Fractional Executive Search.

The right leader, for exactly as long as it matters.

Abu Dhabi is the Capital of Capital. The sovereign funds ADIA, Mubadala and L'Imad Holding, alongside ADNOC, steer the institutions a growing business must answer to the moment it raises their money or supplies their ecosystem. We place curated fractional leaders directly into Abu Dhabi businesses, embedded for exactly the share of time the role requires, so you carry that scrutiny with the calibre of operator it demands.

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The Abu Dhabi skyline in clear daytime light

350+Curated and vetted executives

54%Of Abu Dhabi GDP now non-oil

30–60%Less than a full-time hire

Governance as a service

We do not make an introduction and step away

Hire one leader and the perspective of the whole collective comes with them. We provide the support, structure and governance that keep the engagement working across Abu Dhabi's ADGM-regulated environment and the wider GRE supply chain. The executive holds the decisions in their domain, embeds with the team, and owns the outcomes. We remain in the background, ensuring the engagement delivers the board-readiness a company inherits the day institutional capital lands.

An operator, not an adviserYour leader embeds in the team, executes, and is measured on business outcomes, not on deliverables or decks. They carry the institutional governance and board-reporting expectations that arrive the moment a company takes Mubadala or L'Imad capital, or sells into the ADNOC and GRE supply chain.

Fluent in the ADGM regimeADGM on Al Maryah and Reem Islands applies English common law directly, with its own courts and Companies Regulations - a different system from Dubai's DIFC and from UAE federal civil law. Our collective of 350+ vetted executives operates fluently inside it, across finance, operations, technology and more.

The roles we place

A full C-suite, on the terms a growing business needs

We focus on the leadership functions that move a company forward. Start with one, or build the bench.

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COO

Chief Operating Officer

CFO

Chief Financial Officer

CTO

Chief Technology Officer

CRO

Chief Revenue Officer

CMO

Chief Marketing Officer

CHRO

Chief Human Resources Officer

Proven leadership

Our executives have led at the companies you know

The Abu Dhabi commercial case

Senior leadership, without the permanent liability

An engagement is company to company, contracted between two legal entities with no employment relationship created. Under the ADGM Employment Regulations 2024, in force since 1 April 2025, end-of-service gratuity is now uncapped, so a permanent senior hire is a growing liability, and on a mainland entity that hire also consumes a Nafis headcount slot. A fractional engagement gives you board-level capability for the share of time the work needs, at 30 to 60% less than a full-time executive, with one month's notice to scale up, down or out. It puts the calibre of operator that was previously the preserve of the sovereign funds and GREs within reach of a growing Abu Dhabi business, and it keeps the balance sheet clean.

Brief a search

No permanent headcount

The engagement is a company-to-company contract. No salary on the payroll and no headcount to carry.

No Nafis headcount slot

A fractional executive engaged company to company does not consume a mainland Emiratisation headcount slot or trigger a permanent-visa obligation.

No end-of-service accrual

The ADGM Employment Regulations 2024 removed the two-year cap on end-of-service gratuity. A company-to-company engagement accrues none of that liability.

One month's notice

Scale the engagement up or down, or step away, on one month. You keep the optionality.

Business to business

A company-to-company arrangement, invoiced cleanly between entities. Senior leadership without the employment.

How an engagement works

From the moment to the match, in weeks

Tell us where you need leadership in Abu Dhabi and we handle the rest, whether the moment is a Hub71 cohort, a raise from a sovereign-linked fund, or a place on a GRE supplier roster. The first conversation does most of the work.

Tell us the moment

Share where you need leadership: a finance lead departing, a raise ahead, operations outgrowing the founder.

A working conversation

We talk through the brief and sharpen the requirement together, so the match is right.

The match

We search our collective of 350+ curated and vetted executives for the closest fit, and you choose.

Deployment

Your leader embeds within weeks, holds the decisions in their domain, and gets to work.

Common questions

The questions founders ask first

A senior C-suite leader, typically with 20 or more years of operating experience, who embeds in your business on a part-time or retained basis. They are not a consultant who advises and steps away. They hold the decisions in their domain, execute alongside your team, and are accountable to measurable outcomes, for the share of time the role actually requires.

Yes, and it matters. ADGM on Al Maryah and Reem Islands applies English common law directly, with its own courts, a distinct regime from Dubai's DIFC and from UAE federal civil law. The capital's economy is oriented around sovereign capital and the GRE ecosystem rather than trade and tourism, and its business culture is more institution-led and relationship-driven. Our collective is fluent in that ecosystem, not in generic UAE free-zone language.

Engagements are contracted company to company, invoiced cleanly, and typically cost 30 to 60% less than a full-time executive hire. An ADGM-regulated finance leader can command 20 to 35% above a mainland equivalent, and the ADGM Employment Regulations 2024 made end-of-service gratuity uncapped, so the saving compounds. There are no recruitment fees, no benefits to administer, and no gratuity accrual on the arrangement. Engagements usually run six to twenty-four months, with one month's notice to scale up, scale down, or conclude.

The model is well suited to family businesses professionalising their governance, ADGM-based financial services and investment firms requiring experienced finance or risk leadership, Hub71 scale-ups needing their first senior CFO or COO, and companies supplying the ADNOC and IHC ecosystems where ICV certification gates contract access. Any business that needs genuine C-suite capability but cannot yet justify the fixed cost of a full-time executive is a natural candidate.

Most engagements move from an initial conversation to a matched executive within a few weeks. Behind every placement sits our collective of 350+ curated and vetted executives across finance, operations, technology, revenue and people functions. Your leader can draw on that depth when the work requires it, so you are not dependent on a single individual's knowledge.

Get started

The home of fractional leadership.

Tell us where you need leadership in Abu Dhabi, whether you are entering a Hub71 cohort, raising from Mubadala or L'Imad, or supplying the ADNOC and GRE ecosystem. We will match a vetted executive from our collective in weeks, with no permanent headcount and one month's notice.

Find your leader