Head of Middle Office - Global Markets
Posted date [2026-07-08]
(ID: 47712)
 |
As the largest bank in the UAE, FAB has taken decisive steps as a regional pacesetter in the financial industry to bind both ambition and action together to accelerate the pace of positive environmental change. As the first bank in the MENA region to have committed to a target of net-zero emissions by 2050, we're making advances across our own operations in addition to walking alongside our clients as their strategic partner to ensure they can achieve their climate goals.... |
Job Description and Requirements
Head of Middle Office - Global MarketsJob Snapshot
Role: Head of Middle Office - Global Markets
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Industry: Banking
Function: Management
Experience: 10-15+ years in global markets operations or front office trade support
Job Type: Full-time
Position Overview
Head of Middle Office - Global Markets in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates is a senior Banking leadership opportunity focused on trade lifecycle oversight, dealer assist controls, operational risk management, reconciliations, client activation, collateral and margin coordination, regulatory reporting, and global markets middle office governance. The role supports First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) by leading regional middle office teams, strengthening control discipline across Global Markets products, and ensuring trade activity is captured, validated, monitored, reconciled, and reported with strong accuracy and accountability.
Job Details
Country: United Arab Emirates
City: Abu Dhabi
Industry: Banking
Function: Management
Salary: 65000-90000
Estimated salary range based on
similar jobs in the job city; please confirm the final offer with the employer.
Gender: Any
Candidate Nationality: Any
Job Type: Full-time
Role Context
The Head of Middle Office - Global Markets will oversee a multi-functional middle office framework supporting front office trading activity, client readiness, trade execution controls, exception resolution, collateral monitoring, and management information reporting. This role is central to protecting trade integrity, reducing operational losses, preventing settlement failures, and maintaining strong governance across asset classes including equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, and derivatives. The position requires a senior leader who can bridge front office expectations, back office execution, risk control, regulatory obligations, and client-facing operational support.
What You’ll Do
* Oversee the end-to-end trade lifecycle for Global Markets products, from trade booking and validation through confirmation, settlement, reconciliation, and exception closure.
* Ensure trades are captured accurately in front-office systems and processed correctly through downstream middle office and back-office workflows.
* Identify, investigate, and resolve trade breaks, mismatches, discrepancies, failed trades, alleged trades, and operational exceptions in a timely manner.
* Establish and maintain a robust operational control framework to reduce errors, prevent financial losses, and protect trade and P and L integrity.
* Monitor Key Risk Indicators, including error rates, trade breaks, operational loss incidents, failed trades, and recurring process issues.
* Build a zero-tolerance control culture across middle office activities, ensuring control lapses are escalated, reviewed, and remediated quickly.
* Lead the global and regional Dealer Assist middle office teams, including team managers and functional specialists.
* Set performance objectives, coach team members, support succession planning, and ensure the function has the right skills for current and future business needs.
* Manage client activation and data readiness by coordinating with KYC, reference data, credit, Global Markets documentation, and other internal stakeholders.
* Supervise trade execution control activities including timely booking, client account allocations, portfolio allocations, same-day trade validations, and dealer and sales position integrity checks.
* Govern post-trade amendments, trade cancellations, off-market trade monitoring, and counterparty exposure monitoring.
* Oversee exception management, trade lifecycle event monitoring, credit event tracking, collateral coordination, and margin management principles.
* Strengthen reconciliation processes to ensure breaks are visible, assigned, resolved, documented, and used for process improvement.
* Deliver regulatory reporting, internal dashboards, KPI reporting, KRI reporting, and management information solutions for leadership review.
* Work closely with senior front office leaders, heads of trading desks, risk management, compliance, operations executives, and control functions.
* Engage with external counterparties, custodians, clearing houses, executing brokers, prime brokerage clients, and service partners to resolve operational issues.
* Continuously reassess operational risks in response to changing market conditions, regulatory updates, product growth, and control observations.
* Operate within Group policies, approved governance frameworks, organizational controls, and the approved authorization matrix.
* Support strategic improvements in automation, process efficiency, operating model design, trade support quality, and control transparency.
Ideal Profile
* Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Economics, Banking, or a related discipline.
* 10-15+ years of experience in Global Markets operations, middle office management, dealer assist, trade support, or front office-facing operations.
* Proven experience in a senior leadership role such as head of operations, middle office head, senior vice president, director, managing director, or equivalent.
