Operations & Strategy Manager

About Ziina Ziina's mission is to bring financial freedom to every person in the Middle East. We are building MENA's consumer and SMB financial platform, starting with a peer-to-peer and merchant wallet. Our team have backgrounds from Apple, Uber, Stripe, Klarna, Revolut, Yandex, and Nubank. Ziina's payments volumes have grown by 10x YoY for the last two years. The team have built a product that is beloved by the UAE with a 4.8 star rating in the app store and is the recipient of 8 international design awards, including the Red Dot Award and the UX Design Award. Our last round was a $22 million Series A from top-tier investors globally including Altos Ventures, Fintech Collective, Activant, Long Journey Ventures and Y Combinator. Our angel investors include early employees and executives at Revolut, Stripe, Venmo, Brex, Checkout.com, Notion, and Deel. The Role Ziina is looking for an Operations & Strategy Manager to join our team. This role is an exciting opportunity to sit at the heart of Ziina's most ambitious infrastructure bets - working directly with leadership and engineering to drive some of the most complex, high-impact projects in the company. We're at a major inflection point in our payments infrastructure, and we're looking for someone who thrives on ambiguity, moves fast, and can turn a sprawling, multi-stakeholder initiative into a crisp, executable plan. You won't be managing BAU - you'll be building the future. As an Operations & Strategy Manager at Ziina you will: Own and drive complex payments infrastructure projects end-to-end, from scoping through to regulatory approval, commercial negotiation, and live launch Navigate licensing and regulatory processes coordinating with relevant authorities, scheme representatives, and external counsel Build and maintain rigorous project frameworks - timelines, milestones, risk registers, and decision logs - ensuring nothing falls through the cracks across a large, cross-functional team Work hand-in-hand with engineering to bridge the gap between business requirements and technical execution, translating complex ops constraints into actionable specs Lead vendor evaluation and commercial negotiations, building the business cases and financial models needed to support major infrastructure decisions Turn data into decisions - use SQL, Excel, and other analytical tools to size opportunities, track progress, and surface risks before they become problems Manage senior external relationships - with payment schemes, regulators, technology partners, and financial institutions - with professionalism and precision Support the broader payments and operations roadmap, picking up high-priority projects beyond your primary mandate as Ziina continues to scale Key skills and characteristics 2–4 years of experience in a fast-paced fintech, payments company, startup, or financial institution Strong track record of owning and delivering complex, cross-functional projects — you've driven something hard from start to finish and have the scars to prove it Experience navigating regulatory and licensing processes — whether payments, financial services, or another regulated domain Comfortable working directly with engineering and technical teams — you can hold your own in a technical conversation, align on requirements, and keep delivery on track without being a bottleneck Analytically sharp - you're fluent in SQL, comfortable building dashboards, and don't wait for someone else to pull the numbers; you come with the analysis and a point of view You thrive on creating order and structure out of ambiguity You take initiative and have a strong bias towards action You have high integrity and a team-first mentality You question assumptions others take for granted and use first principles thinking You live in, or are willing to move to, the UAE What would amaze us Prior experience working at or with a payment acquirer, payment facilitator, or card scheme (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) Familiarity with acquiring economics — interchange, scheme fees, BIN sponsorship, or settlement flows Experience working with UAE or GCC regulators (CBUAE, ADGM, DFSA) or regional financial institutions Our Perks Competitive Compensation: Enjoy a competitive salary and equity in the company. The best part? In Dubai, you pay 0% income tax, so you keep all your earnings. Relocation support: Generous assistance with visas, housing, and settling in Dubai for you and your family. Flexible Work: Enjoy a hybrid work environment with WFH on Wednesdays and Fridays, balancing in-office collaboration with remote work flexibility (including up to 2 months per year remote work allowance, 1 month in the summer and 1 month split during the year). Comprehensive Insurance: Access quality health insurance covering medical, dental, and vision care for you and your family. Parental Leave: Take paid time off to bond with your growing family. Professional Development: Receive mentorship from top global tech leaders and financial support for courses, books, or training programs to enhance your skills. Ziina Evening Meal Program: Working late? Dinner's on us. We've partnered with Deliveroo to make sure you don't have to choose between getting work done and getting hungry.