Head of Governance, Risk & Compliance

Driven Properties; Dubai; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical insurance

Competitive compensation package

Growth‑oriented environment

Portfolio exposure to UAE properties

Collaborative team culture

Job summary

Driven Asset Management in Dubai is seeking a Head of Governance, Risk & Compliance to architect and lead the company’s governance, risk, compliance and performance frameworks. This founding role reports to the MD and drives policy, SOPs, risk management and audit closure from day one.

With 8+ years in GRC and a strong background in Dubai real estate compliance (RERA, Mollak, DLD), you will own the policy suite, incident investigations, and quarterly risk reporting while aligning

Qualifications

• 8+ years in governance, risk & compliance leadership roles.
• Experience with GRC, audits, and regulatory reporting.
• Strong policy design, SOP development and control implementation.
• English professional proficiency for MD‑level reporting and audits.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage policy suite including regulatory compliance and contract governance.
• Build and maintain the regulatory compliance calendar (RERA, Mollak, escrow, DLD).
• Lead internal audits and drive findings to closure.
• Oversee risk management, incident investigations and root-cause analysis.
• Develop vendor prequalification and procurement governance.

Skills

GRC leadership

Audit leadership

Regulatory compliance

Policy development

Documentation & reporting

Education

Bachelor's degree

Professional certifications

Job description

As part of Driven Asset Management, we are looking for a Head of Governance, Risk & Compliance to build and lead our governance, risk, compliance, and performance frameworks.

This is a founding role, with responsibility for establishing policies, processes, SOPs, risk management, compliance, and OKRs from the ground up, while driving accountability across departments and reporting directly to the MD.

We are looking for someone who can combine strategic thinking with hands‑on execution from drafting board‑ready policies to leading investigations and driving closure of audit findings.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the company's core policy suite — insurance (zero‑expiry rule), delegation of authority / signature matrix, related‑party and intercompany transactions, regulatory compliance, contract approval and execution, client money / escrow handling, incident reporting and escalation, procurement and vendor engagement, vendor prequalification, risk management, workforce capacity and resource allocation, data protection and privacy (UAE PDPL), conflict of interest, whistleblowing, document retention and records, HSE, code of conduct, and business continuity
• Build and keep live the regulatory compliance calendar covering RERA, Mollak, escrow, owners association elections, and statutory audits, with proactive escalation of upcoming deadlines
• Run insurance renewal tracking with 90/60/30‑day alerts to maintain a zero‑expiry position across all company assets
• Own contract lifecycle management — review, approval, renewal and expiry alerting — and maintain the contract review checklist used across departments
• Oversee intercompany billing, commissions and settlement, ensuring related‑party and intercompany transactions are documented, reconciled and audit‑ready
• Run incident investigation and root cause analysis (5‑why / fishbone), classify and log incidents on intake, and track corrective actions from finding to verified closure
• Lead the internal audit cycle on a quarterly, rotating basis, from fieldwork through reporting, driving findings to closure against a defined target rate
• Administer the mobilization compliance gate, ensuring every new project or mandate receives sign‑off before go‑live
• Maintain the risk register, score and review risks on a quarterly cycle, and deliver quarterly risk reports to senior management
• Run vendor prequalification and onboarding, including annual revalidation and document verification, and own the procurement and vendor engagement policy
• Lead quarterly workload analysis (priced versus actual allocation) and monitor capacity utilization, escalating hiring or resourcing triggers at the 85% utilisation threshold
• Maintain the diligence file with a quarterly refresh cadence, and lead the UAE PDPL programme — personal data handling, breach response, and data subject request procedures

• Total experience: 8+ years minimum
• GRC / audit background: 5+ years in GRC, audit or compliance leadership
• Education: Bachelor's required; relevant certification preferred
• Real estate / property management regulatory exposure: Direct experience with RERA, Mollak, DLD and owners association regulation in Dubai is a strong differentiator for standing up a credible compliance calendar from day one.
• Policy and compliance framework build‑out: Track record designing and rolling out a policy suite, delegation of authority matrix, and compliance programme from scratch — not just maintaining an inherited framework.
• ISO management systems and audit experience: Experience leading toward ISO 9001 certification (and ideally ISO 45001) and running a structured internal audit cycle is a strong advantage.
• English: Full professional proficiency · Mandatory: Required for policy drafting, MD‑level reporting, audit documentation, and regulatory correspondence.
• Arabic: Working proficiency · Preferred: Supports engagement with RERA, Mollak and DLD portals and Arabic‑language regulatory correspondence.
• RERA, Mollak and DLD regulatory framework; Ownership, mandatory: This role owns the compliance calendar and reporting obligations across RERA, Mollak (escrow and service charge budget submissions) and the DLD portal. Working mastery of these frameworks — not general awareness — is required from day one, including escrow/client‑money handling rules and owners association election cycles.

• Competitive, market‑aligned compensation package benchmarked to the UAE real estate sector.
• Comprehensive medical insurance coverage.
• A dynamic, growth‑oriented work environment within one of Dubai's leading asset management firms.
• Exposure to a diverse, high‑value portfolio of residential and commercial properties across the UAE.
• A collaborative, inclusive team culture that values accountability, innovation, and excellence.