Location: Cairo
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Works closely with: Leadership team, Board Committees
Company Stage: Series-B+
Industry: Fintech / Digital Banking / Regulated Financial Services
Countries covered: Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Role Purpose
The CHRO is a key member of the executive leadership team, responsible for designing, leading, executing and governing the people strategy of a high-growth fintech / digital bank operating across Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The role's mandate is to enable rapid and sustainable scalegrowing from approximately 300 to 1,000+ employeeswhile ensuring the organization meets the governance, risk, and regulatory expectations of licensed or soon-to-be-licensed financial institutions under the supervision of the Central Bank of Egypt, the Financial Regulatory Authority and the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).
The CHRO will build a high-performance, values-driven culture, institutionalize strong HR governance, and ensure the organization has the leadership depth and operating discipline required for regional expansion.
Key Responsibilities
1. People Strategy & Workforce Planning
- Define and execute a multi-year people strategy aligned with Khazna's vision and strategy and support a high-performance culture with a focus on business growth, regulatory requirements, and cost discipline.
- Manage and expand the people team to cater to the company's rapid growth to include talent acquisition, people operations, talent management and all other HR functions
- Lead workforce planning across engineering, product, operations, commercial, finance, risk, compliance, and customer service.
- Ensure talent supply supports product roadmap, licensing milestones, and geographic expansion.
2. Talent Acquisition & Employer Brand
- Oversee executive, leadership, and critical-role hiring across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and hybrid/remote teams.
- Design and update competitive and compliant compensation and benefits frameworks for both markets.
- Strengthen employer branding to attract top technology, fintech and banking talent.
3. Performance, Culture & Rewards
- Define company values, leadership behaviors, and performance standards.
- Implement performance management systems aligned with accountability, risk awareness, and outcomes.
- Design incentive and reward frameworks consistent with long-term value creation and regulatory expectations.
4. Organization Design & Operating Model
- Design scalable organizational structures suitable for a regulated financial institution.
- Clarify decision rights, reporting lines, and separation of duties between business, risk, and control functions.
- Support organizational evolution pre- and post-license.
5. Governance, HR Risk & Compliance
- Own HR governance frameworks, policies, and controls in line with local labor laws and financial-services regulation.
- Ensure audit-ready people processes, including hiring, promotions, disciplinary actions, and exits.
- Support regulator interactions related to fit-and-proper assessments, senior appointments, and succession planning.
6. Leadership Development & Succession
- Identify, develop, and retain high-potential leaders across functions and geographies.
- Establish succession plans for executive and regulated roles.
- Coach senior leaders transitioning from startup to regulated-institution leadership.
7. HR Team, Infrastructure & Analytics
- Manage and grow a high performing HR team
- Implement scalable HR systems (HRIS, payroll, performance, learning).
- Build people analytics capabilities to inform workforce, productivity, and retention decisions.
- Provide regular, data-driven reporting to the CEO and Board.
- Regulatory & Governance Expectations
- Ensure full compliance with labor laws and employment regulations in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
- Maintain documentation and controls suitable for internal audit, external audit, and regulator review.
- Support governance expectations of a licensed or licensing-stage digital bank or financing institution.
- Act as a trusted counterpart to Board committees on remuneration, succession, and culture.
Experience & Qualifications
Required
- 10+ years of progressive HR / People leadership experience.
- Prior senior role in technology, fintech, digital banking, payments, lending, or regulated financial services.
- Proven experience scaling organizations from mid-size to large (23x growth).
- Experience operating across MENA, ideally Egypt and/or Saudi Arabia.
- Demonstrated ability to operate under regulatory scrutiny.
Preferred
- Experience in newly licensed financial institutions.
- Exposure to hybrid or remote international teams.
- Experience engaging with regulators, internal audit, or board committees on people matters.
Key Competencies
- Strategic workforce planning and organizational design
- Regulatory-grade HR governance and risk management
- Executive-level stakeholder management and board presence
- Data-driven decision making
- Cultural fluency across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and global talent markets
- Ability to balance speed, discipline, and scale
Key Performance Indicators
- Quality and speed of hiring for critical roles
- Retention and attrition in key functions
- Leadership bench strength and succession coverage
- Employee engagement and performance outcomes
- HR audit and regulatory findings (target: zero material issues)
- People cost efficiency relative to growth
Unsuitable Backgrounds
- HR leaders with experience limited to unregulated technology startups.
- Traditional HR profiles without exposure to high-growth environments.
- Purely operational HR leaders lacking strategic or executive capability.
- Candidates unable to operate effectively across cultures and geographies.
