Senior Director & Team Head, Priority Banking

Standard Chartered is searching for a Senior Director and Team Head to lead Priority Banking in Dubai, onsite. This executive role centers on driving unit performance against sales, new customer acquisition and portfolio growth, while building strong relationships with high-profile clients and delivering tailored financial solutions within a careful risk and regulatory framework. The right candidate will enjoy shaping strategy, leading a team, and working closely with cross-group partners to meet ambitious objectives.

As part of Wealth and Retail Banking, the bank serves more than 13 million individuals and small businesses and concentrates on the affluent segment, including Private Banking, Priority Private, Priority Banking and Premium. Standard Chartered is committing USD $1.5 billion to its Affluent banking business, investing in frontline teams, wealth and digital platforms, client centres and brand marketing to accelerate growth. You’ll join a growing franchise within Standard Chartered Group and help strengthen its position in the Middle East.

In this role you’ll coordinate with the Group Affluent Team to drive the international banking agenda and deliver a compelling client experience for affluent clients in the Dubai market, all with an emphasis on service excellence and prudent risk management. It’s a fit for someone who wants to lead, influence and contribute to a broader strategic push in wealth and banking services.

Leading the Priority Banking team in Dubai

Day to day, you will steer the unit toward meeting revenue, client growth and portfolio targets, while ensuring first‑class service for high‑value customers. You’ll oversee a team of Customer Relationship Managers and Client Service Managers who are responsible for bringing in new business, deepening existing relationships and widening opportunities within the client base. You’ll keep the team size between 13 and 15 relationship managers by continuing to hire as needed to sustain momentum. Collaborating with the broader franchise, you’ll push the international banking agenda and lead growth in the Priority Private segment through new-to-bank acquisitions and upgrades to existing clients. You’ll monitor performance across CRMs and CSMs, drive cross-sell to hit budgeted targets and continually explore alternative channels for sourcing and referrals. When it comes to market presence, you’ll help shape and execute marketing and sales promotions with the marketing and central teams, and you’ll provide senior leadership with intelligence on competitor products, services and customer needs. You’ll also review and suggest enhancements to our product and service offerings in collaboration with product champions.

Beyond the immediate responsibilities, the role includes strategic thinking about revenue generation and business development, as well as managing day‑to‑day financial indicators for the Priority Banking unit. You’ll help set objectives, monitor the health of the portfolio against policy parameters, drive client value propositions and lead efforts to improve productivity and cost indicators. A constant focus will be on increasing the share of active customers and shaping the MIS requirements to support informed decisions across the unit.

Must-have requirements

Here are the essentials the bank is looking for, reworded from the role’s expectations:

• A university degree or equivalent qualification
• Solid experience in sales and relationship management within banking and investments
• Proficiency with the full spectrum of banking and investment products
• A proven ability to plan and execute sales strategies that deliver results
• Strong communication and negotiation skills with a track record of influencing outcomes
• Ability to build networks and coordinate across multiple departments
• People leadership with a talent for motivating teams and maintaining a positive culture
• Good understanding of the UAE business environment, ideally with direct links to the local high‑net‑worth community
• Computer literacy and comfort using standard business software
• Adaptability to a multicultural workplace
• Solid knowledge of capital markets and financial planning concepts

Nice-to-haves

These elements are welcome extras that could give you an edge:

• Experience steering sales or service teams in affluent banking within the UAE, with a track record of cross‑border collaboration
• Existing direct connections with local HNIs and familiarity with the UAE affluent landscape
• Experience coordinating marketing promotions and sales campaigns with central teams
• Ability to produce strategic market intelligence on competitors and customer needs to inform product and service decisions
• Comfort contributing to a broader digital agenda tied to wealth management and client platforms

Pay, benefits and practical details

Standard Chartered offers a competitive salary and benefits package aligned with its Fair Pay Charter, designed to support wellbeing across mental, physical, financial and social aspects. The package includes core retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations. Leave provisions cover annual leave and public holidays, with 20 weeks for parental or maternity leave, a 12‑month sabbatical option and 3 days of volunteering leave; the total minimum annual time off amounts to 30 days. Flexible working options exist, based around a mix of home and office locations and adaptable work patterns. The employer also provides proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, resilience and other development courses, an Employee Assistance Programme, access to mental health first‑aid resources and a range of self‑help tools. A culture of continuous learning supports growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill through a mix of physical, virtual and digital learning. The organisation emphasizes inclusion and values, welcoming diverse talents and viewpoints to help everyone realise their potential. The role is onsite in Dubai and full‑time.

Advice for applicants

Your resume should open with a clear summary of leadership in Priority Banking within the UAE, highlighting your management of 13–15 RMs, progress on NTB and ETB upgrades, and a demonstrated record of meeting cross‑sell targets.

Back up your must‑have skills with concrete stories: illustrate a time you managed conduct and risk while delivering revenue growth, and show how you led a team to meet targets through coaching and performance management.

Prepare to talk through cross‑functional impact: describe how you’ve partnered with marketing, central teams and product partners to launch promotions, refine offerings and gather competitive intelligence to inform strategy.

Ask a thoughtful question at the end of your interview: how does the business balance the digital agenda with hands‑on relationship management for Priority Banking in Dubai, and what are the current growth targets and how is success measured for this team?