Strategy & Operations Associate

Alaan; Dubai; Hybrid; AED 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Travel allowances

Gym memberships

Job summary

Alaan is seeking a Strategy & Operations Associate to drive high-impact, cross-functional projects across the organization in the Middle East region. You’ll move between strategic thinking and meticulous execution, solving bottlenecks and launching new initiatives with speed and rigor.

You’ll partner with Product, Sales, Customer Success, and Growth to deliver scalable processes, dashboards, and operating rhythms that enhance efficiency and enable data-driven decisions in a fast-paced fintech

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of experience in FinTech or consulting.
• Proven ability to turn ambiguity into actionable plans.
• Strong ownership, curiosity, and data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Lead and execute high-impact, cross-functional projects.
• Translate ambiguous problems into clear plans with owners and timelines.
• Identify bottlenecks and build scalable, data-informed solutions.
• Partner with Product, Sales, Customer Success, Growth to drive initiatives.
• Conduct analysis to inform decisions and reduce uncertainty.
• Build systems, dashboards, SOPs, and operating rhythms for the org.

Skills

Structured problem solving

Ownership & bias for action

First-principles thinking

Communication

SQL proficiency

BI tools

Tools

SQL

Job description

About Alaan

Alaan is the Middle East’s first AI-powered spend management platform, built to help businesses save time and money.

Our all-in-one solution combines smart corporate cards, real-time expense tracking, AI-powered automation, seamless accounting integrations, and deep financial insights- designed to simplify finance operations and maximize control over company spend.

Founded in 2022, Alaan is already the trusted partner of over 3000 leading businesses across the UAE and KSA, including G42, Careem, McDonald’s, Tabby, Al Barari, Rove Hotels, Rivoli, and CarSwitch. Together, our customers have saved over AED 100 million with Alaan.

In just Four years, Alaan has been named to the Forbes Fintech 50 list, UAE Future 100 list, selected as an Endeavor company, and ranked the No. 1 spend management platform in EMEA by G2.

Alaan is also backed by Y Combinator and top global investors, including Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India), Y Combinator, 468 Capital, and 885 Capital, among others, and built by a world-class team with experience from McKinsey, BCG, Goldman Sachs, Careem, Rippling, and other high-growth companies. This creates an environment where employees learn from top-tier talent while building at startup speed.

We’re not just building software. We’re reimagining how finance works for modern businesses across the region. Alaaan is a fintech company, not a bank. Business bank accounts are issued by Ruya.

About the Role

We’re looking for a thinker+builder Strategy & Operations Associate to take on some of the most important and often ambiguous projects within the Operations organization at Alaan. This is a role for a strategic generalist who is exceptional at execution. You could be improving a company-wide process, launching a new initiative, solving a cross-functional bottleneck, or building a system from scratch. You’ll need to be comfortable moving between thinking strategically and executing meticulously, building relationships across the organization, and stepping into whatever problem needs solving.

What you'll do

• Lead and execute high-impact, cross-functional projects impacting the company’s growth and operations.

• Take ambiguous problems and turn them into clear plans, workstreams, owners, timelines, and measurable outcomes.

• Identify operational bottlenecks and broken processes, get to the root cause, and build solutions that can scale.

• Partner with other functions, such as Product, Sales, Customer Success, Growth, to drive company-wide initiatives.

• Conduct analysis and research to bring data and clarity to complex business problems and support decision-making.

• Be a go-to generalist and problem-solver who can quickly step into unfamiliar areas, learn what’s needed, and drive the problem to resolution.

• Build systems, dashboards, SOPs, and operating rhythms that make the Operations organization more effective and efficient.

What we are looking for

• 1–3 years of experience, ideally at a top-tier FinTech start-up (eg Revolut, Nubank, Ramp), or a top-tier management consulting firm (eg MBB)

• Strong structured problem-solving, with the ability to turn ambiguity into clear actions.

• High ownership and bias for action — you identify problems, propose solutions, and drive them to completion.

• A curious, first-principles thinker with excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Comfortable operating in a high-velocity, high-ambiguity environment where priorities can evolve quickly.

• Self-sufficient with large data sets using SQL; BI tools are a plus.

What’s in it for you

• Contribute to building the Middle East’s most beloved fintech brand from the ground up

• Benefit from a role with significant ownership and accountability

• Thrive in a flexible hybrid culture with ample work-life balance

• Participate in exciting offsite events

• Competitive salary and equity

• Enjoy additional perks like travel allowances, gym memberships, and more