Chief Operating Officer

As Chief Operating Officer at BloFin, you oversee the day-to-day operational management of the Exchange Services business in the UAE. You hold responsibility for platform operations, trading operations, client service operations, vendor coordination, operational resilience, settlement coordination, process controls, and incident management. You may also serve as a Responsible Individual under VARA regulation, requiring full-time employment, Fit and Proper status, UAE residency or UAE passport, and VARA approval. You report to the CEO and provide operational reporting to the Board, Risk Committee, Compliance Committee, and other governance committees.

What you'll do

• Oversee day-to-day operational execution of BloFin's UAE Exchange Services business, ensuring operational procedures are documented, implemented, tested, and followed.
• Manage operational readiness for client onboarding, account activation, trading access, order execution, settlement coordination, withdrawals, support, complaints, and incident handling.
• Ensure operational activities remain within BloFin's approved Exchange Services scope.
• Oversee the operational functioning of the spot trading venue and coordinate with the CTO and technology teams on matching engine performance, platform uptime, API availability, latency, capacity, trading system resilience, and operational incident response.
• Ensure trading operations support fair, orderly, and transparent market activity by implementing operational procedures for order handling, erroneous orders, trading interruptions, suspensions, client restrictions, and participant conduct enforcement.
• Ensure Exchange Services operational controls align with VARA requirements on trading venue rules, market surveillance, trading system continuity, and settlement.
• Oversee operational coordination with the appointed VARA-licensed custodian, ensuring deposit confirmations, withdrawal-status updates, custody balance reports, and reconciliation files are obtained and processed appropriately.
• Ensure approved withdrawal instructions are transmitted to the custodian only after BloFin's authentication, AML/CFT, sanctions, Travel Rule, wallet-risk, and operational checks are completed.
• Ensure BloFin does not operate Client VA wallets, control client private keys, or execute client asset transfers directly.
• Coordinate operational escalation for delayed custodian confirmations, rejected withdrawals, reconciliation breaks, and client-impacting custody issues.
• Oversee client support, operational helpdesk, complaints intake, escalation workflows, and service-level performance for both Retail Clients and Qualified Investors.
• Ensure support teams are trained on client communications, custody disclosures, withdrawal processes, escalation routes, and regulatory restrictions.
• Ensure complaints and disputes are escalated to Compliance where required.
• Coordinate day-to-day operational performance of key vendors and service providers, including the appointed VARA-licensed custodian, cloud hosting providers, KYC/KYB and onboarding providers, blockchain analytics providers, liquidity providers, and support providers.
• Monitor operational SLAs, service interruptions, incident notifications, escalation channels, and remediation actions.
• Support the Head of Risk and Compliance Officer in vendor reviews, outsourcing register updates, and operational due diligence.
• Maintain operational incident response procedures and ensure incidents are escalated promptly.
• Coordinate BCP/DR testing with the CTO, CISO, Risk Officer, Compliance Officer, and external service providers.
• Ensure operational continuity arrangements cover trading interruptions, technology outages, custodian disruptions, vendor failures, cybersecurity events, and client support disruptions.
• Support regulatory reporting and client communications during material operational incidents.
• Maintain operational SOPs for onboarding handoffs, client account activation, trading operations, settlement coordination, withdrawals, support, complaints, vendor coordination, and incident response.
• Ensure operational duties are segregated to reduce conflicts, errors, and abuse.
• Ensure operational staff receive training and understand their regulatory responsibilities.
• Implement corrective actions arising from internal audits, compliance monitoring, risk reviews, VARA feedback, and incident post-mortems.
• Provide operational reports to the CEO, Board, Risk Committee, Compliance Committee, and Technology Committee, including KPIs and KRIs such as platform uptime, incident volumes, withdrawal processing, reconciliation exceptions, client complaints, vendor SLA performance, and operational risk events.

What you bring

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Operations, Technology, Engineering, Economics, or a related field.
• Professional certifications in operations, risk, project management, technology governance, or financial markets such as PMP, ITIL, COBIT, Six Sigma, or equivalent preferred.
• Strong understanding of exchange operations, virtual assets, client onboarding, trading venue operations, settlement coordination, custody integration, market conduct, and operational risk.
• Minimum 8-10 years of operational leadership experience in financial services, fintech, exchanges, brokerage, capital markets, banking, payments, virtual assets, or regulated technology platforms.
• Experience managing trading operations, client operations, vendor coordination, incident management, and operational resilience.
• Experience operating in a regulated environment and working with compliance, risk, audit, and regulators.
• Experience with digital platforms, APIs, blockchain analytics, custody providers, and technology vendors preferred.
• Strong operational leadership and execution discipline.
• Ability to manage complex cross-functional workflows.
• Ability to respond effectively to operational incidents and regulatory escalations.
• Strong vendor management and SLA oversight capability.
• Strong documentation, governance reporting, and policy implementation skills.
• High integrity, accountability, and Fit and Proper suitability.
• If appointed as a Responsible Individual under VARA, you must be a full-time employee, Fit and Proper, resident in the UAE or a UAE passport holder, and approved by VARA during licensing.

About BloFin

BloFin operates an Exchange Services business in the UAE, regulated by VARA (Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority). The company provides a spot trading venue, client onboarding, custody coordination, and support services for Retail Clients and Qualified Investors in virtual assets.