People Specialist

The Role

We’re building the future of money in the Middle East — and our people are at the heart of it. As our People Specialist, you’ll help shape the next chapter of Ziina’s journey by owning the full people experience from hiring through onboarding to team engagement. You'll partner closely with leaders across the business, build scalable systems, and craft experiences that make working at Ziina feel meaningful, energizing, and distinctly us. If you're excited to help us grow thoughtfully, build with intention, and raise the bar for what a high-performing culture looks like in the region, this role is for you.

As a People Specialist at Ziina you will:

• Lead end-to-end hiring processes — from employer branding to closing candidates — helping us bring in exceptional people across tech, product, and business teams
• Design and deliver smooth onboarding and offboarding experiences, handling everything from documentation to IT access to relocation support
• Execute and continuously improve people programs across the full team member lifecycle while ensuring alignment with local labor laws and employment practices across the UAE and broader MENA region
• Organize retreats, offsites, team rituals, and recognition programs that create connection and celebrate impact
• Use AI tools and automation to simplify workflows across hiring, onboarding, and people ops — we love efficiency and smart systems
• Analyze people data to spot patterns, remove friction, and support growth with clear, scalable solutions
• Be the go-to person for our team — answering questions, solving issues, and making sure people feel seen, supported, and set up for success

To succeed in this role, you likely:

• Have 3–5 years of experience in People Ops, Talent, or Generalist roles — with specific experience in the UAE/Middle East
• Have owned hiring processes end-to-end with a focus on business partnership and candidate experience 
• Built mid-size people programs or improved existing ones
• Are organized, self-driven, and able to juggle many moving parts without dropping the ball
• Communicate clearly, kindly, and confidently — whether you're writing an offer letter or running a company-wide initiative
• Are comfortable working with data, tools, and systems — you like figuring out how to make things better and faster
• Thrive in environments that move quickly, embrace change, and celebrate ownership

What would amaze us

• Experience working in fintech, payments, or related industries
• You’ve implemented AI tools in your people processes and can speak to the impact
• You understand the requirements for multiple company types in Dubai that include Freezones and Mainland entities 
• You’ve helped scale a company from Series A to B (or beyond), and know what great looks like at every growth stage

About Ziina

Ziina’s mission is to bring financial freedom to every person in the Middle East. We are building MENA’s consumer and SMB financial platform, starting with a peer-to-peer and merchant wallet. Our team have backgrounds from Apple, Uber, Stripe, Klarna, Revolut, Yandex, and Nubank. Ziina’s payments volumes have grown by 10x YoY for the last two years. The team have built a product that is beloved by the UAE and is the recipient of 8 international design awards, including the Red Dot Award and the UX Design Award. Our last round was a $22 million Series A from top-tier investors globally including Altos Ventures, Fintech Collective, Activant, Long Journey Ventures and Y Combinator. Our angel investors include early employees and executives at Revolut, Stripe, Venmo, Brex, Checkout.com, Notion, and Deel.

Join us in shaping the future of financial freedom. Every role here is an opportunity to make a real impact. Let’s build something that matters—together.