Compliance Officer - Hedge Fund - Dubai Office

Mondrian Alpha; Dubai; On-site; AED 420,000 - 660,000; Full time

Job summary

Mondrian Alpha is hiring a Compliance Officer for its newly established Dubai office, the first compliance hire in a greenfield market. This mid-level role offers cross-border exposure within a growing European hedge fund platform, reporting to the global compliance team and integrating UAE regulatory expectations with the firm’s multi-jurisdictional framework.

The successful candidate will lead the design and implementation of the Dubai compliance program, covering monitoring, AML, policies,

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in compliance.
• In-house buy-side experience is mandatory; hedge fund experience preferred.
• Knowledge of DFSA regulations and Category 3C firms is required.
• Broad product knowledge is advantageous.
• Role is full-time, mid-level within investment management.

Responsibilities

• Monitoring—surveillance of trading activity, communications, and regulatory interaction.
• AML—anti-money laundering controls, client due diligence, and suspicious transaction reporting under UAE/DFSA rules.
• Policies and procedures—drafting, implementing, and maintaining local compliance manual and frameworks.
• Surveillance—market abuse monitoring and trade surveillance.
• Advisory—providing day-to-day compliance advice to portfolio managers, traders, and senior leadership.

Skills

Compliance experience

Buy-side experience

Hedge fund knowledge

DFSA regulations

Category 3C firms

Regulatory surveillance

Job description

This opportunity was posted more than 30 days ago and no application deadline was provided. You can explore active listings below.

Compliance Officer - Hedge Fund - Dubai Office

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Organising Institution / Firm

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5-7 years of experience in compliance, with in-house buy-side experience mandatory (hedge fund experience strongly preferred). Candidates must have experience covering DFSA regulations and Category 3C firms. A broad and varied product knowledge is preferred. The role is a full-time, mid-level position suited for professionals with a background in legal, finance, or compliance functions within investment management.

Job

Full Opportunity Brief

Dubai's New Private Wealth Frontier and the Compliance Mandate

The United Arab Emirates has aggressively positioned itself as the world's next great asset management destination. With the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) expanding its regulatory infrastructure and attracting global capital, hedge fund managers are increasingly looking to plant their flags in the Gulf. Into this environment enters a rare, high-stakes opening: a Compliance Officer for a newly established Dubai office of a rapidly expanding European hedge fund, recruited through Mondrian Alpha.

This is not just another compliance job listing. It is a greenfield mandate - the first compliance hire in a new jurisdiction, with the promise of significant scope, cross-border exposure, and a realistic path to a regional head role. For legal and compliance professionals seeking a career inflection point, this opportunity deserves serious strategic attention.

A rapidly expanding, European hedge fund is looking to hire its first Compliance Officer into their newly-established Dubai office. They have had exceptional performance and have rapidly increased in both AUM and headcount. Given their growth in London, they have recently launched a Dubai office and are now focused on this buildout.

What the First Hire in Dubai Will Actually Own

The advertisement is refreshingly candid about the breadth of this role. It is not a narrow, siloed position. As the first compliance officer in the Dubai office, you would be expected to establish and operationalise the compliance framework from the ground up. The job description explicitly lists the core responsibilities:

• Monitoring - surveillance of trading activity, communications, and regulatory interaction.
• AML - anti-money laundering controls, client due diligence, and suspicious transaction reporting under UAE and DFSA rules.
• Policies and procedures - drafting, implementing, and maintaining the local compliance manual and frameworks.
• Surveillance - market abuse monitoring, personal account dealing, and trade surveillance.
• Advisory - providing day-to-day compliance advice to portfolio managers, traders, and senior leadership.

What makes this role distinctive is the mandate to work closely with the global compliance team and get exposure across EMEA and APAC. In practical terms, that means you are not just the Dubai compliance person; you are a bridge between regulatory expectations in the UAE and the firm's broader global architecture. You will be instrumental in ensuring that the Dubai entity is not a compliance island but a fully integrated extension of a complex, multi-jurisdictional investment platform.

Decoding the Perfect Candidate Profile

Mondrian Alpha has set a clear and demanding benchmark. Let's break down what the hiring manager is looking for and why each element matters.

Five to Seven Years of Experience: The Sweet Spot

This is not an entry-level or a highly senior role. The 5-7 year range suggests the firm wants someone who has seen enough to be autonomous, but who still has the hunger and flexibility to build processes from scratch. This is a classic profile for a first compliance hire in a new office: enough seasoning to be trusted by global leadership, but not so set in their ways that they cannot adapt to a regional buildout.

In-House Buy-Side Experience Is a Hard Requirement

Agency-side compliance or work at a law firm is unlikely to suffice. The advertisement says in-house buy-side experience is a must, with hedge funds being a strong preference. The reason is intuitive: buy-side compliance is fundamentally different from sell-side or legal practice. It involves intimate knowledge of portfolio management conflicts, insider trading walls, trade allocation, fund documentation, and investor-side obligations. If you have worked at an asset manager, fund administrator, or similar investment firm, your candidacy becomes immediately credible.

DFSA Regulations and Category 3C Firms

This is perhaps the most