The posting
Our client is a global online trading platform whose growth is heavily driven by affiliates, creators, influencers, introducers, agents, communities and performance partnerships.
They are seeking a high-calibre Head of Partnerships, Middle East to lead and scale their partner ecosystem across the region, spanning affiliates, influencers, sponsorships, strategic partnerships and localized acquisition channels.
This is a senior commercial leadership role for someone who has already built and managed large-scale partner networks across the Middle East — thousands, ideally tens of thousands, of partners across multiple markets — while using technology and AI to scale acquisition, activation, retention, engagement, localization and performance management. The ideal candidate is commercially sharp, execution-focused, regionally attuned, highly adaptable, data-driven and comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment.
Duties & Responsibilities
- Own the global partnerships strategy and execution engine — acquiring, activating, retaining and growing partners and influencers across key markets.
- Lead the global affiliate and partner strategy across acquisition, activation, retention, engagement and monetization.
- Build systems and processes to manage a large global base of affiliates and partners at scale.
- Identify, recruit and grow high-potential partners across priority regions including LATAM, Africa, MENA, South Asia, Southeast Asia and CIS.
- Develop partner segmentation, lifecycle management, incentive models, engagement plans and performance frameworks.
- Improve partner productivity — better-quality traffic, higher conversions, stronger retention and sustainable client value.
- Work with regional teams to localize partnership models by market, language, culture, regulation and channel behaviour.
- Build and scale the global influencer and creator partnership engine — identifying creators, educators, market commentators, trading communities and finance influencers across regions.
- Develop structured influencer acquisition, onboarding, engagement, compliance review, campaign execution and performance measurement processes, moving beyond one-off campaigns into long-term, performance-linked relationships.
- Source, evaluate and execute sponsorships globally (sports, esports, financial education, communities, events, creator networks, local media) with a clear framework for brand fit, compliance risk, commercial potential and measurable ROI.
- Use AI heavily to scale the function — partner discovery, lead scoring, outreach personalization, contract workflows, content localization, campaign analysis, fraud detection, compliance checks and lifecycle automation.
- Build an AI-first operating model that manages a very large global partner base without scaling headcount linearly, working with internal AI, data, product, compliance and engineering teams.
- Own key commercial metrics: partner acquisition, active partner growth, activation, retention, revenue and net revenue, cost per acquisition, funded client conversion, client quality, influencer campaign ROI, regional partner productivity and compliance quality.
- Create strong performance dashboards and review rhythms; identify underperforming regions, segments, campaigns and incentive models, and act quickly.
- Work cross-functionally with regional growth, marketing, compliance, product, data, legal, payments, customer support and brand teams to ensure partner activity is compliant, brand-safe, localized and commercially effective.
- Represent the partnerships function in senior leadership discussions and build a high-performing global team with the right mix of regional expertise, commercial drive, operational discipline and AI capability.
Qualifications
- 15+ years of total experience, with significant leadership experience in partnerships, affiliates, business development, growth or commercial roles.
- Proven experience managing large-scale partner, affiliate, influencer or agent networks globally — thousands to tens of thousands of partners.
- Background in industries where partners materially drive acquisition and revenue: online trading, gaming, gambling, travel, fintech, crypto, consumer internet, marketplaces or digital performance marketing.
- Strong exposure to emerging markets and multi-region growth environments.
- Track record of building scalable systems rather than relying only on manual relationship management.
- Experience leading teams across multiple countries or regions.
- Strong understanding of digital acquisition funnels, conversion, retention, partner economics, performance marketing and customer quality.
- Experience in regulated or compliance-sensitive industries is strongly preferred.
- Dubai, UAE or broader MENA experience is a plus.
- Demonstrable, hands-on AI usage — actively applying AI tools for partner research, market mapping, lead scoring, personalized outreach, campaign planning, localization, performance analysis, reporting and workflow automation. Real usage, not just theoretical interest.
- A-player traits: clear upward career trajectory; evidence of having built, transformed or scaled a major partnerships function; strong commercial instincts; high execution intensity; adaptability across markets and cultures; comfort with ambiguity; leadership presence with a hands-on approach; and a systems mindset.
