Risk & Compliance Officer

Holman Fenwick Willan LLP; Dubai; On-site; AED 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Holman Fenwick Willan LLP in Dubai seeks a Risk & Compliance assistant to support the office across regulatory compliance, AML/KYC due diligence, and conflicts management. The role involves onboarding new clients, reviewing engagement terms, and conducting ongoing risk assessments in line with firm policy.

The ideal candidate will have at least 2 years of experience in a regulated compliance role, with a law degree or GDL preferred.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 2+ years experience in a compliance function within a regulated organisation.
• Experience with AML regulations and sanctions screening.
• Experience with client due diligence and KYC documentation.

Responsibilities

• Assist in onboarding new clients and matters in line with regulatory standards and firm policy.
• Conduct AML/KYC reviews and sanctions screening; escalate issues to MLRO.
• Maintain engagement terms and monitor client/matter risk per regulatory requirements.
• Support risk monitoring, policy updates, and evidence-based compliance reporting.
• Assist other teams with conflicts, revenue, and marketing as needed.

Skills

Regulatory compliance

AML & KYC

Risk assessment

Client onboarding

Stakeholder collaboration

MS Outlook

MS Word

MS Excel

Education

Law degree or GDL

Tools

MS Outlook

MS Word

MS Excel

Job description

To provide practice support to our offices on all aspects of risk, regulatory compliance and conflicts. The successful candidate for this role will be a member of the Risk & Compliance team, in the Dubai office.

Key responsibilities

The role will include but will not be limited to:

• Matter Inception: assisting in on-boarding new clients and matters and ensuring that all details are correct in accordance with regulatory standards and firm policy.
• Anti-Money Laundering: conducting client due diligence, reviewing KYC documentation and undertaking AML and sanctions searches on clients as appropriate and escalating any issues to the MLRO.
• Terms of Engagement: assisting the firm in maintaining a uniform application of engagement terms as well as reviewing, advising on and recording client imposed terms.
• On-going monitoring and risk assessment: reviewing any changes to the client which may have an impact on client or matter risk and dealing with these in accordance with regulatory requirements.
• Matter Maintenance: ensuring that matter information is kept accurate and up-to-date.
• Firm Policy and Procedure: reviewing firm policies and ensuring that they are kept up-to-date and in line with regulatory requirements.
• Compliance reporting, assisting in the production of spreadsheets to monitor client and matter inception process status. Help run weekly / monthly reports.
• Confidentiality: assisting in setting up and amending information barriers and insider lists as required.
• Training: providing internal training to the team and wider firm in order to embed best practice.
• Projects: undertaking research and other projects as needed to improve matter inception, policy and process.
• Audit: assisting Risk Lawyers in preparation of annual internal file audits.
• Assisting other teams: Revenue & Collections, Marketing, and Conflicts as necessary.
• Responding to ad hoc requests as directed by the business.

Key skills & experience required

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate excellent administrative skills, as well as the ability to develop strong working relationships with lawyers and business services staff across the firm. It will be essential to gain a rapid understanding of the firm’s business in order to support the conflict decisions that need to be made as proactively as possible.

• A minimum of 2+ years experience in a compliance function within a regulated organisation
• Law degree or GDL qualification, with some legal work experience. This is preferred, not mandatory
• AML regulated environment experience
• Demonstrated ability to work within a framework of regulatory compliance
• The capability, after training if necessary, to identify conflicts and risk within a law firm
• Resilience and the ability to develop and maintain strong internal and external relationships, while working both autonomously and as part of a global team
• Fluency in both English & Arabic (reading, speaking, and writing)
• The ability to work in an environment where quality output is paramount
• Analytical and organisational skills, including the ability to manage multiple tasks and projects
• Strong attention to detail and proven ability to handle confidential information in a professional and discreet manner
• A high level of proficiency in MS Outlook, Word and Excel

Additional information

Kindly note that this job description is not contractual. It will be reviewed periodically and may be amended or altered to meet the needs of the firm.

HFW aims to ensure equality of opportunity and we are actively working towards improving the diversity of our staff. All applications will be considered only on merit and the applicant’s suitability to meet the requirements of the role.

HFW collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants to manage its recruitment process. The firm is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations. For information on how the firm will process your data, please see our Privacy Notice on our website ( www.hfw.com/Privacy-Notice ), in the section "What we collect and how we use it".

Job Type: Business Services

Location: Dubai

Role: Permanent

About HFW

HFW is a sector focused global law firm. We have over 700 lawyers working across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. We take a progressive approach to our roles in commercial business – thinking creatively and pragmatically to support our clients.

Whether we are solving complex issues within the construction, aviation or shipping industries, or providing advice across insurance, commodities and energy we are specialist lawyers here to add value to our clients. We think about the commercial solution first, and then underpin our advice with a solid foundation of legal expertise.