* Strong understanding of the full trade lifecycle across equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, derivatives, and other Global Markets products.
* Experience managing large teams, regional functions, multi-asset trade support models, and complex operational processes.
* Strong knowledge of trade booking, trade validation, confirmations, settlements, reconciliations, lifecycle events, collateral, margin, and exception management.
* Ability to engage confidently with senior traders, sales leaders, operations heads, risk teams, compliance officers, internal auditors, and external market participants.
* Practical experience with operational risk controls, KRIs, KPIs, governance routines, escalation management, and control remediation.
* Strong leadership capability with the ability to mentor managers, develop talent, build engagement, and maintain a high-performance service culture.
* Excellent judgment in resolving operational issues, prioritizing risk, and making decisions within approved authority limits.
* Ability to bridge front office, middle office, and back office requirements while protecting control standards and service quality.
* Strong communication, diplomacy, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
* Familiarity with regulatory reporting, internal dashboards, management information, and control reporting in a banking environment.
* Track record of improving operational efficiency, reducing errors, strengthening controls, and supporting scalable Global Markets operations.
Skills Set
* Global Markets operations
* Middle office leadership
* Dealer Assist management
* Trade lifecycle oversight
* Trade booking control
* Trade validation
* Same-day trade validation
* Front office trade support
* Back office coordination
* Confirmation management
* Settlement monitoring
* Reconciliation
* Exception management
* Failed trade monitoring
* Alleged trade monitoring
* Post-trade amendments
* Trade cancellation governance
* P and L integrity
* Sales position integrity
* Dealer position monitoring
* Client account allocation
* Portfolio allocation
* Off-market trade monitoring
* Counterparty exposure monitoring
* Collateral management
* Margin management
* Operational risk management
* Key Risk Indicators
* KPI reporting
* Regulatory reporting
* Management information dashboards
* Client activation
* KYC coordination
* Reference data readiness
* Credit coordination
* Global Markets documentation
* Stakeholder management
* Team leadership
* Talent development
* Governance frameworks
Why Join Us
This opportunity is designed for a senior Global Markets operations leader who wants to manage a critical middle office function within Abu Dhabi’s Banking sector. The role offers wide exposure to multi-asset trade support, regional Dealer Assist teams, control transformation, operational risk governance, client readiness, regulatory reporting, and strategic process automation. It is a strong fit for a leader who can combine market product knowledge, disciplined control ownership, team development, and senior stakeholder influence to strengthen trade lifecycle integrity across a large financial institution.
About the Company
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is one of the UAE’s leading banking groups, offering retail banking, corporate banking, global markets, asset management, securities services, and institutional financial solutions. In Abu Dhabi, FAB supports regional and international clients through strong governance, advanced market capabilities, disciplined risk management, and operational platforms designed to deliver reliable financial services at scale.
Gender: Any
Candidate Nationality: Any
Job Type: Full-time
Role Context
The Head of Middle Office - Global Markets will oversee a multi-functional middle office framework supporting front office trading activity, client readiness, trade execution controls, exception resolution, collateral monitoring, and management information reporting. This role is central to protecting trade integrity, reducing operational losses, preventing settlement failures, and maintaining strong governance across asset classes including equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, and derivatives. The position requires a senior leader who can bridge front office expectations, back office execution, risk control, regulatory obligations, and client-facing operational support.
What You’ll Do
* Oversee the end-to-end trade lifecycle for Global Markets products, from trade booking and validation through confirmation, settlement, reconciliation, and exception closure.
* Ensure trades are captured accurately in front-office systems and processed correctly through downstream middle office and back-office workflows.
* Identify, investigate, and resolve trade breaks, mismatches, discrepancies, failed trades, alleged trades, and operational exceptions in a timely manner.
* Establish and maintain a robust operational control framework to reduce errors, prevent financial losses, and protect trade and P and L integrity.
* Monitor Key Risk Indicators, including error rates, trade breaks, operational loss incidents, failed trades, and recurring process issues.
* Build a zero-tolerance control culture across middle office activities, ensuring control lapses are escalated, reviewed, and remediated quickly.
* Lead the global and regional Dealer Assist middle office teams, including team managers and functional specialists.
* Set performance objectives, coach team members, support succession planning, and ensure the function has the right skills for current and future business needs.
