Job Description

CharteredPartners is seeking an Audit & Assurance Director to lead the delivery of assurance engagements and own engagement quality within a practice in Dubai. This is a senior delivery and leadership appointment in which you will run complex IFRS audits across mainland, DIFC and ADGM clients, own quality across your portfolio, and support partners through to sign-off. The role pairs deep technical authority with client leadership across a diverse regional client base. Specific qualifications, regulatory fluency and technical breadth are detailed in the sections that follow.

Confidential Client. Applying to this position means that you are interested to have an initial confidential discussion about how we can help you to identify and join a new accounting-firm practice. With your authorisation we will exclusively run the entire application and recruitment process for you, keeping you apprised at every step. With over 30 years' combined experience of helping the most talented accounting, audit, tax and advisory professionals to make safe, well-judged moves into rewarding new roles, we have the experience, network and ability to help you.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead delivery of a portfolio of IFRS audit engagements across UAE mainland, DIFC and ADGM clients, owning quality from planning to completion.
• Take responsibility for engagement quality and file integrity, preparing engagements for partner sign-off.
• Resolve complex IFRS matters across consolidation, financial instruments, revenue and impairment, leading technical consultations.
• Act as a senior contact for boards, audit committees and finance leadership across the portfolio.
• Support partners with origination, scoping and proposals to grow the assurance book.
• Ensure compliance with the UAE Commercial Companies Law and applicable DFSA, FSRA and ESCA requirements.
• Oversee engagement economics, including budgeting, recovery and resourcing across multiple teams.
• Lead, mentor and appraise senior managers and managers, building technical capability and succession.

Required Qualifications and Skills:

• A recognised professional qualification such as ACA, ACCA, CPA or equivalent.
• Deep command of IFRS, including complex consolidation, financial instruments and revenue judgements.
• Substantial external audit experience, including a period at director or equivalent senior grade.
• Experience leading IFRS audits across mainland, DIFC or ADGM structures.
• Working knowledge of the UAE Commercial Companies Law and auditor registration with the Ministry of Economy.
• Familiarity with the DFSA and FSRA regimes and ESCA requirements for regulated and listed entities.
• Demonstrated ownership of engagement quality and audit file review at a senior level.
• Strong commercial acumen across pricing, recovery and portfolio management.
• Proven leadership and development of multicultural audit teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with credibility before audit committees; Arabic is an advantage.

Preferred Experience:

• Big Four or leading mid-tier background in the UAE or wider GCC market.
• Experience auditing financial services entities regulated by the DFSA, FSRA or UAE Central Bank.
• Sector depth in real estate, construction, trading, or financial services.
• Familiarity with auditor registration and the Ministry of Economy requirements.
• Experience with group audits spanning GCC and international components reporting under IFRS.
• Exposure to the evolving UAE corporate tax environment and its interaction with assurance.

Compensation:

Competitive package commensurate with seniority and experience, including base, performance-based bonus, long-term incentives and (where applicable) partner-track participation.

Next Steps:

This opportunity is open to candidates who hold or can obtain the right to work in the United Arab Emirates and who match the above criteria. Please apply to receive prompt contact from an experienced and specialist accounting-firm recruitment consultant.

Chartered Partners is a trading style of Feltan Associates Pte Ltd; an international Executive Search, Recruitment and Consulting business based in Singapore, licensed and regulated by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower to conduct recruitment services for clients. UEN: 202225620G. EA Licence 23S1672. All rights reserved.