Dr. Saeeda Jaffar

Managing Director, International

Dr Saeeda Jaffar is managing director for Circle in the Middle East and Africa, working with financial institutions, enterprises, fintechs and regulators to accelerate adoption of secure programmable digital currency infrastructure across payments, treasury and cross-border flows. Before joining Circle she was senior vice president at Visa for the Gulf and held leadership roles at McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company and Alvarez & Marsal, with twenty years of experience delivering practical solutions to strategic issues and driving bottom-line impact. An Emirati national, she earned a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University as class valedictorian and master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was listed among Forbes Middle East's hundred most powerful women from 2023 to 2025 and serves on the board of trustees of Kuwait University, as a board adviser to the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center and on the advisory council of the Dubai International Chamber.