Head of Pakistan Office

About j. awan & partners

j. awan & partners (JAP) is an international Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) consultancy headquartered in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), with offices across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Portugal, Pakistan, and South Africa. JAP serves over 1,000 financial institutions across the GCC, providing regulatory advisory, outsourced compliance and AML/KYC functions, risk management, financial reporting, and recruitment services.

azakaw, JAP’s RegTech platform, delivers KYC/KYB onboarding, transaction monitoring, and corporate compliance solutions to regulated firms. The Karachi office serves as a critical delivery hub, providing dedicated teams that support GCC based clients and internal operations across both JAP and azakaw.

Mission / Purpose of the Role

The Head of Pakistan Office is responsible for leading and scaling JAP’s Karachi operation as a high performing delivery centre serving GCC based clients initially and other international locations (London, Singapore) at a later stage. The Karachi office houses four distinct teams: Finance, Project Management, azakaw (RegTech) Development, and KYC/AML Operations. None of these teams serve clients in Pakistan; their sole focus is supporting JAP and azakaw’s client engagements across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the broader GCC.

The role demands a hands-on leader with a strong finance and operations background who can lead and develop teams, establish operational rigour, and ensure that the quality of work produced in Karachi is indistinguishable from work produced in our GCC offices. The successful candidate will manage recruitment, retention, operations, financial controls, and cross border coordination, while serving as the senior representative of the firm in Pakistan.

In addition to the leadership mandate, the Head of Office may be required to act as the designated Finance Officer for one to two GCC based client engagements, taking direct responsibility for financial reporting, regulatory filings, or finance function deliverables on those accounts. This dual role reflects the firm’s expectation that senior leaders remain hands on and client facing.

Note: while the Karachi office houses azakaw developers, technical delivery and product decisions for azakaw are owned by the azakaw CTO and technical leadership team. However, from a location and HR management perspective, it will be the responsibility of the head of the office to manage the azakaw team.

12–18 Month Mission Outcomes (“What Success Looks Like”)

Operational Excellence

• Achieve full operational maturity of the Karachi office as a GCC delivery hub within 12 months

• All teams (Finance, Project Management, azakaw Development, KYC) operating at full capacity with defined SLAs for GCC client deliverables

• Zero missed client deadlines attributable to Karachi office operations.

Develop and Sustain a High Performing Workforce

• Build and retain a high performing team of 25+ professionals across all four service lines within 18 months

• All approved headcount filled within 90 days of requisition. Annualised attrition below 15%.

• 100% of new hires complete structured onboarding within first 30 days

• Positive engagement scores in quarterly pulse surveys.

Cost Efficiency

• Deliver measurable cost efficiency gains versus equivalent GCC based resourcing

• Monthly cost tracking and variance reporting delivered to Group CFO by the 5th of each month.

Operational Controls & Compliance

• Establish robust operational controls, governance, and compliance frameworks aligned with Group standards

• All Group policies (Information Security, Data Protection, HR, Finance) locally adopted and evidenced

• 100% compliance with Pakistan labour law, tax, and corporate obligations, with no material audit or compliance findings.

Seamless and High-Quality Client Service

• Ensure seamless service delivery to GCC clients with no disruption from the Karachi support function

• Achieve high client satisfaction scores

• Escalations resolved within agreed SLA windows.

Implement effective performance management and reporting cadence

• Operational dashboards submitted to Group leadership

• KPIs are in place for every team member within 60 days of hire

• Quarterly performance reviews completed on time for 100% of staff.

Key Accountabilities

GCC Client Delivery Oversight

• Own end to end delivery quality for all Karachi based teams supporting GCC clients across Finance, Project Management, and KYC service lines. For the azakaw development team, responsibility covers HR, people management, and operational support, with technical delivery owned by azakaw’s CTO.

• Ensure all client deliverables meet the quality, accuracy, and timeliness standards set by the Dubai, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Doha offices.

• Act as the designated Finance Officer for one to two GCC based client engagements, taking hands on responsibility for financial reporting, regulatory filings, or finance function deliverables as required.

• Act as the single point of escalation for GCC based engagement leads when Karachi delivery issues arise.

• Implement and enforce SLAs between the Karachi office and each GCC office for all recurring deliverables.

Success Indicator

• Zero client facing quality failures attributable to Karachi teams.

• 100% of SLAs documented and actively tracked.

• Escalations resolved within 24 hours.

• Finance Officer client accounts delivered to the same standard as Dubai based engagements.

Team Building, Recruitment & Retention

• Lead recruitment of Finance analysts, Project Managers, KYC analysts, and azakaw developers (in coordination with the azakaw CTO on technical requirements) to agreed headcount plans.

• Design and implement a structured onboarding programme that ensures new hires are productive within 30 days.

• Build a talent pipeline through relationships with universities, professional bodies, and recruitment agencies in Pakistan.

