Establishment Services Manager – Majid Al Futtaim

Majid Al Futtaim is hiring an Establishment Services Manager, a role focused on the regulatory and compliance backbone that keeps a large UAE business operating legally and efficiently — trade licensing, government relations, and the administrative processes that sit behind every entity in a group as diversified as Majid Al Futtaim.

This means managing relationships with UAE government departments and free zone authorities, ensuring trade licences, permits, and corporate registrations stay current and compliant, and overseeing a team that handles the practical, often time-sensitive paperwork this requires. It’s a role with real people-management responsibility — at least a few years leading a team is expected — layered on top of deep process and regulatory knowledge.

This suits an experienced establishment services, PRO, or corporate compliance professional who knows UAE regulatory processes well and can lead a team through them efficiently, keeping the business compliant without creating unnecessary friction for the operational teams depending on fast turnaround.

A lapsed trade licence, a missed renewal, or a regulatory gap can quietly stall operations across an entire entity within a large group — this role exists specifically to make sure that never happens. For a business as large and multi-entity as Majid Al Futtaim, keeping registrations, licences, and permits current across every part of the group is unglamorous but genuinely load-bearing work: operational teams depend on this function running smoothly in the background so they can focus on their own priorities rather than regulatory firefighting. A well-run establishment services team also protects the business from avoidable regulatory penalties or delays, which matters at a scale where even a small process failure can touch multiple business units simultaneously. Work of this kind rarely gets noticed when it's going well, which is exactly the point — the business keeps moving without friction. The moment it's handled poorly, however, the knock-on effects surface quickly across the teams and timelines that depend on it, which is why getting it right consistently matters more than it might first appear.

Establishment services and regulatory compliance expertise is a genuinely scarce, in-demand skill set across the UAE — every business operating here needs it, but few professionals build deep expertise in it, which makes this a strong specialism for long-term career security. Managing a team at a group as large and diversified as Majid Al Futtaim means exposure to an unusually wide range of regulatory and licensing scenarios across different business types, building a depth of practical UAE regulatory knowledge that's hard to replicate elsewhere. This role is also a strong step toward senior corporate services, compliance, or government relations leadership roles, either within Majid Al Futtaim's wider group or at another major regional conglomerate. For someone who's built a career around understanding how UAE regulatory processes actually work in practice, a people-management role at this scale is a clear progression step toward broader corporate services leadership. These are also the kinds of skills that compound quietly over a career: once someone is known for running a reliable process, they tend to get trusted with bigger and more complex ones, which is often how a career in operations or business support actually advances, one well-handled responsibility at a time. Over time, that kind of track record is what separates a candidate who merely held a job title from one who can point to real, demonstrable growth across it.

• Several years of experience in establishment services, PRO functions, or corporate regulatory compliance in the UAE
• Proven people-management experience, ideally 4+ years leading a team
• Strong working knowledge of UAE trade licensing, registration, and free zone processes
• Established relationships or comfort building relationships with relevant UAE government departments
• Ability to manage multiple regulatory deadlines across a large, multi-entity business
• Clear communication skills for coordinating between government bodies and internal stakeholders