Director Special Projects & Performance - MENA

talabat; Dubai; On-site; AED 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Talabat, part of Delivery Hero, seeks a Director of Special Projects & Performance to lead regional initiatives across eight markets, driving business performance and strategic alignment. The role blends senior stakeholder engagement with hands-on problem solving, including AI-driven improvements and market turnarounds.

You will manage a team of around five, partnering with the CIO and market MDs to deliver diagnostics to execution, with regular travel across the MENA region to push initiatives

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in high-growth tech, market leadership, strategy, management consulting, or investment banking.
• Willingness to travel regularly across the MENA region, hands-on and frontline.
• Strong financial acumen - P&L ownership, financial modelling, budgeting.
• Highly analytical with ability to operate at ExCo level.
• Experience leading turnaround projects or cross-functional strategic initiatives end-to-end.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and moving quickly without perfect information.
• AI fluency and experience applying AI tools to enhance analytics and operations.

Responsibilities

• Oversee regional performance and P&L management across all talabat markets (Food and Q-commerce).
• Partner with market MDs and regional finance on budgeting, forecasting, andBE cycles.
• Drive cross-market alignment on strategic priorities and ensure execution.
• Act as right hand to CIO—prepare ExCo reviews and senior leadership narratives.
• Lead market turnaround projects and end-to-end strategic initiatives.
• Identify and drive AI adoption across performance functions and new tools.
• Build and lead a lean, high-performing team with clear goals and accountability.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Analytical thinking

AI literacy

Stakeholder management

Travel readiness

Job description

Talabat is part of the Delivery Hero Group, the world’s pioneering local delivery platform, our mission is to deliver an amazing experience—fast, easy, and to your door. We operate in around 65 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Delivery Hero has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2017 and is part of the MDAX stock market index.

Job Description

Who Are We?

Since launching in Kuwait in 2004, talabat, the leading on-demand food and Q-commerce app for everyday deliveries, has been offering convenience and reliability to its customers. talabat’s local roots run deep, offering a real understanding of the needs of the communities we serve in eight countries across the region.

We harness innovative technology and knowledge to simplify everyday life for our customers, optimize operations for our restaurants, local shops and tmarts, and provide our riders with reliable earning opportunities daily.

Here at talabat, we are building a high performance culture through engaged workforce and growing talent density. We're all about keeping it real and making a difference. Our 6,000+ strong talabaty are on an awesome mission to spread positive vibes. We are proud to be a great place to work award winner.

Role Summary

The Director, Special Projects & Performance is a senior regional leadership role within the CIO office at talabat. This role operates across all eight talabat markets with focus on both food and Quick commerce - driving business performance, owning cross-market strategic initiatives, and serving as a key thought partner to the CIO and market Managing Directors. The role leads a team of around five people, with direct responsibility for their development, performance, and growth.

While the role carries significant strategic weight, it is equally operational - with a clear expectation to drive execution on the ground, work directly alongside market teams, and see initiatives through from diagnosis to execution. It demands someone who can move fluidly between senior stakeholder engagement and hands-on problem solving, who can diagnose what is broken in a market and lead the effort to fix it - and who thrives in environments where the problems are real and the stakes are high.

What's On Your Plate?

Regional Performance & P&L Management

• Oversee business performance across all talabat markets, tracking trends, anomalies, and opportunities across Food and Q-commerce
• Partner with market MDs and regional finance teams on annual budgeting, forecasting, and Best Estimate (BE) cycles
• Hold markets accountable to financial targets; proactively surface risks and corrective actions when performance deviates
• Prepare data-driven performance reviews and strategic recommendations for ExCo

Strategic Partner to the CIO

• Act as the right hand to the CIO - synthesising complex business situations into clear recommendations for leadership
• Prepare the CIO for exco reviews, regional check-ins, and senior leadership forums with sharp analysis and structured narratives
• Drive cross-market alignment on strategic priorities, ensuring decisions translate into coordinated execution on the ground
• Represent the CIO in cross-functional and cross-market discussions as required

Market Turnaround & Special Projects

• Travel regularly to markets to work directly alongside MDs and their teams on performance turnaround initiatives
• Diagnose root causes of underperformance and co-develop actionable recovery plans
• Lead end-to-end strategic and special projects across markets, from scoping and structuring through to delivery

Innovation & AI

• Identify and drive innovation opportunities across markets
• Work with regional and market teams to test, scale, and embed new tools and ways of working
• Lead AI adoption efforts across performance functions, identifying high-value use cases and owning rollout

Team Leadership

• Build and lead a lean, high-performing team - setting clear goals, providing sharp feedback, and holding a high bar for output
• Develop team members into strong, independent contributors capable of operating at the market level
• Foster a culture of ownership, intellectual rigour, and continuous improvement

Qualifications

What Are We Looking For?

• 10+ years of experience in high-growth tech, market leadership / chief of staff roles, strategy, management consulting, or investment banking
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly across the MENA region, being fully hands-on and working on the frontline
• Strong financial acumen - P&L ownership, financial modelling, budgeting
• Highly analytical
• Proven ability to operate at ExCo level and manage senior stakeholders across multiple markets
• Experience leading turnaround projects or cross-functional strategic initiatives end to end
• Comfortable with ambiguity - able to structure and move quickly without waiting for perfect information
• AI fluency - experience applying AI tools to enhance analytical and operational efficiency