• Drive retention through competitive compensation benchmarking, career development pathways, and a strong office culture.

Success Indicator

• Time to fill stays below 60 days for all roles.

• Annualised attrition is under 15%.

• Developmental plans are in place for all the staff.

Operations & Infrastructure

• Establish and maintain office infrastructure including IT systems, connectivity, workspace, and business continuity arrangements.

• Ensure reliable and secure connectivity to Group systems (HubSpot, SharePoint, communication tools) and coordinate with azakaw technical leadership on any infrastructure requirements for the development team.

• Manage vendor relationships for office services, IT support, legal, and accounting.

• Maintain BCP/DR arrangements including the ability to operate as a backup communication hub for the Group during regional disruptions.

Success Indicator

• BCP tested quarterly with documented results.

• Office fully operational within approved capex and opex budgets.

• All infrastructure issues resolved within agreed timelines.

Financial Management & Cost Control

• Prepare and manage the annual Karachi office budget covering headcount, facilities, IT, and operational costs.

• Deliver monthly financial reporting to the Group CFO including actual versus budget variance analysis.

• Ensure all local tax filings, statutory obligations, and payroll processing are completed accurately and on time.

• Identify and implement cost optimisation opportunities without compromising service quality.

Success Indicators

• Office operates within approved budget (+/- 5% variance).

• Monthly reporting delivered by the 5th working day.

• Zero penalties from late or inaccurate statutory filings.

Governance, Compliance & Risk

• Ensure full compliance with Pakistan employment law, corporate law, tax regulations, and data protection requirements.

• Adopt and localise all Group policies (Information Security, Acceptable Use, HR, Anti Bribery, Whistleblowing).

• Implement and maintain internal controls appropriate for a regulated Group's offshore delivery centre.

• Coordinate with Group Compliance and Legal on any regulatory or legal matters affecting the Pakistan entity.

Success Indicators

• 100% policy adoption with documented local amendments.

• No material compliance or legal findings.

• Annual risk assessment completed and reported to Group.

Cross Border Coordination & Communication

• Serve as the primary liaison between the Karachi office and GCC offices (Dubai HQ, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Doha).

• Manage time zone overlaps to ensure adequate real time coverage during GCC business hours.

• Participate in Group leadership meetings and provide regular updates on Karachi operations, capacity, and performance.

• Champion a one firm culture ensuring Karachi staff feel integrated with the broader JAP and azakaw teams.

Success Indicators

• Weekly status updates to Group leadership.

• Minimum 5-hour daily overlap with GCC business hours maintained.

• Positive cross office collaboration feedback.

Core Competencies

• Offshore Delivery Leadership: Proven track record of leading offshore or nearshore delivery centres that serve international clients. Understands the dynamics of managing teams whose work is evaluated by stakeholders in a different geography and time zone.

• Operational Execution: Demonstrated ability to enhance existing operations, establish workflows, implement SLAs, and scale teams while maintaining quality and cost discipline.

• Cross Border Team Management: Experience managing teams that support multiple international offices. Skilled at navigating cultural differences, time zone challenges, and matrix reporting structures.

• Finance Experience: Strong finance and operations background with hands on experience in financial reporting, management accounting, or finance function delivery. Capable of acting as a Finance Officer on client engagements while simultaneously managing office level budgeting, cost centre reporting, and demonstrating ROI of the offshore delivery model to Group leadership.

• Integrity and Governance Mindset: Upholds the highest standards of professionalism and accountability. Comfortable operating within the governance frameworks expected of a regulated financial services group.

• Talent Development: Passionate about building teams, developing careers, and creating an environment where high performers want to stay and grow.

Role Specific Competencies

• Demonstrable experience of leading an offshore, nearshore, or shared services centre that delivers work to international clients, ideally in financial services, consulting, or professional services.

• Strong finance and operations background with direct experience in financial reporting, regulatory filings, or acting as a finance function lead for clients or internal stakeholders.

• Proven experience managing multi functional teams (Finance, Technology, Operations, Compliance) within a single office.

• Experience working with or within GCC regulated financial services firms. DIFC, ADGM, SAMA, QFC, or CMA familiarity is a strong advantage.

• Comfortable operating within matrix reporting structures where Karachi team members also report functionally to GCC based engagement leads.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree from a leading university

• Preferred field of study: Finance, Accounting, or Business Administration.

• Master’s degree (MBA, MSc Finance, or related) will be preferred.

• Professional finance qualifications (ACA, ACCA, CFA, CPA) are strongly preferred. CAMS or other compliance certifications are a plus

Experience

• 12+ years of progressive experience in finance and operations, with a strong foundation in financial reporting, management accounting, or finance function leadership.

• Minimum 5 years in a leadership role managing 15+ staff. Prior experience in financial services, GRC consulting, or professional services is essential.

• Experience with Financial services, RegTech, management consulting, professional services, or corporate services.

• Direct experience with GCC markets and regulators will be preferred.