Senior Manager - Corporate Development & Strategy

Confidential; Dubai; On-site; AED 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential is seeking a senior corporate development professional to drive strategy, M&A and investment evaluation across ports, free zones and logistics, partnering with senior leadership to shape financially grounded decisions.

You will build detailed financial models, lead due diligence, and present results through executive-ready materials, with strong Excel/PowerPoint skills and stakeholder management in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Strong financial modelling, executive presentation, written and verbal communication, and stakeholder-management capabilities.
• Experience in fast-paced strategy consulting, corporate development or investment banking environments.
• Previous experience in logistics and ports is an added advantage.

Responsibilities

• Support or lead end-to-end evaluation of greenfield project feasibilities, business development and M&A opportunities with financial modeling, market research, due diligence and negotiations.
• Build and own detailed financial models with clear risk-return outputs.
• Manage transaction processes with corporate CF&BD team, advisers and legal counsel, including SPA/SHA negotiations and post-close workstreams.
• Lead pre- and post-investment reviews using IRR, NPV, ROI and payback metrics.
• Create decks covering executive summaries and Board approvals.
• Present investments to senior management.
• Define and drive regional strategic agenda with senior leadership and expansion opportunities.
• Develop long-term strategic plans and frameworks for business units.
• Support regional strategy development with regional teams and benchmarking.
• Translate high-level strategy into actionable plans with measurable outcomes.
• Define KPIs and monitor performance against goals.
• Facilitate strategy workshops and cross-functional discussions.
• Demonstrate advanced financial modelling across feasibilities, DCF, multiples, LBO and related metrics.
• Ability to structure ambiguous problems and deliver executive-ready outputs.
• Translate analytics into concise investment papers and slides.
• Experience in due diligence on BD opportunities and acquisitions.
• Deliver complex, cross-functional projects under tight deadlines.
• Proficient in Excel, PowerPoint and leveraging technology/AI.

Skills

Financial modeling

Executive presentations

Stakeholder management

Written communication

Verbal communication

Strategic thinking

Strategy translation

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

To support the delivery of high-impact corporate development and strategy mandates spanning across Ports, Free Zones and Logistics. The role covers strategy setting & execution, business development, M&A and investment evaluation, working closely with senior leadership to drive commercially grounded decision-making. The role requires strong financial modelling, executive presentation, written and verbal communication, and stakeholder-management capabilities. It is suited to candidates with experience in fast-paced strategy consulting, corporate development or investment banking environments. Previous experience in logistics and ports is an added advantage.

Key Responsibilities:

Business Development and M&A

• Support or lead, as required, the end-to-end evaluation of greenfield project feasibilities, business development, and M&A opportunities, covering financial modeling, market research, due diligence, commercial terms negotiation and integration planning.
• Build and own detailed financial models and feasibilities with clear risk-return outputs aligned to Group CF&BD policy.
• Manage transaction processes with the Corporate CF&BD team, external advisers, bankers and legal counsel, including concession agreements, SPA/SHA negotiations, completion accounts and post-close workstreams.
• Initiate and deliver pre- and post-investment reviews for key capital expenditure proposals using IRR, NPV, ROI and payback metrics.
• Create and assemble decks covering executive summaries, Board approvals, project updates.
• Present investments to the senior management
• Define and drive the regional strategic agenda with the SVP of Corporate Development, including multi-year growth priorities, portfolio positioning and corridor-based expansion opportunities.
• Develop and implement long-term strategic plans and provide frameworks for BUs to align with the overall corporate strategy objectives and priorities.
• Support the development and tracking of regional strategy with relevant regional teams and business units, portfolio gap analysis and competitive benchmarking.
• Translate high-level strategy into detailed, actionable plans with measurable outcomes and facilitate annual and quarterly strategic planning cycles review.
• Define KPIs, monitor performance against strategic goals and recommend corrective actions and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Facilitate strategy workshops, leadership meetings, and cross-functional discussions.
• Strong financial modelling capability across feasibilities, DCF, market multiples, LBO, and other metrics. Demonstrated experience leading or contributing to corporate or regional strategy workstreams, including market entry assessments, strategic planning cycles, or portfolio strategy
• Ability to structure ambiguous problems and deliver clear, executive-ready recommendations independently
• Ability to translate analytical work into concise, executive-ready outputs in the form of visual slides decks and investment papers
• Demonstrated ability to run financial and commercial due diligence on BD opportunities and acquisition targets
• Proven experience structuring and delivering complex, cross-functional projects under tight deadlines
• Superior skills in Excel, Powerpoint and leveraging technology and AI