Associate Director

About the Role

Protiviti is seeking an Associate Director for a full-time position in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This role involves driving business development and leading project delivery for Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) advisory services across Saudi Arabia and the GCC region. The Associate Director will be responsible for both expanding the practice and ensuring high-quality project execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Business Development & Practice Growth (50%): Own and drive the end-to-end business development lifecycle for FCC advisory services in KSA, with visibility across the GCC. This includes building and expanding relationships with C-suite, CCO, CMLCO, and senior compliance professionals at financial institutions, identifying and closing new advisory mandates, and developing client proposals and thought leadership content. The role requires achieving annual revenue targets of USD 1 million and above and representing the firm at industry events.
• Project Delivery & Quality Assurance (50%): Lead the delivery of complex, multi-workstream FCC advisory engagements for clients in KSA and the GCC, ensuring on-time, on-budget, and on-quality outcomes. Serve as the senior engagement lead and subject matter expert across core FCC domains such as gap assessments, AML/CFT programme design and remediation, sanctions and transaction monitoring (TM) model validation, KYC/CDD/EDD remediation, and financial crime risk assessments. Provide expert guidance on technology platform selection and implementation, review and quality-assure all client deliverables, and mentor junior team members.
• Team Building & Leadership: Recruit, build, and manage a high-performing FCC advisory team in KSA, setting clear performance expectations and development pathways. Foster an inclusive and accountable team culture aligned with the firm's values and act as a role model for quality standards, client service, and ethical conduct.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Over 10 years of experience in financial crime compliance advisory.
• Demonstrated ability to drive business development and lead complex project deliveries.
• Strong network of C-suite and senior compliance relationships within the GCC banking and regulatory ecosystem.
• Expertise in SAMA, CBUAE, and FATF regulatory priorities.
• Proficiency in leading sanctions screening and TM technology platforms (*, Fircosoft/Accuity, SAS AML, Actimize, Oracle FCCM).

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will possess a combination of technical expertise, business development acumen, and leadership capabilities. We are looking for a professional who is highly motivated, self-driven, and proactive, with a long-term vision for building and scaling a financial crime advisory practice. The candidate should be quality-conscious, commercially savvy, and an effective relationship builder with a credible personal brand in the GCC. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, are essential, along with the ability to lead by example and mentor team members.

Work Environment

This is a full-time position based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, operating within a fast-moving regulatory environment. The role requires resilience and adaptability to address evolving challenges in the financial crime compliance landscape.