Global Strategic Partnerships Director, MEA
Kizuna Edge Talent Hub
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Job summary
Kizuna Edge Talent Hub in Dubai seeks a Global Strategic Partnerships Director to lead the development and execution of a worldwide partnership strategy, forging high-value alliances to drive market expansion, revenue growth and adoption of its technology solutions.
Based across Dubai, South Africa and Kenya, the role connects technology, commerce and ecosystem strategy, requiring senior negotiation and execution to deliver measurable business outcomes across Africa, the Middle East and
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Technology, Economics, Marketing, International Business, Finance or a related discipline.
- Master’s degree or MBA is an advantage.
- Significant experience working with senior executives and large organisations.
- 10+ years of progressive experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or related fields.
- Experience across multiple countries and cultures.
- Experience within technology, digital, fintech, SaaS, telecom or related environments is highly desirable.
Responsibilities
- Lead negotiations for strategic partnership agreements, MOUs and joint ventures.
- Develop and manage a global strategic partnerships strategy aligned to growth and market-expansion goals.
- Build a structured partnership framework across alliances, channels, ecosystems and co-development.
- Identify priority markets, sectors and opportunities with significant commercial value.
- Establish partnership targets, KPIs, revenue objectives and dashboards.
- Forge executive-level relationships and manage complex cross-border negotiations.
Skills
Education
Job description
Industry: Technology
Location: Dubai / South Africa / Kenya
Function: Global Partnerships & Business Development
Reports To: Chief Commercial Officer
Level: Director / Executive Leadership
Travel: Regional and international travel required
The Global Strategic Partnerships Director will lead the development, execution and growth of the company’s global strategic partnership strategy, identifying and building high-value relationships that accelerate market expansion, revenue growth, customer acquisition, product adoption and long-term competitive advantage.
The role will operate at the intersection of technology, commercial strategy, business development and ecosystem development, building relationships with multinational corporations, technology companies, financial institutions, governments, development organisations, investors, industry bodies, channel partners and other strategic stakeholders.
Based across Dubai, South Africa and Kenya, the Director will play a critical role in connecting the company’s technology, products and solutions to high-value opportunities across Africa, the Middle East and international markets.
This is a commercially focused leadership role requiring an individual who can move seamlessly from strategy to relationship building to negotiation to execution, while creating partnerships that deliver measurable business outcomes.
- Develop and lead the company’s global strategic partnerships strategy in alignment with corporate growth, revenue and market-expansion objectives.
- Identify priority markets, sectors, organisations and partnership categories capable of creating significant commercial and strategic value.
- Develop a structured partnership framework covering strategic alliances, technology partnerships, channel partnerships, distribution partnerships, ecosystem partnerships, institutional partnerships and co-development opportunities.
- Build and maintain a global strategic partnerships pipeline, prioritising opportunities based on commercial potential, strategic relevance, scalability and long-term value.
- Establish partnership targets, KPIs, revenue objectives and performance dashboards to measure partnership contribution.
- Provide senior leadership with regular intelligence on market opportunities, emerging ecosystems, competitors, technology trends and potential strategic alliances.
- Develop market-entry and partnership strategies for new geographies and business verticals.
- Identify and convert strategic partnership opportunities into measurable revenue, customer acquisition, market access and business growth.
- Develop joint business opportunities with partners, including co-selling, cross-selling, referral, distribution, licensing, integration and go-to-market models.
- Build commercial cases and partnership proposals demonstrating mutual value, revenue potential and strategic alignment.
- Work closely with sales and commercial teams to convert strategic partnerships into qualified opportunities and sustainable revenue streams.
- Develop long-term commercial relationships with organisations capable of generating significant enterprise and institutional business.
- Identify opportunities to expand existing partnerships into new markets, products, customer segments and revenue streams.
- Establish partnership-driven revenue forecasts and track performance against agreed commercial objectives.
- Identify, research and engage potential strategic partners across technology, telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, logistics, energy, professional services, government, development and other relevant sectors.
- Build relationships with C-suite executives, founders, investors, government officials, business leaders and senior decision-makers.
- Develop targeted partner acquisition strategies for multinational and regional organisations.
- Lead initial engagement, qualification, relationship development and partnership negotiations.
- Create compelling partnership propositions tailored to the strategic objectives of each partner.
- Establish a strong network of senior-level contacts across Africa, the Middle East and international markets.
- Lead negotiations for strategic partnership agreements, commercial arrangements, memoranda of understanding, joint ventures, referral agreements, distribution agreements and other partnership structures.
- Define commercial terms, responsibilities, performance expectations, governance structures and success metrics.
