Venture Development Manager

ADNOC Distribution; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 400,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

ADNOC Distribution seeks a Venture Development Manager to architect and operate its next-generation ventures, identifying transformative opportunities and leading ventures from concept to scale.

The role requires comfort with ambiguity, strong stakeholder alignment, and excellence in structured venture building, using Lean Startup and Design Thinking to deliver MVPs and scalable processes.

Qualifications

• 8 years of venture development, corporate innovation, strategy, or partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Venture Identification & Validation
• Define and validate 4-8 high-potential venture concepts.
• Conduct market research and feasibility assessments.
• Venture Building & Delivery
• Deliver at least 3 MVPs with early commercial traction.
• Establish governance, reporting, and agile venture delivery processes.
• Lead cross-functional teams to execute venture projects.
• Stakeholder Alignment & Collaboration
• Secure alignment with senior stakeholders.
• Enable and coordinate cross-functional collaboration.
• Innovation Governance
• Implement innovation frameworks (Lean Startup, Design Thinking).
• Ensure structured and scalable venture delivery.

Skills

Venture development

Market research

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional leadership

Agile methodologies

Design thinking

Financial modeling

Strategic thinking

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Technology

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Asana

Microsoft Teams

Financial modeling tools

Analytics platforms

Job description

Job Summary

The Venture Development Manager serves as a strategic architect and operator of ADNOC’s next-generation ventures. This role is responsible for identifying transformative opportunities, validating market-backed solutions, and leading high-impact ventures from concept to commercial scale. The position demands comfort with ambiguity, deep stakeholder alignment, and excellence in structured venture building.

Key Responsibilities

• Venture Identification & Validation
• Define and validate 4-8 high-potential venture concepts.
• Conduct market research and feasibility assessments.
• Venture Building & Delivery
• Deliver at least 3 MVPs with early commercial traction.
• Establish governance, reporting, and agile venture delivery processes.
• Lead cross-functional teams to execute venture projects.
• Stakeholder Alignment & Collaboration
• Secure alignment with senior stakeholders.
• Enable and coordinate cross-functional collaboration.
• Innovation Governance
• Implement innovation frameworks (Lean Startup, Design Thinking).
• Ensure structured and scalable venture delivery.

Tools and Technologies

• Innovation Frameworks: Lean Startup, Design Thinking
• Project Management: Agile tools, Asana, Microsoft Teams
• Business Modeling: Financial modeling tools, analytics platforms

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Number of validated venture concepts
• Number of MVPs launched with commercial traction
• Stakeholder alignment and satisfaction
• Efficiency of venture delivery processes

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Technology, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 8 years of experience in venture development, corporate innovation, strategy, or partnerships.
• Proven experience in business modeling, venture feasibility assessment, and gotomarket planning.
• Experience working in crossfunctional and matrixed enterprise environments.
• Exposure to retail, energy, mobility, or consumerfocused industries is an advantage.
• Familiarity with agile methodologies, design thinking, and innovation frameworks.
• Strong business acumen and commercial evaluation skills.
• Solid understanding of startup ecosystems, venture building, and innovation frameworks.
• Excellent analytical, problem‑solving, and decision‑making capabilities.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and partnership management skills.
• Ability to translate strategic ideas into executable venture