Chief Financial Officer

Location: London/Dubai

Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer

Engagement: Full-time, Executive Committee member

The Company

Our client is a venture-backed fintech headquartered in the Middle East and operating across ten-plus markets in the MENA region. The company provides banks, fintechs, enterprises, and telecom operators with the embedded financial products into their offerings, across multiple vertices:

● Card issuing and processing virtual and physical debit, prepaid, and credit card programs, powered by a proprietary full-stack platform on which the company fully owns its processing and switching technology, a distinction unique in its region

● Embedded lending credit and lending infrastructure enabling clients to launch consumer and SME credit products, a rapidly scaling vertical with a growing receivables book

● Money movement domestic and cross-border payment and payout capabilities

The company is licensed and regulated in its home market, is a principal participant with the global payment schemes, and serves 100+ financial institutions and enterprises.

It recently closed an oversubscribed Series B led by one of the world's foremost fintech-specialist venture firms alongside a shareholder register that includes sovereign-linked investors, regional banks, and leading regional and international funds.

The Opportunity

Having established itself as the category leader in its region post-Series B, the company is entering its most capital-intensive and strategically demanding phase: scaling toward its next equity round while simultaneously building the debt capital structures required to fund a fast-growing embedded lending business.

The Board is seeking an exceptional Chief Financial Officer to lead this phase. This is a genuinely strategic seat: the CFO will be a core member of the Executive Committee, a trusted partner to the CEO and Board, and the owner of both the equity story for the next raise and the debt architecture that will underpin the lending vertical's growth.

The role is London-based by design, reflecting the company's proximity to international capital markets both the growth-equity investors expected to lead the next round and the credit funds and banks that will provide lending capital with regular travel to the company's Dubai headquarters and regional offices.

Key Responsibilities

Equity capital and investor relations

● Lead preparation and execution of the company's next institutional equity round — from equity story, metrics narrative, and data-room readiness through investor targeting, term negotiation, and close

● Own investor relations and Board-level financial reporting; act as the primary financial interface with a sophisticated, international shareholder base

● Position the company for longer-term strategic outcomes, including exit or IPO readiness

Debt capital and lending finance

● Design and raise the debt facilities required to fund the embedded lending vertical warehouse lines, receivables financing, and structured credit facilities from regional banks and international credit funds

● Own lender relationships, covenant management, facility reporting, and drawdown mechanics as the lending book scales

● Build the asset-liability management, provisioning (IFRS 9), and portfolio-reporting capability appropriate to a growing credit business operating across multiple currencies and jurisdictions

Financial leadership and control

● Full ownership of the finance function: FP&A, accounting and controllership, treasury, tax, and audit across multiple legal entities, currencies, and regulatory regimes

● Ensure robust financial and regulatory reporting to central banks and payment schemes across the group's licensed entities, including regulatory capital and safeguarding requirements

● Strengthen controls, systems, and processes to institutional-grade, pre-IPO standards

Commercial and operational partnership

● Partner with commercial leadership on pricing and unit economics across processing, lending, and money-movement revenue streams interchange, processing fees, lending margin, and FX

● Own budgeting, forecasting, and burn management, balancing capital efficiency with aggressive multi-market growth

● Build and lead a high-performing, geographically distributed finance team; recruit and develop senior finance talent across jurisdictions

Candidate Profile

● 15+ years of progressive finance leadership, including prior experience as CFO or deputy CFO of a high-growth technology or financial services business

● Deep exposure to fintech, payments, or regulated financial services ideally issuer processing, banking-as-a-service, embedded finance, or consumer/SME lending

● Demonstrable track record across both sides of the capital structure: raising institutional equity (venture or growth rounds, ideally $50m+) and structuring debt facilities for lending or receivables-backed businesses

● Experience operating in multi-entity, multi-currency, multi-jurisdiction regulated environments; familiarity with MENA or other emerging markets is a strong advantage

● Prior exposure to exit preparation, IPO readiness, or M&A processes is highly valued

Background and qualifications

● Professional qualification (ACA, ACCA, CPA, CFA) and/or MBA from a leading institution preferred

Personal attributes

● A builder's mindset: comfortable creating structure in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment rather than inheriting a finished machine

● Equally credible in front of growth-equity investors, credit committees, regulators, and the Board

● Hands-on and detail-oriented, while retaining a strategic, forward-looking orientation

● High integrity, low ego, and a collaborative operating style suited to a tight-knit executive team

● Cultural fluency and genuine enthusiasm for building across international markets

Edison Smart®

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