📣 We're Hiring: Licensing Manager
📍
Location:
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
🕒
Employment Type:
Full-Time
💼
Level:
Manager
🌐 About Us
We are committed to maintaining a strong and compliant
licensing, permits, registrations, and regulatory-authorizations framework
across our operations.
Our Licensing function works closely with
Legal, Compliance, Government Relations, Regulatory Affairs, Operations, Finance, Procurement, HR, and business leadership
to ensure that all required licenses and approvals are obtained, maintained, renewed, monitored, and properly documented.
🎯 The Role
We are seeking an experienced
Licensing Manager
to lead the organization's licensing and regulatory-permit portfolio.
The successful candidate will oversee
license applications, renewals, regulatory registrations, permits, approvals, compliance monitoring, license databases, government interactions, documentation, and reporting
.
The role requires strong organizational skills, regulatory awareness, stakeholder management, attention to deadlines, and the ability to manage multiple licensing requirements across business units and jurisdictions.
🚀 What You'll DoLicensing Strategy & Governance
- Develop and maintain the organization's licensing-management framework
- Establish standardized licensing policies, procedures, and workflows
- Identify all licenses, permits, registrations, certificates, and regulatory approvals required for business operations
- Establish ownership for each license and regulatory authorization
- Maintain a centralized licensing register
- Define renewal and escalation procedures
- Develop controls to prevent license expirations
- Establish licensing governance standards across business units
- Periodically review the effectiveness of the licensing framework
License Portfolio Management
- Manage the organization's complete license portfolio
- Maintain accurate records of:
- Licenses
- Permits
- Registrations
- Certificates
- Approvals
- Authorizations
- Operating permits
- Track issuance and expiration dates
- Monitor license conditions and restrictions
- Maintain supporting documentation
- Ensure licenses are linked to the correct legal entities, locations, activities, and business units
- Identify missing or expired authorizations
- Escalate potential operational risks
License Applications
- Coordinate new-license applications
- Determine documentation and approval requirements
- Work with business teams to gather required information
- Prepare and review application packages
- Coordinate submissions to relevant authorities
- Track application progress
- Resolve application queries
- Coordinate inspections or site visits where required
- Obtain final approvals and certificates
- Ensure new licenses are properly recorded and communicated
License Renewals
- Develop annual and multi-year renewal calendars
- Monitor upcoming renewal deadlines
- Initiate renewal processes well in advance
- Coordinate required documents and approvals
- Track government fees and payments
- Resolve renewal issues
- Escalate potential delays
- Confirm receipt of renewed licenses
- Update the licensing database
- Ensure business stakeholders are informed of renewal status
Regulatory Permits & Approvals
- Manage operational permits and regulatory approvals
- Identify permit requirements for new and existing activities
- Coordinate applications for:
- Operating permits
- Environmental permits
- Construction permits
- Health permits
- Trade licenses
- Professional licenses
- Sector-specific approvals
- Import/export permits
- Advertising permits
- Facility approvals
- Track permit conditions
- Monitor validity periods
- Coordinate amendments and renewals
Regulatory Registration
- Manage regulatory and governmental registrations
- Maintain registration records for relevant entities and activities
- Coordinate registration updates following:
- Ownership changes
- Address changes
- Management changes
- Business-activity changes
- Legal-entity changes
- Ensure registration information remains accurate
- Monitor registration requirements
Government & Regulatory Authority Liaison
- Serve as a key point of contact for relevant government authorities
- Build professional relationships with licensing and regulatory officials
- Coordinate meetings and submissions
- Respond to authority queries
- Track regulatory correspondence
- Resolve administrative licensing issues
- Escalate complex regulatory matters to Legal or Government Relations
- Maintain professional and transparent relationships with authorities
License Compliance
- Monitor compliance with license conditions
- Identify operational activities that may fall outside approved licenses
- Coordinate reviews of license scope
- Ensure business activities match licensed activities
- Monitor restrictions and conditions
- Track corrective actions
- Escalate potential breaches
- Support regulatory inspections and audits
License Scope & Activity Management
