Senior Associate Director

Standard Chartered is hiring in Dubai for a Senior Associate Director. The bank counts about 25,000 colleagues across 35 countries and is focused on transformation through agile ways of working, with a client-first approach that serves affluent and emerging affluent clients, including individuals and small businesses, with a range of traditional banking services such as investment, credit and wealth planning solutions. The role sits within Wealth and Retail Banking, a unit that supports more than 11 million clients globally through a mix of mass retail, affluent and private banking services, using a digital channel complemented by personal advisory support.

The Senior Associate Director is a strategic client-relations role designed to grow relationships across the region while maintaining and servicing a portfolio. It requires clear communication, strong negotiation and professional service to onboard new clients while managing ongoing relationships. The position is onsite in Dubai, and it’s tailor-made for someone who thrives in a multi-country, multi-cultural environment and wants to help shape regional coverage in collaboration with risk and control partners.

Ideal candidates are seasoned sales and relationship professionals with a solid background in banking and investment products, deep knowledge of the UAE market, and direct connections with the local high-net-worth community. If you enjoy building connections, driving revenue through strategic planning, and ensuring compliance and client satisfaction in a global bank, this could be a strong fit.

Steering client growth and governance across the region

In this role you’ll shape revenue plans for growth and steer the business development effort while advancing the bank’s digital agenda. You’ll target new business to meet defined metrics for customer numbers, volumes and revenue, including product mix and the balance between active and passive liabilities, along with transaction activity, and you’ll onboard new-to-bank customers brought in by branches and the Direct Sales team.

You’ll design sales call plans to win large prospective customers through referrals and will keep the Sales MIS up to date with key metrics like calls, prospects, attritions and what’s been transacted. You’ll focus on meeting customer expectations, addressing and reducing complaints, and delivering professional service to drive high satisfaction and retention. You’ll lead by example, setting the right tone and partnering with risk and control functions to build the right culture and values for your team.

Regulatory and process discipline will be part of the daily rhythm: you’ll ensure KYC and AML updates, maintain zero-error documentation, and remain vigilant for any suspicious activity or money-laundering indicators. You’ll comply with Anti Bribery, AML and other financial-crime procedures, and you’ll obtain the Security & Commodity Authority (SCA) license within six months of joining, with the CPD requirements completed promptly after licensing. This licensing timeline is a mandatory part of the role.

Key requirements for success

• A proven track record as a sales and relationship manager with experience across banking and investment products
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to influence outcomes
• Strong networking capability to coordinate deliverables across different departments
• Interpersonal skills and leadership ability that foster enthusiasm and team spirit
• A solid grasp of the UAE business environment, ideally with direct contacts in the local high-net-worth community
• Comfort working in a multi-cultural setting
• In-depth knowledge of capital markets and financial planning
• SCA certification or plan to complete within six months

Compensation, benefits and logistics

Standard Chartered offers a competitive salary and benefits in line with its Fair Pay Charter to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing. The package includes core retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.

You’ll have a generous time-off framework, including annual leave, parental/maternity leave (20 weeks), a sabbatical option (up to 12 months) and volunteering leave (3 days), with a minimum of 30 days per year combined across holidays and leave.

Flexible working options are available, balancing home and office locations and patterns. The company also provides robust wellbeing support through Unmind, resilience-focused development courses, an Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave and mental-health resources, plus a continuous learning culture with opportunities to reskill and upskill through physical, virtual and digital learning platforms. The organization emphasises an inclusive, values-driven environment that celebrates diversity and helps every employee realise their potential.

Advice for applicants

Lead your resume with your experience as a Sales and Relationship Manager who has worked across Banking and Investment Products, and call out any UAE market exposure and direct contacts with the local HNI community. If you’re already SCA-certified, mention it clearly, or note your plan to complete the certification within six months.

Show concrete proof of the must-have skills by sharing examples of cross-department collaboration, especially with risk and control partners, and of successful onboarding of NTB clients. Include instances where you updated Sales MIS and used data to drive decisions, and highlight any KYC/AML compliance achievements or similar controls you’ve led.

For interviews, be ready to walk through a time you built a strategic revenue plan and moved it into action, including the role of the digital agenda in achieving targets. Prepare a scenario about onboarding a large prospective client through referrals and how you would manage risk, compliance and customer satisfaction in parallel.

One smart question to end with: ask how the team collaborates with risk and control partners to balance aggressive growth with regulatory requirements, and whether there’s a defined timeline for achieving SCA licensure and CPD milestones in practice.