Principal Consultant - Founding Team
Wave Group
Dubai, Hybrid
Competitive Basic Salary + Founding Commission Structure
About Wave Group
Wave Group is a global, AI-augmented talent group: specialist tech recruitment, a recurring-revenue technology consulting practice, and WaveMind, our Slack-native AI hiring product, all powered by proprietary infrastructure trained on our own operational placement data. We have offices in London (HQ) and, from September 2026, Dubai – with the US opening in 2027.
- Wave Talent. Specialist technology recruitment placing senior talent across the tech org chart, for VC-backed and enterprise clients. The original and largest revenue engine.
- WaveWorks. SoW-based enterprise consultancy. Multi-workstream technology programmes at seven-figure scale. The growth engine shifting Wave's revenue mix from services to programmes.
- Wave Labs. The group's product and technology arm, and its unfair advantage in every new market it enters. Labs incubated and owns the group's two proprietary assets:
- WaveMind. Self-serve AI hiring platform, built on Wave Talent's proprietary candidate universe. Shortlists land in Slack within 24 hours, matched on deep insight rather than CV keywords, every candidate human-reviewed. The ARR engine.
- Mothership. Internal data lake with LLM copilot capability. Powers candidate matching, financial reporting and group intelligence. The infrastructure that compounds every year the group exists.
Wave is scaling across the UK, US and UAE off the back of 185% year-on-year growth, a doubling of headcount since January 2025, and 500+ businesses served, from start-ups to global enterprises. Every role is designed to compound against that trajectory, and toward a meaningful exit.
The Opportunity: Founding Team, Dubai
Wave Group is opening its first office outside London, in Dubai, and we're building the founding team now. This role is open to Senior Consultants, Principal Consultants as well as Managers, Associate Directors or Directors.
This isn't a junior team sent to test the water. Our founders are relocating: Ollie (Co-Founder & Global CEO) and Cam (Co-Founder) will be based permanently in Dubai, and Jake, an ex-founder himself and one of the UK's strongest billers, is relocating from London to run the floor as Director. As a Founding Team Member, you'll have direct access to all three from day one.
Four Founding Team Member seats are open in 2026, reporting to Jake, building toward a team of 15 in Dubai by the end of 2027. This is a rare chance to join on the ground floor of a new market with the backing most agencies can only dream of: 650+ existing clients, deep VC and PE relationships, and an in-house AI team building tools to help you work faster and earn more, from day one.
Our edge in the Middle East
- A 650+ client head start. We'll activate every group client with a Middle East presence from day one, then expand outward – warm introductions, not cold outreach.
- A top-down market entry. We partner with tier-one VC and PE funds, including existing relationships with some of the region's best-known funds, reaching the best-funded companies through the people who back them.
- Wave Labs, our unfair advantage. An internal hub of software engineers, product managers and data engineers building the infrastructure that gives us a genuine technical edge, and feeds us clients and candidates from across the globe. No standalone agency in Dubai has anything like it.
- A splits engine competitors can't match. With 60+ people across the UK and US and growing, work won in Dubai converts into revenue everywhere in the group – perm splits, contract splits, EU SOW – and vice versa.
Why Join Wave Dubai?
- Founding commission structure – earn up to 45%: commission is tiered on monthly NFI, from 5% up to 40% at Senior/Staff level and up to 45% at Principal level and above. No threshold to clear – you earn from your first AED of NFI – paid monthly.
- Two clear progression tracks from Principal level: stay an individual contributor and build your own practice, or move into leadership and build a team, with billings plus override.
- Fast progression: hit target for two quarters running and get promoted.
- Direct access to Wave's global founders and board from day one – Ollie, Cam and Jake are on the ground with you, not remote.
- Real ownership: be one of four founding hires shaping how Wave Group operates across the Middle East, with a clear path to a 15-strong Dubai team by the end of 2027.
- Wave Labs' AI tools feed you commercial intelligence on clients and candidates daily – the best recruitment tech in the industry.
- A 650+ client warm network and tier-one VC/PE relationships from day one – no cold-desk build.
- Hybrid working: three days in the Dubai office, home on Mondays and Fridays, with allowances for time zones if you're covering Europe or the UK.