- Review proposed business activities for licensing implications
- Assess whether existing licenses cover new products, services, locations, or activities
- Identify requirements for license amendments
- Coordinate changes to licensed activities
- Work with Legal and Regulatory Affairs on regulatory interpretation
- Prevent unauthorized business activities
🧭 Licensing Scope The role may cover:
- Business licenses
- Trade licenses
- Regulatory licenses
- Operating permits
- Government registrations
- Facility permits
- Environmental permits
- Professional licenses
- Product registrations
- Sector-specific approvals
- Site and branch licenses
- Construction and development permits
- Import/export permits
- Municipal approvals
- Regulatory certificates
- License renewals
- License amendments
- Regulatory inspections
📊 Key Performance Areas
Performance may be measured against:
- License-renewal completion
- Zero avoidable license expirations
- Licensing compliance
- Application turnaround time
- Renewal turnaround time
- Licensing-register accuracy
- Permit compliance
- Regulatory inspection outcomes
- Licensing-risk reduction
- Documentation completeness
- New-business licensing readiness
- License-gap closure
- Stakeholder satisfaction
- Cost and process efficiency
💻 Systems & Tools The successful candidate should be comfortable using:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Teams
- SharePoint
- Licensing-management systems
- Compliance-management platforms
- GRC systems
- Document-management systems
- Government e-services and regulatory portals
- Workflow-management platforms
- Power BI or equivalent reporting tools
Experience with
ServiceNow, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Power Platform, Power BI
, or dedicated licensing/compliance-management systems is an advantage.
Strong skills in
license tracking, deadline management, regulatory documentation, reporting, process analysis, and stakeholder coordination
are highly desirable.
🇦🇪 UAE Regulatory Environment The successful candidate should be comfortable navigating the UAE's
federal and emirate-level licensing and regulatory environment
, including interactions with relevant ministries, municipalities, free-zone authorities, economic departments, sector regulators, and other government bodies as applicable to the organization's activities.
Experience managing licenses across
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and other UAE jurisdictions
, or across GCC markets, is highly desirable.
The candidate should understand that licensing requirements can vary according to
legal entity, jurisdiction, business activity, facility type, sector, ownership structure, and regulatory authority
.
✅ What We're Looking For
- Bachelor's degree in
Business Administration, Law, Regulatory Affairs, Public Administration, Compliance, Government Relations, Finance
, or a related discipline
- 5–10+ years of relevant experience
in licensing, regulatory affairs, compliance, government relations, permits, or corporate administration
- Strong knowledge of licensing and regulatory processes
- Experience managing multiple licenses, permits, and registrations
- Excellent deadline and portfolio-management skills
- Strong government and regulatory stakeholder-management capabilities
- Excellent organizational and documentation skills
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
- High attention to detail
- Strong written and verbal communication
- Ability to manage multiple priorities
- UAE/GCC licensing experience is highly desirable
🌟 Preferred Qualifications
- Master's degree in
Business, Law, Compliance, Regulatory Affairs, Public Administration, or Government Relations
- Professional qualification in compliance, regulatory affairs, or corporate governance
- Experience managing enterprise-wide licensing portfolios
- Experience with UAE government licensing portals
- Experience supporting new-market entry or business expansion
- Experience with regulated industries
- Experience managing licensing during mergers, acquisitions, or corporate restructuring
- Strong Power BI and reporting capabilities
- Experience implementing licensing-management technology
- Fluency in English is required; Arabic is an advantage
🌟 What We Offer
- Full-time position based in the
United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪
- Competitive management-level salary
- Performance-based incentives
- Opportunity to lead a critical regulatory and licensing function
- Exposure to senior management, Legal, Compliance, Government Relations, Finance, and Operations
- Professional development in regulatory affairs and corporate governance
- Career progression toward Senior Licensing Manager, Head of Licensing, Director of Licensing, Head of Regulatory Affairs, or Chief Compliance Officer
- Professional and highly collaborative working environment
- Comprehensive benefits package
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