Job description
Role Overview
UAE Country Manager at Airwallex. You will lead the full commercial, operational, and cultural agenda for the Middle East region as the most senior Airwallex leader on the ground, responsible for building and executing country strategy, growing the team, and delivering sustainable, cash-flow-positive growth.
Company Overview
Airwallex is the unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by proprietary infrastructure and software, the company empowers over 250,000 businesses worldwide—including Brex, Navan, Qantas, and SHEIN—with fully integrated solutions for business accounts, payments, spend management, treasury, and embedded finance at global scale. Founded in Melbourne, Airwallex has over 2,300 people across 27 offices globally. Valued at US$11 billion, the company is backed by T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital.
Role Purpose
Lead Airwallex's Middle East business from inception through scaled operations. You will own all commercial, operational, and cultural priorities for the region, building high-performing teams, executing go-to-market strategy, managing full P&L responsibility, and securing the regulatory approvals and partnerships necessary to establish and expand Airwallex's presence in the UAE and broader GCC markets.
Key Responsibilities
Commercial Success & Vision
- Lead SME and Enterprise commercial teams toward KPI achievement across revenue, customer acquisition, and product adoption.
- Own the end-to-end go-to-market strategy and customer experience for the Middle East.
- Define and drive the long-term commercial vision for the region, identifying emerging segments and verticals with high growth potential.
- Partner with the Legal, Risk & Compliance team to drive the necessary licensing and regulatory approvals required to operate and expand in the region.
P&L Management
- Own full P&L responsibility for the Middle East, managing commercial contribution margin toward cash-flow-positive performance.
- Manage and optimize the regional marketing budget in alignment with global priorities.
- Design and own commercial team incentive structures within the globally approved framework.
Brand & Corporate Affairs
- Build Airwallex's brand presence and awareness across the Middle East through targeted events, campaigns, and partnerships in close collaboration with the global marketing team.
- Act as a credible external voice with regulators, government bodies, and industry associations, shaping the narrative around Airwallex's regulatory posture and commitment to operating responsibly in the region.
- Represent Airwallex at industry forums, regulatory engagements, and speaking opportunities through the corporate affairs function.
People Leadership & Culture
- Build, attract, and retain a high-performing, diverse team across commercial and operational functions in the region.
- Own culture and staff engagement for the Middle East office, partnering with the People & Talent team.
- Ensure the team is aligned with Airwallex's global values and receives regular, clear business updates and context.
Qualifications & Experience
Minimum
- 12+ years of experience in financial services, fintech, or technology, with significant leadership experience in the Middle East market.
- Proven track record of owning a P&L and delivering commercial growth in a high-growth or scaling business.
- Deep understanding of the payments, banking, or cross-border financial services landscape in the UAE and/or Saudi Arabia.
- Demonstrated ability to build and lead high-performing teams across commercial and operational functions.
- Experience navigating regulatory and licensing environments in the region.
Preferred
- Experience scaling a fintech or payments business in the Middle East from early or greenfield stage—ideally at a Series B–D company building its GCC presence, such as a cross-border payments, embedded finance, or B2B financial services platform.
- Demonstrable track record of personally driving a licensing or regulatory approval with local regulators—not just working alongside compliance teams, but leading senior regulatory engagement through to a milestone outcome.
- Prior Country Manager, GM, or equivalent role where you were the most senior person on the ground in the Middle East, operating with limited HQ support and genuine P&L ownership.
- Existing relationships within the UAE and KSA fintech and banking ecosystem—regulators, banking partners, enterprise clients, and platform partners.
- Experience closing or overseeing significant enterprise commercial deals in the region, ideally in financial services, B2B payments, or SaaS.
- Arabic language proficiency a strong advantage; deep cultural fluency in GCC business norms required regardless.
- Track record of staying long enough in a previous market-building role to see it through multiple stages of growth—from zero to scaled—demonstrating resilience and follow-through beyond the initial build phase.
Skills & Competencies
- Strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking.
- Ability to move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.
- Humility and collaborative mindset.
- Ability to turn zero-to-one ideas into real products and "get stuff done" end-to-end.
- Proficiency with AI to work smarter and solve problems faster.
- Founder-like energy and drive for real impact.
Additional Information
Airwallex is an equal opportunity employer. Hiring decisions are based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent, regardless of color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status. Candidates with disabilities or special needs requiring accommodation should notify Airwallex during the application process.