Corporate Secretary

IFFCO Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 400,000 - 700,000; Full time

Job summary

IFFCO Group operates a corporate secretarial function at scale, governing boards and shareholders across 100+ subsidiaries while handling restructuring and regulatory matters. The Group seeks an experienced Company Secretary who has worked in governance for a listed company and can apply that rigour within a large private multinational.

This role is not purely administrative; it requires proactive governance judgement, advising directors, and shaping how the secretarial function should operate

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years post-qualification experience in a company secretarial or corporate governance role.
• Minimum 5 years within a public listed company, with at least 3 continuous years at a single listed company.
• Experience in a large multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction group structure preferred.
• International experience; UAE-based availability preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end board and shareholder governance across Group entities.
• Prepare agendas, notices and minutes with high accuracy and audit trails.
• Advise directors on governance, fiduciary duties and DOA limits.
• Drive board and committee effectiveness in line with governance codes.
• Maintain statutory records, appointments and regulatory filings across jurisdictions.
• Coordinate approvals, resolutions and documentation with internal/external counsel and advisors.
• Set and improve the Group secretarial policies and DOA framework.
• Lead and mentor junior secretarial staff and collaborate with Legal and Finance.

Skills

Board governance

Independent judgement

Discretion & integrity

Leadership capability

Bilingual Arabic-English

Education

Company secretary qualification

Job description

Championing "People": IFFCO Group's Core Value

At IFFCO Group, we are fully dedicated to our core value of "People" We are devoted to fostering our employees' growth, providing them with limitless opportunities for personal and career advancement. Our enticing benefits and inclusive work environment has garnered recognition as a certified Great Place to Work® in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Empowerment Through Diversity: Crafting Your Journey at IFFCO Group

Within IFFCO Group, every role—be it an internship, a graduate opportunity, or a job opening; offers you the autonomy to shape your professional trajectory. You'll encounter abundant prospects for personal and professional flourishing when collaborating with visionary brands and individuals driving our vision and business expansion. We believe that an entrepreneurial mindset drives success, and our dedicated workforce is the heartbeat of our achievements.

Job Summary

IFFCO Group operates a corporate secretarial function of significant scale — board and shareholder governance across 100+ subsidiaries in several dozen jurisdictions, alongside active restructuring, financing and entity-rationalisation work. The Group is looking for an experienced Company Secretary who has operated inside the governance discipline of a public listed company and can bring that rigour into a large private multinational structure.

This is not a purely administrative or coordination role. The successful candidate will be expected to independently apply governance and regulatory judgement, hold the accuracy and integrity of the board record to a listed-company standard, advise directors and senior management proactively rather than reactively, and set the direction for how the Group's secretarial function should operate.

Roles & Responsibilities

Board & Shareholder Governance

• Own end-to-end planning, execution and follow-up of Board and shareholder meetings across Group entities, ensuring every meeting is validly convened, quorate and conducted in accordance with the applicable jurisdiction's law and the entity's constitutional documents.
• Prepare and quality-control Board agendas, notices and Board packs, and take personal ownership of minute accuracy — including managing situations where the record of a resolution is sought for, and ensuring the audit trail can withstand scrutiny.
• Advise directors directly on governance process, fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest and DOA/authority limits.
• Drive board and committee effectiveness practices (composition, evaluation cadence, induction of new directors) in line with recognised governance codes.

Statutory & Regulatory Compliance

• Maintain statutory and corporate records — registers of directors, shareholders, charges, trade licences, resolutions and governance documentation — to an auditable standard across all jurisdictions.
• Manage director and officer appointments, resignations and related regulatory filings across the Group, tracking deadlines proactively.
• Oversee amendments to MOA/AOA and constitutional documents across multiple jurisdictions, ensuring local regulatory.
• Act as single point of contact for external corporate secretarial service providers, registered agents and registrars globally, and hold them to defined service and quality standards.

Group Structure, Transactions & Special Situations

• Maintain and continuously validate the Group structure chart.
• Provide governance and secretarial support — coordinating board and shareholder approvals, resolutions, POAs and completion documentation, and liaising with internal and external legal counsel, auditors and financial advisors on documentation and information requirements.
• Identify legal and regulatory governance gaps proactively (e.g. missing approvals, indemnity or authority gaps, deferred matters) and drive remediation.
• Support corporate actions and entity rationalisation, including drafting and maintaining registers of powers of attorney and letters of authority.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Set and continuously improve the Group's secretarial policies, templates, calendars and DOA framework.
• Manage and mentor junior secretarial/paralegal team members and coordinate cross-functionally with Legal, Finance and business teams to keep board decision-making efficient.
• Act as a credible, senior-level point of contact for the Board, senior management and external stakeholders (auditors, regulators, financial advisors) on governance matters.

Skills

Work Experience Requirement

• 7–10+ years of post-qualification experience in a company secretarial / corporate governance role.
• Minimum 5 years within a public listed (blue chip) company, including at least 3 continuous years with a single listed company — direct, hands‑on exposure to listing rules, continuous disclosure obligations and a formal corporate governance code, not just a group with listed group as parent.
• Experience operating within a large multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction group structure strongly preferred.
• International experience preferred; candidates currently based in the UAE and available to start within a reasonable notice period preferred.

Qualifications

• Professional company secretarial qualification required — e.g. Company Secretary (ICSI, India), Chartered Secretary (CGI – The Chartered Governance Institute, UK), or an equivalent recognised body.

Regulatory & Technical Knowledge

• Familiarity with UAE mainland and free zone company frameworks (DED, DMCC, JAFZA or similar) and, ideally, ADGM/DIFC company regulations.
• Exposure to offshore holding jurisdictions commonly used in group financing structures is preferred.
• Bilingual (Arabic–English) preferred.

Skills & Competencies

• Board‑ready drafting: agendas, resolutions, minutes and governance correspondence that require minimal rework.
• Sound independent judgement — able to spot a governance or authority gap before it becomes a dispute, and to say so plainly to senior stakeholders.
• Comfortable operating in a fast‑moving, high‑stakes environment without losing procedural discipline.
• High discretion and integrity given regular exposure to commercially and legally sensitive matters.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and improve a function, not just maintain it — this candidate should be able to set direction for the Group's secretarial practice.

Enriching Lives Since 1975: IFFCO Group's Legacy

Since its establishment in 1975, IFFCO Group has thrived into a multinational conglomerate headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. Our influential FMCG brands and diverse portfolio of industry solutions and services enrich the lives of countless consumers and customers across the globe. In 2023, IFFCO Group proudly carries the distinction of being certified as a Great Place to Work® in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia.