Chief Operating Officer

Blofin Inc.; Dubai; On-site; AED 800,000 - 1,600,000; Full time

Job summary

BloFin Inc. in the United Arab Emirates is seeking a Chief Operating Officer to lead the day-to-day operations of its Exchange Services.

You will oversee platform operations, trading and client services, vendor coordination, incident response, and controls, reporting to the CEO and Board. The role requires 8–10 years of senior experience in financial services or fintech operations, with strong regulatory knowledge and governance skills across trading venues, settlements, and custody interfaces.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• Professional certifications in operations, risk, project management or governance are preferred (PMP, ITIL, COBIT, Six Sigma).
• Strong understanding of exchange operations, virtual assets, client onboarding, settlement coordination, custody integration, market conduct, and operational risk.
• Minimum 8–10 years’ operational leadership experience in financial services, fintech, exchanges, or regulated technology platforms.
• Experience with governance, regulatory reporting, vendor coordination, incident management, and business continuity.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operational execution of BloFin’s UAE Exchange Services business.
• Ensure procedures are documented, tested, and followed; manage onboarding, trading access, settlement, and incident handling.
• Coordinate with CTO/tech teams on platform performance, uptime, and resilience.
• Oversee custodian coordination, withdrawals, reconciliations, and regulatory compliance.
• Provide operational reporting to CEO, Board, and committees; manage vendor relationships and continuity planning.

Skills

Operational leadership

Cross-functional coordination

Regulatory understanding

Vendor management

Incident management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Operations, Technology, Engineering, Economics, or related field

Tools

PMP

ITIL

COBIT

Six Sigma

Job description

The COO is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of BloFin’s Exchange Services business, including platform operations, trading operations, client service operations, vendor coordination, operational resilience, settlement coordination, process controls, incident management, and implementation of Board- and CEO-approved policies.

Regulatory Alignment

The COO may also act as a Responsible Individual, if approved by VARA. VARA requires VASPs to appoint two Responsible Individuals of sufficient seniority who are responsible for the VASP’s compliance with legal and regulatory obligations. Each Responsible Individual must be a full-time employee, Fit and Proper, resident in the UAE or a UAE passport holder, and notified to and approved by VARA during licensing.

Reporting Line

The COO reports to the CEO and provides operational reporting to the Board, Risk Committee, Compliance Committee, and other governance committees as required. If appointed as a Responsible Individual, the COO must maintain direct accountability for the Company’s regulated operational activities and compliance with applicable VARA obligations.

Key Responsibilities of the Role

Operational Management

• Oversee day-to-day operational execution of BloFin’s UAE Exchange Services business.
• Ensure operational procedures are documented, implemented, tested, and followed.
• Manage operational readiness for client onboarding, account activation, trading access, order execution, settlement coordination, withdrawals, support, complaints, and incident handling.
• Ensure operational activities remain within BloFin’s approved Exchange Services scope.

Exchange Operations

• Oversee the operational functioning of the spot trading venue.
• Coordinate with the CTO and technology teams on matching engine performance, platform uptime, API availability, latency, capacity, trading system resilience, and operational incident response.
• Ensure trading operations support fair, orderly, and transparent market activity.
• Implement operational procedures for order handling, erroneous orders, trading interruptions, suspensions, client restrictions, and participant conduct enforcement.
• Ensure Exchange Services operational controls align with VARA requirements on trading venue rules, market surveillance, trading system continuity, and settlement.

Settlement Coordination and Custodian Operations

• Oversee operational coordination with the appointed VARA-licensed custodian.
• Ensure deposit confirmations, withdrawal-status updates, custody balance reports, reconciliation files, and transaction references are obtained and processed appropriately.
• Ensure approved withdrawal instructions are transmitted to the custodian only after BloFin’s authentication, AML/CFT, sanctions, Travel Rule, wallet-risk, and operational checks are completed.
• Ensure BloFin does not operate Client VA wallets, control client private keys, or execute client asset transfers directly.
• Coordinate operational escalation for delayed custodian confirmations, rejected withdrawals, reconciliation breaks, and client-impacting custody issues.

Client Operations and Support

• Oversee client support, operational helpdesk, complaints intake, escalation workflows, and service-level performance.
• Ensure Retail Clients and Qualified Investors receive appropriate operational support, platform guidance, and issue resolution.
• Ensure support teams are trained on client communications, custody disclosures, withdrawal processes, escalation routes, and regulatory restrictions.
• Ensure complaints and disputes are escalated to Compliance where required.

Vendor and Outsourcing Coordination

• Coordinate day-to-day operational performance of key vendors and service providers, including the appointed VARA-licensed custodian, cloud hosting providers, KYC/KYB and onboarding providers, blockchain analytics providers, liquidity providers, and support providers.
• Monitor operational SLAs, service interruptions, incident notifications, escalation channels, and remediation actions.
• Support the Head of Risk and Compliance Officer in vendor reviews, outsourcing register updates, and operational due diligence.

Business Continuity and Incident Management

• Maintain operational incident response procedures and ensure incidents are escalated promptly.
• Coordinate BCP/DR testing with the CTO, CISO, Risk Officer, Compliance Officer, and external service providers.
• Ensure operational continuity arrangements cover trading interruptions, technology outages, custodian disruptions, vendor failures, cybersecurity events, and client support disruptions.
• Support regulatory reporting and client communications during material operational incidents.

Policies, Procedures and Controls

• Maintain operational SOPs for onboarding handoffs, client account activation, trading operations, settlement coordination, withdrawals, support, complaints, vendor coordination, and incident response.
• Ensure operational duties are segregated to reduce conflicts, errors, and abuse.
• Ensure operational staff receive training and understand their regulatory responsibilities.
• Implement corrective actions arising from internal audits, compliance monitoring, risk reviews, VARA feedback, and incident post-mortems.

Management Reporting

• Provide operational reports to the CEO, Board, Risk Committee, Compliance Committee, and Technology Committee.
• Report KPIs and KRIs, including platform uptime, incident volumes, withdrawal processing, reconciliation exceptions, client complaints, vendor SLA performance, and operational risk events.
• Support Board and Senior Management review of operational performance.

Requirements for the Role

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Operations, Technology, Engineering, Economics, or related field.
• Professional certifications in operations, risk, project management, technology governance, or financial markets preferred, such as PMP, ITIL, COBIT, Six Sigma, or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of exchange operations, virtual assets, client onboarding, trading venue operations, settlement coordination, custody integration, market conduct, and operational risk.

Required Experience

• Minimum 8–10 years’ operational leadership experience in financial services, fintech, exchanges, brokerage, capital markets, banking, payments, virtual assets, or regulated technology platforms.
• Experience managing trading operations, client operations, vendor coordination, incident management, and operational resilience.
• Experience operating in a regulated environment and working with compliance, risk, audit, and regulators.
• Experience with digital platforms, APIs, blockchain analytics, custody providers, and technology vendors preferred.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Strong operational leadership and execution discipline.
• Ability to manage complex cross-functional workflows.
• Strong understanding of exchange operations, settlement, reconciliation, custody coordination, and client support.
• Ability to respond effectively to operational incidents and regulatory escalations.
• Strong vendor management and SLA oversight capability.
• Strong documentation, governance reporting, and policy implementation skills.
• High integrity, accountability, and Fit and Proper suitability.