Head of Compliance Technology Platforms

Role : Head of Compliance Technology Platforms
Location : Abu Dhabi

Role Purpose:

This is a senior hands-on leadership role responsible for ensuring the resilience, performance, and evolution of ADIB’s compliance systems. The role holder leads a team of domain experts to deliver stable day-to-day technical support for the bank’s compliance operations, drive continuous improvement, and execute critical regulatory and strategic change. The role encompasses end-to-end technology ownership of the Anti-Money Laundering technology eco-system and will be accountable for ensuring platform is resilient, secure, scalable and fit for purpose to detect and prevent financial crime. The role is a blend of technical expertise in data and systems with a deep understanding of UAE and international AML/CFT regulations

Key Accountabilities of the role

Strategic Leadership:

• Will be a key senior leader within the Compliance Platform and the extended leadership team of Core Platforms and Data Architecture.
• Will shape and own ADIB’s AML system technology strategy in line with the banks overall Technology Strategy.
• Bring emerging technology practices to ADIB’s AML system team to drive efficiency. In particular, will drive the use of AI in increasing our detection sophistication and reduce manual alert effort.
• Will deliver the strategic transformation of AML capabilities from OMNI to SAS and maximize the new systems capabilities.

Service and Resilience:

• Responsible for maintaining system performance (AML system) against agreed SLA’s and customer expectations (24*7 – 365).
• Manage end-to-end AML service support across batch and online digital journeys.
• Lead the management, configuration, and optimization of AML monitoring systems (SAS) to effectively identify unusual transaction patterns and potential financial crime.
• Own incident management: respond to major incidents, lead root-cause analysis, and implement permanent fixes. Run post-incident reviews and resilience testing.
• Bring industry insights into service management and improve ADIB’s AML system service availability KPI’s.

Change and Delivery:

• Own and prioritize the BAU business change request backlog across the AML system team in line with the banks strategy.
• Deliver critical regulatory and strategic projects under tight deadlines.
• Oversee all solution designs, ensuring compliance with target architecture, security standards, and best practices.
• Manage change across the full SDLC lifecycle (requirements, design, testing, deployment, post-go-live).
• Ensure all changes are delivered to a high quality with robust testing and controls.
• Drive efficiency through change tooling (test automation, CICD, etc) to increase our speed to market.

Customer Experience & Digital Enablement

• Collaborating with compliance and IT teams to tune and optimize AML solutions, reducing false positives while ensuring effective detection of suspicious activities.
• Partner with the business on current customer or operational pain points and implement solutions that can digitalize these pain points, reducing customer friction and operational workloads.
• Proactively seek AI opportunities to advance ADIB’s AML system technology service.

Governance, Risk and Compliance:

• Responsible for AML system adherence to technology governance frameworks ensuring adherence to internal controls, audit standards, and regulatory obligations.
• Ensure all open actions, risks and central bank enquiries are dealt with and closed on time.
• Support the execution of financial crime risk assessments, assess system controls, evaluate process deficiencies, and recommend corrective actions to mitigate identified risks.

Team Leadership and Development:

• Lead and develop a team of 2–4 subject matter experts.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation and technical excellence.
• Build internal capability to reduce vendor dependency.
• Drive the team to high performance through coaching and ambitious targets.

Stakeholder Management:

• Responsible for managing internal relationships with AML system stakeholders across the bank.
• Run monthly planning sessions with key senior stakeholders to prioritize AML system team backlog.
• Manage external relationships relating to AML system

Performance Monitoring and Reporting:

• Develop a set of KPI’s that will be used to manage and drive team performance across service availability, team cadence, vendor quality.
• Through these KPI’s and relevant data, observe ‘focus on flow’ and drive continuous improvement.

Technology and Enterprise applications senior leader

• As a senior leader in Technology, the role holder will be required to contribute to Enterprise Application platform and wider Technology initiatives.
• Learn and share best practice and efficiencies across Enterprise Applications.

Vendor and System Oversight

• Responsible for managing relationships with AML system vendor.
• Conducting regular vendor performance review sessions with vendors across, service availability & SLA’s, defects, project deliverables, strategy opportunities.

Specialist Skills / Technical Knowledge Required for this role:

• Experience: 7-10+ years of experience in banking IT or financial crime compliance, with significant experience specifically in AML system.
• Technical Proficiency: Expertise in AML software (SAS AML), data analysis tools, SQL, and potentially cloud environments (AWS/Azure).
• Regulatory Knowledge: In-depth knowledge of local UAE AML/CFT laws, CBUAE regulations, and international standards (e.g., FATF, OFAC).
• Certifications: Professional certifications such as CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist) or ICA (International Compliance Association) are highly preferred.
• Soft Skills: Strong analytical, problem-solving, leadership, and communication skills to effectively bridge the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Education: A Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Computer Science, or a related field