Chief Operating Officer

Job description

**Chief Operating Officer** Doha, Qatar · Full-time · Reports to the Chief Executive Officer # **The opportunity** Three regions, four billion people, and some of the deepest pools of patient capital on earth are building their AI economies now. UTOPIA sits where sovereign capital, company-building and AI infrastructure meet: a regulated fund manager and a venture studio run as one platform out of Doha. We are hiring the operator who builds the machine itself. You will create the platform’s operating backbone: the finance engine, the compliance architecture, the people system, and the operating rhythm that lets sovereign-grade capital move at venture speed. The company being built here is UTOPIA. # **About UTOPIA** UTOPIA is a venture platform headquartered in Doha, combining UTOPIA Capital Management LLC, a QFCRA-regulated fund manager running two early-stage funds (A-typical Ventures across the Middle East, and The Radical Fund across Southeast Asia), with The UTOPIA Studio, an AI-native venture studio that co-builds companies with domain experts. Both run on UTOPIA OS, a proprietary technology and intelligence layer that cuts the cost of building AI-native companies by more than half. A team of 30 runs capital deployment, company-building and infrastructure together across the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa. UTOPIA is anchored by sovereign wealth and Qatar’s leading development institutions, and invested in by family offices, high-net-worth investors and foundations. # **Why now** Emerging markets drive 70% of global infrastructure demand and grow twice as fast as Western economies, yet receive around 15% of global venture funding. AI has collapsed the cost and time of building companies at the same moment these markets enter an infrastructure boom. UTOPIA was built for this window. The platform is live and compounding. The funds are deploying, with an active portfolio of 15+ companies across the Middle East and Southeast Asia alone: AI-powered financial intelligence for SMEs in the Gulf, Arabic-native data governance in Saudi Arabia, energy transition and circular-economy ventures from Vietnam to Indonesia. The Studio has 30+ fellows building AI-native companies across emerging and global markets, from clinical AI at the cardiology bedside to post-quantum security, each moving from idea toward Series A in under 24 months on the platform’s own infrastructure. This role of the COO touches all of it: sovereign wealth relationships, a regulated fund manager and a venture studio, reporting to the founder. The operating decisions of the next twelve months set the platform’s shape for the next decade. # **The role** The COO is the platform’s senior operating executive and touches finance, compliance, operations and people that keeps a regulated, multi-entity venture platform running: a finance-weighted COO mandate. The role is accountable for group finance with the CFO, runs platform operations including HR; and carries day-to-day regulatory readiness alongside the CEO, who holds the Senior Executive Function. The COO also partners with the CEO to run the Studio and the Fund Manager as one team, with one culture and one set of Group KPIs. The division of labour is deliberate: the CEO sets direction and owns capital formation, boards and external relationships; the COO builds and runs the machine. Direct accountability: Finance; Operations & HR, Legal & Compliance (to be hired); Brand & Communications. # **What you will own** Four connected areas that together form the operating backbone of the platform: cross-entity leadership, finance, operations and people, and regulatory & compliance. **Cross-entity operating leadership.** - Build the group operating system with the CEO: a single group-wide KPI framework, with the reporting and review cadences that give the CEO one current view of delivery across all entities. - Standardise operating systems, tooling and management information across entities, so the platform can add vehicles and ventures without adding proportional overhead. - Build the one-team culture: shared operating rituals, communication cadence and clear decision rights that keep the Studio and the Fund Manager pulling toward common Group outcomes. **Finance (through the CFO).** - Accountability for the finance together with the CFO, across the management company, the funds and the studio: budgeting, forecasting, management accounts, audit and treasury. - Oversee fund finance through the CFO: NAV processes, capital calls and distributions, LP financial reporting, and carry/waterfall mechanics. - Oversee Studio finance through the CFO: ownership of the Studio budget and financial oversight of its external funding arrangements, including deployment against contracted milestones, funder reporting and audit readiness. - Capital discipline and reporting: platform runway management, cost control and spend phasing across entities, with consistent, reconciled board-grade numbers across board packs, LP reports and regulatory filings. **Operations & people.** - Own platform infrastructure and resilience: entity administration, vendor strategy, business continuity, fund administration oversight and risk cover across the Group. - Own the people agenda end-to-end: hiring plans, performance and compensation frameworks, and the immigration and administrative infrastructure that keeps a multi-jurisdiction team running. - Build scalable processes that serve both the Studio and the Fund Manager: one plan per function, with explicit capacity splits. - Own brand and communications as a platform function, ensuring output reflects the institutional standard the platform’s investor base expects. **Regulatory & compliance (co-managed with the CEO).** - Lead day-to-day management of the relationship with the platform’s regulator alongside the CEO: supervisory engagement, regulatory assessment visits and remediation follow-through. - Own the compliance infrastructure: policies, AML/CFT oversight and regulatory filings, working with the Compliance lead and external counsel. - Own board governance operations, including calendars, papers, minutes and resolution follow-through, working closely with the CEO on board strategy. # **Who we are looking for** An operator who has run the engine room of an investment platform and wants to build the next one from closer to the front. You will sit closer to capital, regulators and company formation in your first quarter than most operators do in a career. - You have spent 10–15+ years in senior finance and operating leadership, including real time as CFO, COO or Head of Finance & Operations in a regulated investment business. - You have operated funds, venture studios or accelerators. You are comfortable with capital calls, fund admin, LP reports and board packs. - You know fund economics: NAV, carry and fee mechanics, waterfalls, management company finances. - You have collaborated or worked with a financial regulator (QFCRA, DFSA, FSRA or comparable) - You have built HR and operations in a lean, multi-entity organisation - A recognised finance qualification (CA, CPA, ACCA or CFA) is beneficial s. - Middle East and/or Emerging markets experience is advantageous - Soft Skills - You work well under pressure;You hold senior colleagues to account and hold your ground, and you build trust fast with founders, institutions and regulators. - You find building an institution exciting, especially in markets that are rapidly changing and growing # **Why this Role** - The role: finance, compliance, operations and people under one mandate, reporting directly to the CEO - the kind of exposure that takes a decade to get inside a large institution. - The context: sovereign-grade anchor partners, a regulated environment and a mandate aligned with Qatar’s national development agenda. - The location: Doha , at the centre of the capital funding the next decade, with tax-free compensation and summer flexibility. - Ownership: carry across the platform’s vehicles and equity in the ventures you help build, structured at offer. # **Process** Please share a CV and answer the following questions. Conversations will include the CEO, Studio Directors and board representatives (TBC). The appointment is subject to standard background checks and, where applicable, QFCRA approvals. We believe innovation should be inclusive and globally distributed. Our team is built on openness, curiosity, and collaboration — with people from across the GCC, Africa, and Southeast Asia working together to build meaningful ventures. All roles are based in Doha, Qatar, with flexible hybrid options and global travel opportunities (unless otherwise stated). We welcome talent from every background to join us in shaping the future of AI-native innovation.