Chief Development Officer

Ladwig Consulting; Dubai; On-site; AED 900,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Ladwig Consulting represents a luxury real estate developer in Dubai seeking a Chief Development Officer to lead development strategy and oversee the full lifecycle of major assets. You will drive portfolio governance, product concepts, design and construction oversight, stakeholder and investor engagement, and post‑completion value optimization while building a high‑performance, compliant organization.

This is a high‑impact, executive role requiring 15+ years of experience and a proven track

Qualifications

• 15+ years in large-scale real estate or mixed-use development with full lifecycle oversight.
• Strong strategic, commercial, and financial acumen, including feasibility review and portfolio prioritization.
• Proven leadership across product strategy, design management, construction delivery, and value engineering.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the company’s development strategy, ensuring alignment with growth objectives and market opportunities.
• Oversee the entire development portfolio and prioritize projects based on commercial and strategic value.
• Approve product roadmaps, standards, and major design or product changes across stages.
• Ensure cross-functional cohesion between product, commercial, design, construction, and project management.
• Provide executive oversight to design and construction lifecycle and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Lead governance and stakeholder engagement with authorities, investors, and partners.
• Develop senior leaders and cascade KPIs across development divisions.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Portfolio governance

Financial modeling

Stakeholder management

Regulatory approvals

Team leadership

Product strategy

Construction oversight

Investor relations

RFP & contracting

Job description

Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Posted on 11/25/2025

Our client, a luxury real estate developer are looking for theChief Development Officer to join their team.

Responsibilities:

• Jointly with CEO:
  

1. Define and lead the company’s development strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate growth objectives and market opportunities.

2. Oversee the entire development portfolio and prioritize projects based on commercial, financial, and strategic value.

3. Approve concept strategies, feasibility outcomes, product propositions, and project positioning.

• Ensure cross-functional cohesion between product, commercial, design, construction, and project management.
  

2. Product & Concept Governance

• Oversee the creation and evolution of product strategy, product matrix, standards, and product-related KPIs.
  
• Ensure product concepts are viable, competitive, and aligned with customer insights, market research, and financial models.
  
• Approve product roadmaps, technical standards, and major design or product changes across all stages.
  
• Champion innovation in architecture, materials, design, sustainability, and smart-building technologies.
  

3. Design & Construction Oversight

• Provide executive oversight to the complete design and construction lifecycle.
  
• Approve design briefs, technical specifications, engineering strategies, and value-engineering decisions.
  
• Ensure all pre-design, design, and construction stages meet regulatory requirements and land-use conditions.
  
• Oversee tendering strategies, contractor and consultant selection, and contractual frameworks.
  
• Ensure construction progress, quality, cost, and schedule adherence through effective governance practices.
  
• Lead high-level stakeholder engagement with authorities and regulatory bodies for approvals and compliance.
  
• Oversee commercial strategy development, ensuring integration with design, product, and sales positioning.
  
• Approve commercial frameworks, procurement plans, contracting strategies, and project cashflow forecasting.
  
• Ensure pre-contract cost control is aligned with business case assumptions and feasibility outcomes.
  
• Validate financial models, development budgets, and project profitability projections.
  
• Drive value engineering, cost optimization, and ROI enhancement initiatives across the project portfolio.
  

5. Project Governance & Execution Excellence

• Establish project delivery frameworks, governance structures, reporting systems, and performance metrics.
  
• Oversee project planning, scheduling, risk assessments, and mitigation strategies across all projects.
  
• Ensure PMs deliver projects according to scope, quality standards, budget, and timelines.
  
• Resolve escalated project issues, interdependencies, and critical path challenges.
  
• Lead gate reviews and ensure clarity of deliverables for every development stage.
  

6. Stakeholder & Investor Engagement

• Serve as the executive representative to master developers, and major project partners.
  
• Provide senior updates to investors, shareholders and the Board on project performance and development strategy.
  
• Support marketing and sales teams with technical, product and development insights during launches and campaigns.
  

7. Leadership of Development Divisions

• Lead, mentor, and develop senior leaders across commercial, design & construction, product, and project management teams.
  
• Build a high-performance culture emphasizing accountability, innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
  
• Ensure departmental KPIs cascade from company-level development objectives.
  
• Approve resourcing strategies, organizational structures, and capability development plans.
  
• Oversee final testing, commissioning, quality checks, and authority sign-offs.
  
• Ensure smooth transition of completed assets to operations, owners’ associations, or facility management teams.
  
• Conduct post-completion reviews and integrate lessons learned into future development practices.
  

Requirements

Skills & Experience

• 15+ years in large-scale real estate or mixed-use development with full lifecycle oversight.
  
• Strong strategic, commercial, and financial acumen, including feasibility review and portfolio prioritization.
  
• Proven leadership across product strategy, design management, construction delivery, and value engineering.
  
• Expertise in project governance, risk management, contracting, and regulatory/authority approvals.
  
• Executive-level stakeholder, investor, and board engagement experience with excellent communication skills.
  
• Strong people leader with a track record of building high-performance, cross-functional development teams.