Head of Risk Assessment Section

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Posted on 27/07/2026

Internal Audit Department

Location:

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Iris Executives is a leading executive search firm specializing in Emiratisation and senior-level recruitment since 2010. We partner with government entities and strategic organisations across the UAE to identify exceptional leadership and advisory talent.

We are currently supporting a leading UAE federal government entity in the search for an experienced Head of Risk Assessment Section
.

This role sits at the heart of the organisation's Internal Audit function
, acting as its early-warning system. Reporting into senior audit leadership, you will build and run a practical way of spotting what could go wrong — before it does — across headquarters and dispersed operations.

Day to day, you will lead enterprise-wide risk assessments
: identifying and scoring operational, financial, compliance and fraud risks
, testing whether internal controls genuinely work, and turning findings into clear, decision-ready reporting for senior management.

Your work ensures leadership sees the most serious exposures early, understands whether controls are effective in practice — not just on paper — and knows exactly who must act before a weakness becomes a crisis.

We are looking for a senior risk and assurance professional who has built or embedded risk frameworks in a large, complex organisation — and who knows the difference between management's job of owning risk and Internal Aud'it's job of checking it independently.

• Develop and embed enterprise risk management frameworks
  , policies and procedures across the organisation.
• Support risk governance and reporting that respects the Three Lines Model — management owns risk, Internal Audit assures it.
• Design and implement fraud risk assessment methodologies
  , including identification of fraud schemes and control gaps.
• Evaluate and strengthen preventive and detective controls
  , including segregation of duties, approval levels and supervisory review.
• Identify, assess and monitor key risks across business units and dispersed operations, scored by likelihood and impact.
• Define treatment plans with management and track mitigation actions and residual risk until resolved.

• Prepare executive risk reports that distinguish significant exposure from routine issues and secure accountable management action.
• Escalate unresolved risk while ensuring compliance with governance standards
  .

Experience:

• UAE National with a minimum of 10 years of progressive experience across enterprise risk management, GRC, internal audit, internal controls or related assurance functions.
• Hands-on experience establishing or embedding ERM frameworks — risk appetite, governance, reporting and Three Lines accountability.
• Practical fraud risk management experience — designing preventive and detective controls, testing control effectiveness and supporting remediation.
• Proven ability to assess risks, prioritise exposures and track treatment plans across multiple departments, entities or locations.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Political Science or a related field.
• GRCP / GRCA or an equivalent GRC certification is a strong advantage.

Skills:

• Governance, risk and compliance best practices and frameworks (COSO, ISO 31000, ISO 31010, IIA Three Lines Model)
• Fraud risk management and fraud detection techniques
• Internal audit and internal controls evaluation
• Strong analytical, reporting and stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to lead cross-functional initiatives

This position plays a key role in protecting a major national institution from fraud, control failure and operational disruption. By building the organisation's risk-assessment capability, the Head of Risk Assessment Section contributes directly to its resilience, integrity and ability to deliver on its mission
.

The organisation offers a comprehensive government employment package. Full compensation details will be discussed confidentially with shortlisted candidates.

Industry: Government | Enterprise Risk & Governance | Internal Audit & Assurance