures that do not depend on any individual.
Regulatory Authority: Recognised internally and externally as the executive accountable for operational compliance. Proactive rather than reactive in managing regulatory risk.
Process Excellence and Innovation: Drives continuous improvement with rigour, implementing automation and standardisation that materially strengthens the function.
- Stakeholder Influence: Communicates with clarity and credibility at executive, regulatory, and counterparty level. Resolves cross-functional challenges with authority and tact.
To apply send an email to careers@joinzad.com