* Manage client activation and data readiness by coordinating with KYC, reference data, credit, Global Markets documentation, and other internal stakeholders.
* Supervise trade execution control activities including timely booking, client account allocations, portfolio allocations, same-day trade validations, and dealer and sales position integrity checks.
* Govern post-trade amendments, trade cancellations, off-market trade monitoring, and counterparty exposure monitoring.
* Oversee exception management, trade lifecycle event monitoring, credit event tracking, collateral coordination, and margin management principles.
* Strengthen reconciliation processes to ensure breaks are visible, assigned, resolved, documented, and used for process improvement.
* Deliver regulatory reporting, internal dashboards, KPI reporting, KRI reporting, and management information solutions for leadership review.
* Work closely with senior front office leaders, heads of trading desks, risk management, compliance, operations executives, and control functions.
* Engage with external counterparties, custodians, clearing houses, executing brokers, prime brokerage clients, and service partners to resolve operational issues.
* Continuously reassess operational risks in response to changing market conditions, regulatory updates, product growth, and control observations.
* Operate within Group policies, approved governance frameworks, organizational controls, and the approved authorization matrix.
* Support strategic improvements in automation, process efficiency, operating model design, trade support quality, and control transparency.
Ideal Profile
* Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Economics, Banking, or a related discipline.
* 10-15+ years of experience in Global Markets operations, middle office management, dealer assist, trade support, or front office-facing operations.
* Proven experience in a senior leadership role such as head of operations, middle office head, senior vice president, director, managing director, or equivalent.
* Strong understanding of the full trade lifecycle across equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, derivatives, and other Global Markets products.
* Experience managing large teams, regional functions, multi-asset trade support models, and complex operational processes.
* Strong knowledge of trade booking, trade validation, confirmations, settlements, reconciliations, lifecycle events, collateral, margin, and exception management.
* Ability to engage confidently with senior traders, sales leaders, operations heads, risk teams, compliance officers, internal auditors, and external market participants.
* Practical experience with operational risk controls, KRIs, KPIs, governance routines, escalation management, and control remediation.
* Strong leadership capability with the ability to mentor managers, develop talent, build engagement, and maintain a high-performance service culture.
* Excellent judgment in resolving operational issues, prioritizing risk, and making decisions within approved authority limits.
* Ability to bridge front office, middle office, and back office requirements while protecting control standards and service quality.
* Strong communication, diplomacy, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
* Familiarity with regulatory reporting, internal dashboards, management information, and control reporting in a banking environment.
* Track record of improving operational efficiency, reducing errors, strengthening controls, and supporting scalable Global Markets operations.
Skills Set
* Global Markets operations
* Middle office leadership
* Dealer Assist management
* Trade lifecycle oversight
* Trade booking control
* Trade validation
* Same-day trade validation
* Front office trade support
* Back office coordination
* Confirmation management
* Settlement monitoring
* Reconciliation
* Exception management
* Failed trade monitoring
* Alleged trade monitoring
* Post-trade amendments
* Trade cancellation governance
* P and L integrity
* Sales position integrity
* Dealer position monitoring
* Client account allocation
* Portfolio allocation
* Off-market trade monitoring
* Counterparty exposure monitoring
* Collateral management
* Margin management
* Operational risk management
* Key Risk Indicators
* KPI reporting
* Regulatory reporting
* Management information dashboards
* Client activation
* KYC coordination
* Reference data readiness
* Credit coordination
* Global Markets documentation
* Stakeholder management
* Team leadership
* Talent development
* Governance frameworks
Why Join Us
This opportunity is designed for a senior Global Markets operations leader who wants to manage a critical middle office function within Abu Dhabi’s Banking sector. The role offers wide exposure to multi-asset trade support, regional Dealer Assist teams, control transformation, operational risk governance, client readiness, regulatory reporting, and strategic process automation. It is a strong fit for a leader who can combine market product knowledge, disciplined control ownership, team development, and senior stakeholder influence to strengthen trade lifecycle integrity across a large financial institution.
About the Company
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is one of the UAE’s leading banking groups, offering retail banking, corporate banking, global markets, asset management, securities services, and institutional financial solutions. In Abu Dhabi, FAB supports regional and international clients through strong governance, advanced market capabilities, disciplined risk management, and operational platforms designed to deliver reliable financial services at scale.
