International Market Lead, Middle East in Edinburgh

In this high-profile role, you’ll act as the figurehead for the Coutts Middle East market, responsible for its growth, performance, and strategic presence. You’ll have the chance to create meaningful impact by driving exceptional private banking and wealth management outcomes for international wealth-creating clients from the region. You’ll have the opportunity to build a sustainable franchise by leading people, relationships, and strategy to drive outstanding outcomes for internationally connected clients.

What you’ll do:

• Deliver the regional market strategy and overall performance.
• Make strong commercial decisions, develop robust growth cases, and convert opportunities into scalable business results.
• Act as Coutts’ senior commercial ambassador in the region, establishing and growing Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) and High Net Worth (HNW) client relationships.
• Build deep networks across intermediaries and influencers, maintaining a strong in-market presence through extensive travel and senior engagement.
• Provide inspiring, culturally aware leadership to market-aligned colleagues, actively sales-managing performance and ensuring proposition alignment with regional expectations and regulatory requirements.
• Build capability, confidence, and disciplined execution.
• Develop and deepen direct client relationships, strengthen intermediary and referral networks, and maximise international connectivity and cross-border referrals.

You’ll also be:

• Building market presence and credibility through travel, senior networking, and active engagement in regional business communities, forums, and events across priority Middle Eastern jurisdictions.
• Leading the Middle East market to deliver high-quality client outcomes and achieve financial, customer, risk, and people objectives across the balanced scorecard.
• Driving financial performance through revenue growth, margin discipline, client acquisition, and cost management.
• Shaping and evolving the Middle East client proposition to deliver culturally aligned, competitive, and relevant solutions for complex, internationally connected UHNW and HNW clients.
• Building and leading a high-performing team, developing colleagues, supporting succession planning, and embedding regular performance, development, and feedback cycles.
• Role modelling strong risk management across cross-border activity, complex client structures, and financial crime risk.
• Collaborating across internal markets, functions, and international teams to drive market growth.

The skills you’ll need:

• Extensive senior leadership experience in international private banking or wealth management.
• Proven ability to build and scale a market or franchise from an early or under-developed position.
• Demonstrable track record of leading market entry or early-stage growth, including strategy delivery, building teams, and establishing sustainable commercial and operating models.
• Substantial, hands-on experience leading relationships with UHNW and HNW Middle Eastern clients.
• Strong understanding of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) business culture, family and ownership structures, succession dynamics, wealth sources, and regional investment behaviours.
• A robust working knowledge of cross-border wealth structuring, lending solutions, and the regulatory considerations impacting Middle Eastern clients.
• A strong leadership presence, with the ability to influence senior clients, intermediaries, and internal stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead successfully in relationship-driven, complex, and ambiguous environments.
• Arabic language capability or significant experience working in Arabic-speaking environments.