SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Kraken, a leading crypto platform founded in 2011 and trusted by over 10 million users globally, is seeking a Head of Finance & Custody for its newly VARA-regulated Dubai VASP entity. This role combines ownership of core financial and management reporting with day-to-day oversight of client money and virtual asset safeguarding under the entity's VASP licence.
Finance & Regulatory Reporting: You will own monthly, quarterly, and annual management and financial accounts for the VARA VASP entity, including budget-to-actuals review. You'll prepare and submit VARA regulatory reporting packs and serve as the primary point of contact with VARA on finance-related requests. Responsibilities include preparing forecasts and budgets in collaboration with Group FP&A, leading the statutory audit process, developing the finance function's control environment and risk register, and preparing Board presentations on financial performance and capital position.
Client Asset & Custody Safeguarding: You will monitor, control, and report on safeguarding of client money and virtual assets. Daily responsibilities include reconciliation of client virtual assets and client money held in UAE-based accounts, with escalation of material discrepancies to VARA. You'll own the daily reserve asset coverage workbook, maintain client money placement timelines, enforce no-rehypothecation controls, and develop the entity's custody safeguarding procedures and control framework. Additional duties include maintaining the capital matrix and NLA reconciliation, liaising with Group Risk on insurance, owning the breach-notification playbook, and maintaining the client asset return element of the wind-down plan.
Projects & Legal Entity Development: You will lead the finance and safeguarding workstream on local projects and legal entity development, working closely with Group Finance, Group Client Asset Office, Legal, Risk, and Compliance to ensure local requirements are integrated both in-project and across the wider Group.
You are a qualified accountant (ACA, CIMA, ACCA, or equivalent) with significant experience in financial services, ideally with exposure to VARA-regulated or comparable digital-asset regulatory regimes. You bring demonstrable experience in safeguarding, custody, or client asset/client money control environments in crypto, e-money, or investment finance. You are tenacious, control-focused, comfortable owning both traditional financial reporting and custody obligations, and able to operate with minimal supervision in a fast-evolving regulatory environment.
