Director of Network Expansion

Set2Recruit; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 650,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tax-free salary

Senior leadership role

Regular regional and international旅行

Job summary

Set2recruit LTD seeks a Director of Network Expansion to scale a UAE fintech's cross-border payments network, from banks and custodians to liquidity providers. You will own the partner lifecycle, negotiate terms, and shape corridor strategy.

Based in the UAE, this hands-on leadership role reports to the CEO and involves travel regionally and internationally to launch new corridors and maintain regulator-ready partnerships.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in partnerships or business development within payments, fintech or remittance.
• Proven network across banks, fintechs and remittance firms.
• Experience with cross-border corridors and UAE VARA/ regulatory needs.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the network expansion strategy across corridors and partners.
• Identify, onboard and manage banks, custodians, liquidity providers and payout partners.
• Lead price, volume, settlement and SLA negotiations with Legal and Treasury.
• Coordinate KYB/AML due diligence with Compliance and security teams.
• Manage corridor launches end-to-end and monitor ongoing performance.
• Build and report on partner pipeline, coverage and progress to CEO/Board.

Skills

Partnerships

Business Development

Negotiations

Leadership

Strategic Planning

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration/Finance/Economics

Job description

Exciting new Blockchain/Cross Boarder Payment Platform Scale-up

About the Business

An early-stage UAE fintech building a regulated, stablecoin-based platform for cross-border business payments. Working with a network of banking, custody, and liquidity partners, it aims to make international payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent, and is building its operations to UAE virtual asset regulatory standards.

About the Role

Reporting to the CEO, the Director of Network Expansion will build and grow the company's network of banking, custody, liquidity, on/off-ramp and payout partners, opening new cross-border payment corridors across the region and beyond. You will own the full partner lifecycle, from identification and due diligence through negotiation and launch. This is a hands‑on, relationship‑driven leadership role that will directly shape the corridor strategy and geographic footprint of the business.

What You'll Be Doing

• Defining and executing the network expansion strategy, prioritising corridors by market size, partner availability, regulatory feasibility and commercial return
• Identifying, assessing and onboarding banks, exchange houses, stablecoin issuers, custodians, liquidity providers and payout partners in target markets
• Leading partner negotiations on pricing, volume commitments, liquidity limits, settlement arrangements and SLAs alongside Legal and Treasury
• Coordinating partner due diligence and KYB with Compliance, the MLRO and the CISO to meet AML/CFT, security and VARA outsourcing requirements
• Managing corridor launches end to end, from testing and go‑live readiness to ongoing performance monitoring with Operations and Technology
• Owning strategic partner relationships and running regular performance and risk reviews
• Building a pipeline of new partners and corridors, and reporting on coverage, performance and progress to the CEO and Board
• Representing the business at industry events, with regulators where appropriate, and across the UAE and regional fintech and virtual asset ecosystems
• Supporting the VARA licensing application with partner and corridor documentation

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years in partnerships, business development or network expansion within payments, remittances, banking, fintech or virtual assets, including senior leadership responsibility
• Proven track record building stablecoin, virtual asset, remittance or similar cross‑border payment networks, including corridor launches with banks, exchange houses and payout partners
• An established network across banks, exchange houses, liquidity providers and payment companies in the UAE, GCC and key remittance corridors
• UAE experience, with familiarity with the VARA framework, CBUAE requirements and payment regulation in key receiving markets
• Strong commercial negotiation skills, including structuring partnership agreements, pricing and SLAs
• Solid understanding of AML/CFT, KYB and partner due diligence in cross‑border payments
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or a related field

What's On Offer

• Competitive, tax-free salary package
• Permanent, senior leadership role reporting directly to the CEO
• The chance to shape the corridor strategy and geographic footprint of a regulated stablecoin payments business from an early stage
• Based in the UAE, with regular regional and international travel