- Work with legal, finance, product and commercial teams to ensure partnership agreements are commercially viable and appropriately structured.
- Manage complex negotiations involving multiple stakeholders, markets and business units.
- Ensure partnerships have clear business cases, implementation plans, ownership and measurable outcomes before execution.
- Protect the company’s commercial interests while developing sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships.
- Build strategic relationships with technology providers, software companies, cloud platforms, fintechs, digital platforms, system integrators and other technology ecosystems.
- Identify opportunities for technology integrations that strengthen the company’s product offering and customer proposition.
- Develop ecosystem partnerships that increase product distribution, accessibility and market reach.
- Identify complementary technologies and solutions that can be integrated into the company’s ecosystem.
- Explore opportunities for co-development, APIs, integrations, white-label solutions, platform partnerships and technology alliances.
- Monitor emerging technologies and identify partnership opportunities that can create competitive differentiation.
- Develop strategic relationships that support the company’s expansion across African and Middle Eastern markets.
- Leverage Dubai as a global commercial and investment hub to establish international relationships and connect the company to global partners.
- Build partnerships across key African markets, with particular emphasis on Kenya and South Africa as strategic commercial and ecosystem markets.
- Identify regional partners capable of providing market access, distribution, customer acquisition, regulatory navigation and local expertise.
- Develop country-specific partnership strategies while maintaining a consistent global partnership framework.
- Establish relationships with regional and multinational organisations operating across multiple African and Middle Eastern markets.
- Develop relationships with large enterprises, multinational organisations, financial institutions, development organisations, governments and public-sector entities.
- Identify opportunities where the company’s technology can solve significant business, operational or societal challenges.
- Lead strategic engagement with senior executives and institutional decision-makers.
- Develop partnership proposals for large-scale deployments and enterprise programmes.
- Build multi-year strategic relationships rather than transactional business arrangements.
- Identify opportunities for public-private partnerships and ecosystem-led technology initiatives where commercially relevant.
- Develop joint go-to-market strategies with strategic partners.
- Create partner-led customer acquisition and distribution models.
- Work with marketing and sales teams to develop joint campaigns, events, thought-leadership initiatives and market-development programmes.
- Coordinate co-branded initiatives designed to increase awareness, credibility and customer acquisition.
- Develop partner enablement programmes, sales materials and commercial propositions.
- Track the performance and commercial contribution of partner-led go-to-market initiatives.
- Manage the company’s portfolio of strategic partnerships from acquisition through implementation, growth and renewal.
- Establish governance structures for key partnerships, including regular executive reviews and performance assessments.
- Monitor partner performance against agreed commercial and strategic KPIs.
- Identify underperforming partnerships and develop corrective action plans.
- Continuously identify opportunities to deepen, expand or restructure high-potential partnerships.
- Ensure strategic partners remain aligned with the company’s evolving business strategy and product roadmap.
- Work closely with the CEO, CCO, sales, marketing, product, technology, finance, legal and operations teams to deliver partnership objectives.
- Translate strategic partnership opportunities into actionable internal business plans.
- Ensure internal teams understand partner commitments, commercial objectives and delivery requirements.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams during complex partnership negotiations and implementations.
- Represent the voice of strategic partners internally and ensure partner needs are incorporated into relevant business decisions.
- Establish a culture of partnership accountability across the organisation.
- Serve as a senior representative of the company in discussions with global partners and strategic stakeholders.
- Build trusted relationships with CEOs, C-suite executives, founders, investors and senior government and institutional leaders.
- Represent the company at international technology conferences, investment forums, industry events and executive-level meetings.
- Develop the company’s strategic network and reputation within relevant technology and business ecosystems.
- Maintain relationships beyond individual transactions to create long-term strategic value.
- Monitor global technology, investment, regulatory, commercial and ecosystem trends relevant to the company.
- Identify shifts in customer behaviour, technology adoption, funding, regulation and competitive dynamics that could create partnership opportunities or risks.
- Conduct partnership and market opportunity assessments.
- Provide executive leadership with actionable recommendations based on market intelligence.
- Benchmark partnership models and emerging ecosystem strategies.
- Identify potential strategic acquisitions, investments or alliances where relevant to the company’s growth strategy.
The successful candidate will be expected to deliver:
- A clearly defined and commercially focused global strategic partnerships strategy.
- A qualified and continuously growing strategic partnership pipeline.
- High-value partnerships across Africa, the Middle East and international markets.
- Measurable partnership-generated revenue and business opportunities.
- New market-entry and market-expansion opportunities.
- Strategic technology and ecosystem alliances.
- Enterprise and institutional partnerships.
- Joint go-to-market initiatives with selected partners.
- Strong executive-level relationships across priority markets.
