Corporate Setup & Government Relations (PRO) Manager — UAE

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

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical

Equity

Learning budget

Hybrid working

Equipment on request

Job summary

ParlexAI in Dubai is seeking a self-driven corporate setup lead to establish the UAE entity, decide between free zone or mainland, and coordinate with regulatory and finance teams to obtain licences and establish banking relationships.

You will run visa and labour processes, act as PRO, manage expiry calendars, and oversee office setup and ongoing compliance as the headcount grows.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of UAE corporate setup experience, including at least one self‑incorporated entity.
• Arabic and English proficiency strong enough for government counters and board updates.

Responsibilities

• Incorporate the UAE entity and decide free zone vs mainland with regulatory/finance leads; draft structure, trade licence and establishment card.
• Open and maintain corporate banking with compliance files and source-of-funds checks.
• Manage full immigration cycle for staff and dependants: permits, Emirates ID, visas, labour cards and transfers.
• Act as PRO and GRO with government bodies (DED, MoHRE, GDRFA, ICP, chambers, notary) and attest documents.
• Oversee labour compliance: contracts, WPS payroll, leave, gratuity, end-of-service and Emiratisation/Nafis obligations.
• Find, lease and set up Dubai office: Ejari, DEWA, fit‑out, telecoms, insurance, supplier contracts.
• Maintain a calendar of licences, visas, leases and registrations to prevent expiries.

Skills

5+ years UAE corporate setup

Arabic & English proficiency

Free zone vs mainland trade-offs

UAE immigration & labour processes

Dubai-based & onsite

DIFC/ADGM experience (nice to have)

Job description

Parlex is a Cairo payments-AI company opening in Dubai. Today there is a plan and a budget. This role is the person who turns that into an entity that exists, has a bank account, can hire people and can pay them legally.

Concretely: choose free zone or mainland alongside the regulatory lead, incorporate, get the trade licence and establishment card, then open a corporate bank account for a foreign-owned fintech — usually the slowest and least predictable step in the whole sequence. After that, the visa quota and the full immigration cycle through GDRFA, ICP and MoHRE or the free-zone equivalent, employment contracts and WPS payroll registration under UAE labour law, Emiratisation obligations and Nafis registration, and the office itself: lease, Ejari, DEWA, fit‑out approvals, telecoms and suppliers.

What makes it hard is that you are the entire function. Nobody in Cairo can tell you what the next step is, and the deadlines are set by other people's hiring plans. You will also be building the corporate structure while the licensing route is still being decided, which means some of it may need reworking. We need someone who chases things down themselves, keeps a renewal calendar nothing falls off, and tells us early when a date is going to slip.

Responsibilities

• Incorporate the UAE entity — free zone versus mainland decision with the regulatory and finance leads, memorandum and articles, share structure, trade licence and establishment card.
• Open and maintain corporate banking, including the compliance file, source-of-funds questions and signatory arrangements that foreign-owned financial-services companies get asked for.
• Run the full immigration cycle for staff and dependants: entry permits, medicals, Emirates ID, visa stamping, labour cards, transfers and cancellations.
• Act as PRO and GRO with government bodies — free-zone authority or DED, MoHRE, GDRFA, ICP, chambers, notary, and document attestation and legalisation.
• Own labour compliance: compliant contracts, WPS payroll registration, leave, gratuity and end-of-service, plus tracking Emiratisation obligations and Nafis registration as headcount grows.
• Find, lease and set up the Dubai office — Ejari, DEWA, fit‑out and building approvals, internet and telecoms, insurance, and supplier contracts.
• Maintain a single accurate calendar of every licence, visa, lease and registration expiry, and make sure none of them lapse.

Requirements

• 5+ years in UAE corporate setup, PRO or government relations, including at least one entity you incorporated yourself rather than administered after the fact.
• Detailed working knowledge of the free zone versus mainland trade‑offs, including what each means for banking, visas, ownership and onshore activity.
• Hands‑on experience with UAE immigration and labour processes, and with Emiratisation and Nafis obligations for a growing headcount.
• Arabic and English, both strong enough to handle a government counter in Arabic and a board update in English.
• Based in Dubai and able to work onsite; this job happens at government counters, banks and the office, not on a laptop.
• Comfortable being the only person in the function, working to dates set by others, and flagging slippage before it becomes a problem.
• Nice to have: opening a corporate bank account for a foreign‑owned financial‑services company, and experience with a DIFC or ADGM entity specifically.

Benefits

• Private medical cover for you and your family
• Real equity, explained in plain terms before you sign
• A learning budget, and the time to actually use it
• Hybrid working from our Cairo office, with flexibility around how you structure your week
• The hardware you ask for, not the hardware we have spare