Risk & Internal Audit Partner - Dubai

CharteredPartners is seeking a Risk & Internal Audit Partner to lead and grow the practice of an ambitious accounting firm in Dubai.

This is a senior origination and leadership role carrying profit-and-loss ownership, acting as engagement partner on co-sourced and outsourced internal audit programmes and developing the firm's enterprise risk and controls advisory offering across the United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf.

The successful candidate will build the client portfolio, develop the team and engage with boards, audit committees and regulators in a rapidly maturing market. Specific qualifications, regulatory fluency and technical breadth are detailed in the sections that follow.

Confidential Client. Applying to this position means that you are interested to have an initial confidential discussion about how we can help you to identify and join a new accounting-firm practice. With your authorisation we will exclusively run the entire application and recruitment process for you, keeping you apprised at every step.

With over 30 years' combined experience of helping the most talented accounting, audit, tax and advisory professionals to make safe, well-judged moves into rewarding new roles, we have the experience, network and ability to help you.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the profit-and-loss for the risk & internal audit practice, setting strategy, budgets and growth targets.
• Originate new business, leading proposals and converting relationships into co-sourced and outsourced internal audit mandates.
• Act as engagement partner across the portfolio, holding ultimate responsibility for quality, risk and delivery.
• Advise clients operating under the Central Bank of the UAE, the DFSA in the DIFC and the FSRA in ADGM.
• Guide boards on the ESCA corporate-governance code and on internal audit functions aligned to the Global Internal Audit Standards 2024 and the three lines model.
• Lead engagements covering internal controls over financial reporting, COSO frameworks and, where relevant, SOX/ICFR for US-listed groups.
• Build, mentor and lead a high-performing team of directors, managers and seniors as internal-audit and enterprise-risk maturity grows.
• Represent the firm in the market and within professional bodies including IIA UAE.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• A recognised professional qualification such as ACCA, CPA, CA or equivalent, ideally complemented by CIA.
• Typically fifteen or more years of internal audit and risk advisory experience, including substantial time at partner or director level.
• A demonstrable record of business origination, client portfolio growth and profit-and-loss management.
• Strong command of the UAE regulatory landscape, including the Central Bank of the UAE, the DFSA and the FSRA.
• Knowledge of the ADGM and DIFC governance regimes and the ESCA corporate-governance code.
• Deep knowledge of the Global Internal Audit Standards 2024, the three lines model and COSO internal control frameworks.
• Experience acting as engagement partner with full responsibility for quality and risk.
• Authority and gravitas to advise boards, audit committees and C-suite stakeholders.
• Practical experience of SOX/ICFR scoping and controls testing for multinational groups.
• Active standing within IIA UAE and the wider professional community.

Preferred Experience

• Prior partner or principal experience within a professional services or accounting firm in the Gulf.
• An established network across UAE financial services, real estate, energy or family-office clients.
• Experience building enterprise-risk and internal-audit functions in a maturing market.
• Exposure to technology risk, cyber and data analytics applied to internal audit.
• Arabic language capability alongside English is advantageous for client and regulator engagement.
• A track record of building and scaling advisory teams.

Compensation

Competitive package commensurate with seniority and experience, including base, performance-based bonus, long-term incentives and (where applicable) partner-track participation.

Next Steps

This opportunity is open to candidates who hold or can obtain the right to work in the United Arab Emirates and who match the above criteria. Please apply to receive prompt contact from an experienced and specialist accounting-firm recruitment consultant.

Chartered Partners is a trading style of Feltan Associates Pte Ltd; an international Executive Search, Recruitment and Consulting business based in Singapore, licensed and regulated by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower to conduct recruitment services for clients. UEN: 202225620G. EA Licence 23S1672. All rights reserved.