Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Senior Trade Compliance professional with experience across freight forwarding, engineering, and energy sectors, operating in complex, multi-jurisdictional environments. Proven track record in overseeing trade compliance, sanctions, and export control governance frameworks that support global supply chain and logistics operations while aligning with international regulatory and corporate governance standards. I work closely with Finance, Treasury, Legal, and Operations teams to manage regulatory risk across sanctions exposure, export controls, financial flows, transaction governance, and third-party risk, particularly where trade, logistics, and payment processes intersect. Beyond trade compliance, I have led initiatives across compliance risk management, business continuity, and compliance training, contributing to enterprise-wide resilience and accountability. Open to expanding my expertise across different regulated industries, including FinTech, digital platforms, and healthcare, where strong governance and regulatory alignment are critical to the business.
• Led the Trade Compliance & Risk function at group level, overseeing adherence to UK, EU, and U.S. sanctions and export control regimes across all operating jurisdictions. • Served as senior advisor to executive management on sanctions exposure, export licensing, due diligence, and regulatory risk impacting strategic and operational decisions. • Designed and implemented country and project risk assessment frameworks, enabling structured risk scoring, mitigation planning, and informed market-entry decisions. • Established and governed core compliance and trade risk frameworks, including recusal standards, AML and due diligence processes, hand-carry controls, and trade compliance policies. • Managed engagement with external counsel, regulators, and authorities, including oversight of sanctions-related matters and support to the wind-down and liquidation of Russian entities. • Led global compliance and sanctions training initiatives and contributed more broadly to compliance risk management, business continuity, and enterprise compliance programs, with line-management and cross-functional leadership responsibilities.
• Managed the group-wide trade compliance program, ensuring alignment with UK, EU, and U.S. sanctions and export control requirements across global operations. • Led complex sanctions, export-licensing, and due-diligence assessments, supporting business development, bid evaluations, and project execution decisions. • Designed and enhanced trade compliance processes and control frameworks, including sanctions screening, licensing workflows, and documentation standards. • Supported high-risk and sensitive projects through structured risk assessments and compliance recommendations to senior leadership. • Delivered targeted compliance and sanctions training across business units, particularly in higher-risk jurisdictions. • Coordinated closely with Legal, Finance, Supply Chain, and Project teams to enable compliant contract execution, logistics, and project delivery. • Managed engagement with external counsel on sanctions matters, regulatory filings, licence reviews, and case-specific advisory.
• Provided regional oversight and capability development for Country Trade Compliance Managers across the Middle East and Africa, covering trade compliance, export controls, and customs governance. • Led structured training programs for Country Trade Compliance Managers on core trade compliance and export control concepts, including high-risk jurisdictions, U.S. EAR, de-minimis rules, and classification principles. • Served as a regional advisory point for complex trade and customs matters, supporting country teams in resolving regulatory issues across jurisdictions including UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Algeria, and Egypt.
• Designed and oversaw the implementation of country-level trade compliance policies and procedures, covering export controls, sanctions, and customs requirements. • Established and maintained written trade compliance procedures for Transport Management Centers (TMCs) and Business Unit management, ensuring consistent application across operations. • Defined compliance standards and governance controls, providing advisory support and oversight to ensure transaction-level compliance, including country-of-origin considerations. • Ensured delivery of targeted trade compliance training to TMC, country, and business unit personnel with defined compliance responsibilities. • Implemented governance and record-keeping frameworks for trade compliance documentation, ensuring audit readiness and regulatory traceability.
• Led initiatives to integrate order management solutions, improving customer service, inventory visibility, and operational productivity across end-to-end supply chains. • Streamlined order-to-delivery planning and execution, overseeing item-level tracking, shipment coordination, and consolidated reporting across multiple shippers and locations. • Established controls and exception-management frameworks to ensure consistent execution and issue resolution across geographically dispersed operations. • Drove transportation cost optimization through planning improvements, performance monitoring, and data-driven decision-making. • Developed analytical reporting and KPI frameworks to support continuous improvement and operational governance.
• Supported the implementation and execution of the company trade compliance program at district level, ensuring adherence to internal policies and applicable trade laws and regulations. • Promoted a culture of integrity and compliance, providing clear, practical guidance to employees and fostering a collaborative, solutions-oriented compliance environment across branches. • Delivered trade compliance training, monitoring, and advisory support to district teams, ensuring consistent understanding and application of compliance requirements. • Conducted regular import and export compliance monitoring and reporting, identifying anomalies and managing escalations in line with established procedures. • Supported remediation and corrective action initiatives, assisting with root-cause analysis and implementation of corrective measures to address identified non-compliance.
• Led the design, setup, and implementation of distribution and warehouse operations, including facility selection, contract negotiations, layout planning, and operational launch. • Managed transition and integration of new business from sales to operations, coordinating cross-functional teams and developing SOPs and work instructions to ensure scalable execution. • Led RFIs and RFQs for multiple customers, supporting commercial evaluation and operational feasibility assessments. • Oversaw end-to-end logistics and distribution operations, including inbound and outbound flows, value-added services, billing oversight, KPI monitoring, and participation in business reviews. • Maintained senior-level relationships with key customers and service providers across oil & gas, electronics, and retail sectors.
• Led the renovation project, including drafting the facility layout, executing an extension of the existing factory, improving process flow, and updating the office space layout. • Prepared a plan to enhance brand image and awareness, including the creation of a new brand logo and the development of procedures and policies defining the group’s guidelines. • Upgraded the company’s assets and production capabilities to better align with market demand.
Published a research paper in the Engineering Lean and Six-Sigma Conference 2011, Atlanta, GA, under the title: Towards a Waste Reduction Pre-Screening Tool in a Lean Level 1 Industry: Case Study in the Lebanese Olive Oil Factories