Financial Crime Consulting Director - Riyadh

A specialist FCC advisory firm is hiring a Director to lead and scale its Financial Crime Advisory practice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with secondary reach across the wider GCC. This is a senior, client-facing, revenue-generating position at the intersection of regulatory expertise, hands-on delivery, and entrepreneurial business development. You will be an independent, commercially astute practitioner with a proven track record of winning and delivering significant FCC mandates for banks and financial institutions in the GCC. The role is a 50/50 split between business development and project delivery, with full ownership of practice growth, client outcomes, and team building. What You'll Do Business Development & Practice Growth (50%) Own the end-to-end BD lifecycle for FCC advisory services across KSA, with visibility across the wider GCC. Build and expand relationships with C-suite, CCOs, MLROs, and senior compliance leaders at local and international banks, payment firms, and financial institutions. Originate, pursue, and close new advisory mandates across the full FCC spectrum: gap assessments, AML/CFT programme reviews, sanctions and transaction monitoring (TM) model validation, KYC/CDD/EDD remediation, financial crime risk assessments, monitorships/Skilled Persons Reviews, and technology selection and implementation. Develop compelling proposals, presentations, and thought leadership aligned to SAMA, CBUAE, and FATF priorities. Build and commercialise differentiated FCC advisory solutions, including digital and technology-enabled propositions. Achieve and exceed annual revenue targets of USD 1m+ from managed accounts. Represent the firm at industry forums, conferences, and regulatory engagement events. Project Delivery & Quality Assurance (50%) Lead delivery of complex, multi-workstream FCC engagements across KSA and the GCC — on time, on budget, on quality. Serve as senior engagement lead and SME across core FCC domains (see below). Provide hands-on expert guidance on selection, implementation, and tuning of leading sanctions screening and TM platforms (Fircosoft/Accuity, SAS AML, Actimize, Oracle FCCM, and similar). Review and quality-assure all deliverables prior to client submission. Mentor and develop junior and mid-level team members. Core FCC Domains (Senior Engagement Lead) Gap assessments against SAMA, CBUAE, FATF, and internal standards AML/CFT programme design, remediation, and framework transformation Sanctions and TM model validation (methodology, parameters, thresholds, output quality) Sanctions and TM system tuning and optimisation KYC/CDD/EDD remediation and look-back programmes Monitorship / Skilled Persons Review (SPR) support Enterprise-wide, product, channel, and customer-segment financial crime risk assessments Regulatory examination readiness and response Team Building & Leadership Recruit, build, and manage a high-performing FCC advisory team in KSA. Set clear performance expectations and development pathways. Foster an inclusive, accountable, high-energy culture aligned to the firm's values and ethical standards. Requirements What You'll Bring Experience (all mandatory unless stated) Requirement Minimum Threshold Total professional experience 15+ years FCC advisory / consulting experience 10+ years FCC advisory sales / BD (selling to banks) 5+ years FCC project execution 10+ years GCC market experience Must have worked with local GCC banks Team building and management Must have built and managed a team Client account management USD 1m+ revenue per annum from managed accounts Firm background Big 4 / Tier 1 consulting / specialist advisory (preferred) Technical & Domain Expertise Deep, hands-on expertise required across: Gap assessments — AML/CFT, sanctions, anti-bribery, against SAMA, CBUAE, FATF, and global standards Sanctions and TM model validation — methodology design, parameter testing, threshold calibration, output quality review, model risk governance Sanctions and TM system tuning and optimisation — alert reduction, false-positive management, scenario coverage KYC/CDD/EDD remediation — remediation frameworks, look-back design, file review, risk-based segmentation Monitorship / Skilled Persons Review delivery Financial Crime Risk Assessments — enterprise-wide, product, channel, customer, and geographic AML/CFT programme design and implementation — governance, policy, procedures, controls architecture Regulatory examination readiness and response Technology & Systems (hands-on experience required) Sanctions screening: Fircosoft (Accuity), Oracle Financial Services, and similar — selection, implementation, configuration, tuning Transaction monitoring: SAS AML, NICE Actimize, Oracle FCCM, Temenos FCM, FIS MANTAS, and similar Mandatory: hands-on involvement in at least one full system selection and one implementation/configuration engagement Regulatory Knowledge (deep working knowledge) KSA: SAMA AML/CFT Framework, Rules Governing AML/CFT, Sanctions Rules, CDD Requirements UAE: CBUAE AML/CFT Regulations, SCA Requirements, UAE Cabinet Decisions on AML/CFT Wider GCC: CBB (Bahrain), CBK (Kuwait), CBO (Oman), QCB (Qatar) — working familiarity FATF: 40 Recommendations, Mutual Evaluation Reports (KSA, UAE), Guidance Papers Global: EU AML Directives, OFAC, UK Sanctions, Wolfsberg Principles Digital, Innovation & Data Science Must have built and taken to market at least one differentiated digital or technology-enabled FCC advisory solution. Strong understanding of how RegTech, AI/ML, and automation are reshaping financial crime risk management. Familiarity with data science concepts and tools (Python preferred) applied to FCC analytics: network analysis, transaction analytics, model performance testing, alert optimisation. Able to articulate, demo, and sell data-driven FCC solutions to C-suite and technical buyers.