Development Manager

Khazna Data Centers; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Khazna Data Centers seeks a Development Manager to drive strategic development across site origination, land coordination, permitting readiness, and pre-development activities for priority projects under the Special Projects function.

The role partners with the Senior Manager – Program Delivery and cross-functional teams to evaluate feasibility, manage interfaces, and guide governance while aligning with approved business and delivery requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Industrial Engineering, Urban Planning, or a related field; Master’s degree is an advantage.
• 8–12 years of experience in real estate, infrastructure, industrial, or data centre development.
• Experience in UAE / GCC development environments, including permitting and land transactions.
• Experience supporting governance, business case development, and transition into delivery.
• Exposure to partnerships, co-development models, or transaction-led development is advantageous.
• Experience in data centres, mission-critical infrastructure, or complex built environments is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Support progression of strategic development opportunities aligned with business priorities.
• Manage multiple development workstreams across site origination, land, permits, and pre-development activities.
• Track project status, milestones, risks, and dependencies; escalate issues affecting feasibility or readiness.
• Coordinate site origination activities with landowners, brokers, developers, and infrastructure providers.
• Support due diligence and commercial assessments for viability and attractiveness.
• Coordinate utility strategy, service provider engagement, permitting, and regulatory approvals.
• Ensure alignment across land, utilities, permitting, technical feasibility, and phasing assumptions.
• Monitor critical-path development activities and dependencies affecting progression.

Skills

Site origination

Land transactions

Permitting

Utility coordination

Pre-development

Governance

Stakeholder engagement

Development planning

Education

Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering

Master’s degree (advantage)

Job description

Since 2012, Khazna has become the leading wholesale data center provider in the Middle East and North Africa, delivering reliable and scalable infrastructure to support the region’s growing digital ecosystem.

We are seeking Development Manager responsible for supporting and progressing strategic development opportunities across site origination, land and utility coordination, permitting readiness, development planning, and transition into execution for priority projects under the Special Projects function. The role works closely with the Senior Manager – Program Delivery and cross-functional stakeholders to manage development workstreams, evaluate opportunity feasibility, coordinate key internal and external interfaces, and support governance processes to ensure projects are advanced in line with approved business, customer, and delivery requirements.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Support the progression of strategic development opportunities in line with approved business priorities and project objectives.
• Manage multiple development workstreams across site, utilities, permitting, and pre-development activities to ensure timely progression of opportunities.
• Track project status, key milestones, risks, and dependencies, escalating issues that may impact feasibility, programme, or readiness for investment and execution decisions.
• Support the identification, screening, and evaluation of development opportunities across site acquisition, land origination, partnerships, and other strategic development pathways.
• Coordinate site origination activities, including engagement with landowners, brokers, developers, infrastructure providers, and relevant advisors.
• Support due diligence activities and commercial assessments to help determine the viability and attractiveness of development opportunities.
• Coordinate development activities related to utility strategy, service provider engagement, permitting, regulatory approvals, and development readiness in partnership with internal technical and delivery teams.
• Ensure alignment across land, utilities, permitting, technical feasibility, and phasing assumptions to support viable and scalable development options.
• Monitor critical-path development activities and maintain visibility on approvals, constraints, and dependencies affecting project progression.

QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES:

• Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Industrial Engineering, Urban Planning, or a related field. / Master’s degree is an advantage.
• 8–12 years of experience in real estate, infrastructure, industrial, or data centre development, including experience across site origination, land transactions, permitting, utility coordination, and pre-development activities.
• Experience in UAE / GCC development environments, including exposure to permitting, utility coordination, land transactions, and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience supporting development opportunities through governance, business case development, and transition into delivery is preferred.
• Exposure to partnerships, co-development models, or transaction-led development is advantageous.
• Experience in data centres, mission-critical infrastructure, industrial, logistics, utilities, or complex built environment projects is preferred.