- A month remote each summer: work from anywhere across June, July or August (London HQ is an option).
- Annual incentive trips and company holidays – past destinations include Mexico, Las Vegas and Mykonos
Key Responsibilities:
Depending on your level and chosen specialism (Software Engineering, Data, Product, Platform, Design, or GTM & Commercial):
- Manage the full hiring cycle: Source high-calibre talent, conduct interviews, and guide candidates through offer stages.
- Consistently meet revenue targets: Achieve monthly and quarterly billing goals in line with the founding commission structure.
- Build the Dubai client base: Convert the group's existing 650+ client relationships into local business, and develop new business through targeted outreach, VC/PE introductions, networking events, social media and referrals.
- Negotiate favourable terms: Tailor recruitment solutions to the region's markets, ensuring long-term partnerships.
- Develop subject matter expertise: Specialise in Software Engineering, Data, Product, Platform, Design or GTM & Commercial hiring.
- Stay ahead of industry trends: Advise clients and candidates on best practice, hiring trends and market developments across the Middle East.
- Represent Wave Group: Attend meet-ups, conferences and client visits, reinforcing our people-first ethos as one of the faces of a brand-new market.
- Enhance brand presence: Collaborate with marketing on content that positions Wave as the region's leading role-led tech recruitment specialist.
Progression & Leadership Responsibilities:
For Senior, Staff, Principal, Practice Lead / Managing Consultant, Practice Director / Associate Director, Director and beyond:
- Mentor junior team members: Support their growth, performance and development through coaching and guidance as the Dubai team scales.
- Drive team success: Lead team-wide targets, contribute to the broader market-building strategy, and champion high-performance standards from the ground up.
Core Performance:
- Professional Credibility & Network Growth: Build a strong professional reputation, securing LinkedIn recommendations, increasing with seniority.
- Revenue Generation: Consistently achieve billing targets over a defined period, demonstrating financial impact on the business.
- Client Acquisition & Relationship Management: Secure new clients at favourable terms, strengthening Wave Group's market presence across the Middle East.
- Business Impact & Innovation: Implement initiatives that enhance efficiency, improve performance, or drive operational success.
- Brand Awareness & Market Positioning: Actively contribute to Wave Group's brand visibility in a brand-new market, through events, content and networking.
- Operational Excellence & Compliance: Uphold company-wide processes, best practices and industry standards.
- Client & Market Engagement: Attend and lead a set number of client meetings per week, ensuring continuous market engagement.
What We Look For
- Experience: Demonstrable experience consistently billing 1,200,000 AED + (or regional equivalent) on an annual basis in a 360 recruitment role.
- Founder mindset: You're excited by building a market from the ground up, not just joining one that already exists.
- Drive & Ambition: You excel in a high-performing environment and embrace rapid progression and high earnings.
- Resilience & Adaptability: You bounce back quickly from setbacks, always learning and iterating.
- Communication & Relationship-Building: You thrive on speaking with diverse professionals and forging lasting partnerships.
- Team Spirit: You're collaborative, supportive, and celebrate each other's wins – especially important on a founding team of four.
Other Benefits:
- Bupa Select health cover: Private medical cover from day one of your policy.
- One annual flight home: A flight back home included every year.
- 30 calendar days after year one: 25 days plus public holidays in year one, rising to 30 calendar days' paid annual leave after one year's service.
- A month remote each summer: Work from anywhere across June, July or August. London HQ is an option.
- Apple equipment: Your own company MacBook before you start.
- Yearly incentive holiday: Hit target and travel the world. Past trips include Mexico, Las Vegas, Mykonos and Dubai.
- Hybrid working: Three days a week in the Dubai office, Mondays and Fridays from home, with allowances for time zones if you're covering Europe or the UK.
- Core hours 9am–6pm, Monday to Thursday, with an early finish on Fridays.
Apply Now:
Most people join a company. This is your chance to build one.
Apply now, or have a confidential conversation, by submitting your CV and specialism (Software Engineering, Data, Product, Platform, Design, or GTM & Commercial) to:
Jamila Williams, Director of Talent, Wave Group
[email protected] | WhatsApp: +44 7428 468664