- A scalable partnership management and governance framework.
- Regular partnership performance reporting to executive leadership.
Performance will be measured against agreed annual and quarterly targets, including:
- Partnership-generated revenue.
- Value of partnership pipeline.
- Number and value of signed strategic agreements.
- New customers acquired through partnerships.
- Revenue growth from existing strategic partners.
- Partner contribution to overall business growth.
- Number of new markets entered through partnerships.
- Strategic partners established in priority markets.
- Enterprise and institutional relationships developed.
- Market access achieved through strategic alliances.
- Partner retention and renewal.
- Partner engagement and activity levels.
- Growth of strategic accounts.
- Joint initiatives successfully launched.
- Partnership ROI.
- Technology integrations completed.
- New distribution channels established.
- Ecosystem opportunities developed.
- Strategic relationships with global technology and institutional players.
- Contribution of partnerships to the company’s long-term growth strategy.
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Technology, Economics, Marketing, International Business, Finance or a related discipline.
- Master’s degree or MBA is an advantage.
- Professional qualifications in business development, partnerships, technology, strategy or related fields are advantageous.
- 10+ years of progressive experience in strategic partnerships, business development, commercial strategy, enterprise sales, technology or a related field.
- Significant experience working with senior executives and large organisations.
- Demonstrated experience developing and closing complex strategic partnerships.
- Experience working across multiple countries and cultures.
- Experience within a technology, digital, fintech, SaaS, telecommunications, platform, consulting or technology-enabled business environment is highly desirable.
The ideal candidate should demonstrate:
- Strong strategic partnership development experience.
- Proven commercial and business development capability.
- Experience managing complex enterprise relationships.
- Strong understanding of technology ecosystems and digital business models.
- Experience developing partnership and go-to-market strategies.
- Strong contract and commercial negotiation experience.
- Understanding of channel, distribution and ecosystem partnership models.
- Experience developing market-entry strategies.
- Strong financial and commercial acumen.
- Ability to assess partnership economics and ROI.
- Experience working across African and international markets.
- Strong understanding of the Middle East and African business environment is highly desirable.
- Experience working with multinational organisations is an advantage.
Ability to understand the company’s long-term objectives and translate them into scalable partnership opportunities.
Strong understanding of revenue models, business economics, enterprise sales and value creation.
Ability to establish trusted relationships with senior decision-makers and turn relationships into long-term strategic partnerships.
Strong ability to negotiate complex commercial arrangements and reach mutually beneficial agreements.
Confidence and credibility when engaging CEOs, boards, investors, government leaders and senior executives.
Ability to influence internal and external stakeholders without relying solely on formal authority.
Ability to identify opportunities in new markets and build the partnerships required to enter and scale within them.
Ability to move beyond relationship-building and ensure partnerships translate into measurable commercial outcomes.
Ability to work effectively across different countries, cultures, business environments and regulatory contexts.
Ability to identify unconventional partnership opportunities and develop new commercial models.
The successful candidate will be:
- Commercially driven and results-oriented.
- Highly strategic but equally comfortable executing at operational level.
- A natural relationship builder and networker.
- Confident engaging senior executives and institutional stakeholders.
- Entrepreneurial and opportunity-oriented.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-moving technology environment.
- Curious about emerging technologies and business models.
- Strongly analytical and commercially minded.
- Persistent and capable of managing long sales and partnership cycles.
- Comfortable working across multiple countries and time zones.
- Skilled at navigating ambiguity and building structure where none exists.
- A strong communicator, presenter and negotiator.
- Able to balance short-term commercial opportunities with long-term strategic value.
The position requires significant interaction across Dubai, Kenya, South Africa and other international markets. The successful candidate should be comfortable with frequent international travel, executive-level meetings, industry events, partner negotiations and cross-border business development.
The role will require flexibility to work across different time zones and engage stakeholders across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and other international markets.
After the first 12 months, the successful Global Strategic Partnerships Director should have:
- Established a robust global strategic partnership framework.
- Built a strong pipeline of high-value partnership opportunities.
- Developed relationships with key enterprise, technology and institutional stakeholders.
- Secured strategic partnerships capable of generating measurable commercial value.
- Opened new market-access and distribution opportunities.
- Developed strategic technology and ecosystem alliances.
- Established effective partnership governance and performance reporting.
- Demonstrated measurable contribution to revenue, market expansion and customer acquisition.
This role is central to the company’s ambition to scale beyond individual markets and build a globally connected technology business.
The successful candidate will not simply manage existing relationships. They will identify who the company needs to partner with, why the relationship matters, what commercial model should be created, how the partnership should be negotiated and how it can ultimately generate sustainable business growth.
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