Manager, Governance & Operational Risk

Role Overview

Manager, Governance & Operational Risk at HALA, a leading fintech player in the MENAP region. Based in one of HALA's operating locations: UAE, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt.

Company Overview

HALA is a fintech company founded in 2017 that aims to redefine financial services and build the future bank of SMEs. HALA currently holds multiple entities in UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, including HALA Payments and HALA Logistics, and offers solutions that enable merchants to digitize their payments and manage their sales and operations. HALA is licensed by the Saudi Arabian Central Bank.

Role Purpose

The Operations Risk & Governance Manager ensures that operational processes, controls, and product launches are well-governed, compliant, and managed within HALA's risk appetite. The role works closely with Operations, Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Information Security, and Internal Audit to identify risks, strengthen controls, manage incidents, and support safe product launches.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Risk and Controls

• Maintain the Operations risk register and track mitigation actions.
• Conduct risk and control assessments across operational processes.
• Review the design and effectiveness of key operational controls.
• Identify control gaps and ensure corrective actions are completed.
• Monitor operational risk indicators, incidents, losses, and recurring issues.
• Escalate material risks and control failures to management.

Product Launch Governance

• Manage the governance process for new product and service launches.
• Ensure all launches complete required risk, compliance, operational, technology, security, and customer-impact assessments.
• Coordinate launch-readiness reviews with Product, Technology, Compliance, Risk, Operations, Finance, and Customer Experience.
• Confirm that operating procedures, controls, training, customer support, reporting, and incident processes are ready before launch.
• Maintain launch checklists, approvals, decisions, risks, dependencies, and action logs.
• Escalate unresolved critical risks before go-live.
• Monitor post-launch performance, incidents, customer issues, and control effectiveness.
• Lead post-launch reviews and ensure lessons learned are implemented.

Governance and Policies

• Maintain Operations policies, procedures, control documents, and approval matrices.
• Coordinate Operations governance meetings and track decisions and actions.
• Ensure policies and procedures are reviewed and approved on time.
• Maintain clear ownership and accountability for operational risks and controls.

Incident and Issue Management

• Coordinate the investigation of operational incidents and service failures.
• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective-action tracking.
• Identify recurring incidents and recommend process improvements.
• Ensure material incidents are escalated to appropriate stakeholders.

Reporting and Assurance

• Prepare operational risk and governance reports for senior management.
• Monitor key risk indicators, control performance, incidents, and overdue actions.
• Coordinate Operations responses to Risk, Compliance, Internal Audit, External Audit, and regulatory reviews.
• Track audit and regulatory findings until closure.

Third-Party and Operational Resilience

• Support risk assessments for critical vendors and outsourced services.
• Monitor vendor performance, incidents, and control weaknesses.
• Support business continuity planning and operational resilience testing.
• Ensure critical processes have recovery plans and operational workarounds.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Risk Management, Business Administration, Finance, Operations, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5–7 years of experience in operational risk, governance, controls, audit, compliance, or operations.
• Experience supporting product launches, risk assessments, control testing, and incident management.
• Strong understanding of operational risk, governance, regulatory requirements, and internal controls.
• Experience in fintech, payments, banking, or another regulated industry is preferred.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong risk judgment and attention to detail.
• Ability to challenge and influence stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Clear communication and reporting skills.
• Strong planning and action-tracking capabilities.
• Ability to work effectively across Product, Technology, Operations, Risk, and Compliance teams.
• High integrity, accountability, and ownership.

Additional Information

• Inclusive and diverse culture that encourages innovation and flexibility in remote, in-office, and hybrid work setups.
• Highly competitive compensation packages, including potential for shares.
• Regular training and annual learning stipend for personal development in a hyper-growth environment.
• Opportunity to work with a talented team of over 30 nationalities across 7 countries.
• Autonomy, mentoring, and challenging goals that create opportunities for career growth.
• High level of responsibility and trust given to those responsible for their function.