Specialist, Compliance - Governance & Risk Assessment (Emiratized)

First Abu Dhabi Bank · Abu Dhabi

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JOB PURPOSE: 

Support the establishment, maintenance, and continuous enhancement of Group-wide Compliance governance frameworks, methodologies, standards, and training material. Coordinate governance activities, administer the Compliance control document lifecycle, support alignment across jurisdictions, and support the facilitation of enterprise Compliance Risk Assessments to strengthen consistency, transparency, and oversight across the Group.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES: 

Generic Accountability

• Execute assigned responsibilities and deliverables in accordance with approved policies, procedures, and standards while ensuring quality and timely completion.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to support business objectives, resolve issues, and contribute to the successful delivery of departmental initiatives and projects.
• Prepare, maintain, and analyze relevant documentation, management information, reports, and records to support effective decision-making and governance.
• Identify risks, control gaps, process inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities, escalating issues as appropriate and supporting the implementation of corrective actions.

Compliance Governance

• Support the development, maintenance, and periodic review of Group Compliance standards, methodologies, evidence requirements, procedures, and guidance documents.
• Support the administration of the Compliance control document lifecycle, including drafting coordination, stakeholder consultation, approvals, publication, renewal, and retirement.

• Maintain inventories and registers of Compliance policies, procedures, standards, addendums, local regulatory overlays, deviations, dispensations, and exceptions, ensuring each is justified, formally approved, documented and periodically reviewed.
• Monitor adherence to control-document governance requirements (e.g., review dates, approvals, renewals) and escalate overdue reviews, approvals, or documentation gaps.
• Support the rollout of Group standards across Head Office and international locations, track adoption status, and escalate persistent non-adoption.

Compliance Risk Assessment Framework Management

• Support the maintenance and enhancement of Compliance Risk Assessment methodologies/standards and minimum requirements pertaining to Regulatory Compliance and Financial Crime Compliance.
• Support the planning of the annual enterprise compliance risk assessment cycle, including timelines, kick-off communications, guidance material and stakeholder briefings.
• Support the coordination of compliance risk assessment activities across Head Office and international locations.
• Track the risk assessment submissions and prepare regular status updates.
• Support consistency and quality checks on submissions and ratings to help ensure comparable outputs across locations.
• Support the consolidation of assessment outputs and preparation of risk reports, and management presentations.
• Consolidate issues and actions identified through the risk assessment and coordinate with the respective Compliance teams across the Group to ensure they are recorded in the Compliance Issue Management System (CIMS).

Compliance Training & Awareness

• Support the standardization and maintenance of Compliance training materials across the Group.
• Coordinate with HR to track the training delivery against the training plan and maintain attendance records.

 Job Context 

The role supports the following outcomes:

• Consistent application of Compliance standards and methodologies across the Group.
• Effective governance of Compliance control documents and local deviations.
• Improved visibility of Compliance risks, issues, and governance activities.
• Enhanced Group-wide standardization and regulatory alignment.

Effective collaboration with Head Office Compliance sub-functions, international branches and subsidiaries, and Group Internal Audit.

FRAMEWORKS, BOUNDARIES, & DECISION MAKING AUTHORITY: 

• Operate within Group policies and applicable organizational governance frameworks.
• Provide support and advisory input to Group Compliance functions on matters within the remit of the Compliance Management Unit.
• Escalate material risks, control gaps, overdue actions, and matters requiring management decision or approval.

• No approval authority over standards, exceptions or risk ratings; decisions rest with the approved governance forums and accountable owners.

Does not operate first-line controls or perform independent assurance; regulatory ownership and specialist decision-making remain with the accountable Compliance functions.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE: 

Minimum Qualification

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, economics, law, risk management or a related discipline.
• Professional compliance certification (e.g., ICA or CAMS) is desirable, or willingness to pursue one.

Minimum Experience

• 1 – 3 years of relevant experience in compliance, governance, or risk assessment; fresh graduates may be considered.

Skills & Competencies: 

• Sound communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Excellent report writing and documentation capabilities.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including PowerPoint, Word and Excel.
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
• Good organizational and time management skills, including tracking multiple submissions and deadlines.
• Basic understanding of the UAE regulatory framework (including CBUAE requirements) is desirable.

Familiarity with Governance, Risk and Compliance or issue management tools is an advantage.

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