Overall I'd say its difficult to 'find a job' randomly that would be satisfactory for him. I think he should consider consulting as an option -- whereby he approaches company and offers this service to them as a way to build a relationship with the owners. Otherwise Financial Controlling jobs are often held by subcontinent nationalities.
There are headhunters in the DIFC -- I believe you search for finance head hunting DIFC in google you will find them.
I checked linkedin this morning:
Synergy recruitment in Abu Dhabi have an FC role
EMAAR are looking for FC
There are another 3 or 4 good roles on there today
good luck!
Agree with kitten67!
I have observed that to get a job in finance sector here, it is better to have some reference in the company at least to secure an interview. There are lot more jobs easily available in sales and marketing. We were trying to find a job for my bro-in-law in finance sector and it was a nightmare. Jobs available are of basic level that too in sales. He applied for so many vacancies but did not even get a phone call. Then what we came to know is that we need a reference which we did not have :(
Hope this helps. All the best with the hunt.
I am also a CA from the UK. I believe that the market has really picked up in the last month or so - I am sure he can find something if he focuses his efforts in the right places. (I recently spoke to a friend who relocated here from Europe last month, also working in Finance. He got 3 interviews in 2 weeks!) But he was super pushy and networked like crazy.
Your husband needs a standout CV and linked in profile (good summary of experience, key technical and commercial highlights, professional pic). There are thousands of qualified accountants in the market so he has to invest some time for this. There will be people in the market with more ME experience, multilingual and willing to work for less money so he needs to promote himself.
I would advise him to try and get a good contact within Michael Page or Robert Half as they typically have the premium Finance jobs. He should still check gulftalent every day too. I would advise him to apply directly to Emirates group, Visa (big finance team in Media city), DWTC - recruiting for Expo 2020 roles. Also tell him to check the FT recruitment pages for Dubai jobs - www.execappointments
Also, if he has contact through his accountancy institute here - ICAEW or ICAS or ACCA etc - tell him to attend their group networking evenings, linked in groups etc and ty to find an opportunity through contacts. Hope this helps! Good luck.