Market Director

Zutari; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1 000 000 - 1 500 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading engineering firm in South Africa is seeking a Market Director to lead enterprise-level growth in the Middle East and Africa. This senior role focuses on client engagement, financial management, and strategic opportunities across various sectors. The ideal candidate will have over 12 years of experience in consulting engineering with proven business development skills. A bachelor's degree in engineering plus professional registration is essential. This position offers the chance to influence high-value projects and collaborative initiatives.

Qualifications

• 12+ years relevancy in consulting engineering, planning, or infrastructure development.
• Proven track record in securing major contracts across multiple industries.
• Strong understanding of procurement processes in public and private sectors.

Responsibilities

• Drive long-term enterprise-level growth across the Middle East and Africa.
• Lead strategic bids and manage executive relationships with clients and partners.
• Ensure compliance with internal policies and promote commercial excellence.

Skills

Business development

Financial management

Leadership

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's or master's degree in engineering or related field

Professional registration (Pr Eng/Pr Tech/Pr Planner)

MBA (advantage)

Job description

Overview

Description
Zutari: Co-creating an engineered impact.

Zutari is a well-established, management-owned engineering firm with almost 90 years' experience. As human-centred engineering consultants and advisors, we are trusted by our clients, business partners, communities and other stakeholders across Africa.

We co-create engineering solutions that have a positive impact and improve people's lives. Zutari values inclusion and recognises the importance of a diverse, talented workforce, believing that people need other people to succeed.

What kind of talent do we pursue?

We employ people with the right attitude and a positive mindset, who are motivated by doing the right thing, getting things done and share a sense of urgency. People who have an impact in our teams and broader community. People who think differently and connect with those around them to co-create new opportunities and leave a meaningful legacy.

Role Overview

The Market Director is a senior commercial leader responsible for driving long-term, enterprise-level growth across the Middle East and Africa. This role focuses on identifying, shaping, and securing major strategic opportunities that define the company’s future trajectory. The Market Director operates as a high-impact, cross-functional leader. Rather than being tied to a single business unit, sector, or geography, Market Directors flexibly deploy their expertise across regions and disciplines to target high-value clients, large-scale projects, and key financing partners.

Role Responsibilities

Financial Management:

• Generate revenue at acceptable margins to achieve a sustainable, profitable future for the market sector
• Formulate and implement an annual sales budget
• Achieve annual financial targets
• Navigate the commercial challenges of professional consulting across diverse industries
• Demonstrate results that maximise commercial returns, grow revenue and pipeline whilst minimising enterprise risk exposure
• Look beyond metrics and revenue levels to evaluate the wider commercial impact of short-term decisions

Senior Client, Partner and Financing Engagement:

• Act as executive relationship owner for priority clients, strategic accounts, and major partners
• Build and sustain high-level relationships with private sector clients, developers, multilateral agencies, PPP investors, and financing institutions
• Represent the company externally as a senior commercial leader at executive meetings, industry forums, and strategic negotiations

Major Pursuit and Bid Leadership:

• Lead strategic bids, program frameworks, and high-value proposal efforts end-to-end
• Navigate diverse procurement frameworks and client requirements across public and private sectors where relevant
• Oversee development of pursuit strategies, win themes, partnerships, consortium approaches, commercial risk management, pricing alignment, and governance for major opportunities
• Ensure commercial risk assessment, pricing alignment, and bid governance are applied rigorously
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to validate delivery capacity, technical approach, and solution feasibility
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders on pricing strategy, negotiation planning, and contract structuring for major pursuits

Governance, Risk and Commercial Excellence:

• Lead bid/no-bid decisions with rigorous evaluation of commercial, delivery, financial, and reputational risk
• Promote commercial excellence through disciplined pursuit governance, risk management, and financial alignment on major opportunities
• Comply fully with internal policies, procedures, and approval workflows related to procurement, contracting, financial management, and project execution

Ethical Business Development:

• Conduct all business development and client engagement activities with transparency, fairness, and respect for country-specific laws and legislation
• Avoid any form of misrepresentation, coercion, or unethical persuasion in securing contracts or partnerships
• Disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may arise during the sourcing or negotiation of work
• Maintain the highest standards of integrity in all dealings and relationships
• Promptly report any observed or suspected breaches of policy, misconduct, or unethical behaviour through appropriate channels

Cross-Functional Commercial Alignment:

• Work closely with Managing Directors to ensure opportunities align with business unit strategy, technical capability, and delivery readiness
• Collaborate and mobilise Zutari's resources across the organisation to respond to strategic opportunities
• Partner with Sales Enablement to ensure pipeline quality, bid process discipline, and CRM accuracy
• Collaborate with the Chief Marketing Officer on market positioning, thought leadership, and strategic communications supporting major pursuits
• Align pipeline management, bid discipline, and market positioning between business units

Strategy & Opportunity Leadership:

• Identify, shape, and lead the pursuit of major strategic plays across the Middle East and Africa
• Develop long-term pursuit strategies for large bids, frameworks, public-private programs (PPPs), and regional infrastructure initiatives
• Monitor industry trends, future pipelines, funding pathways, and strategic shifts to position the company early in major pursuits
• Focus on early positioning: monitoring pipelines, funding pathways, and strategic shifts to position Zutari ahead of competition
• Provide predictive insight into the industry to ensure we are well-positioned for industry changes and emerging opportunities
• Conduct research and analysis to identify emerging trends, client needs, and competitive landscape
• Collaboratively drive long-term growth led by major opportunities

Leadership and Collaboration:

• Mentor Client Relationship Managers and Business Development Managers to uplift commercial capability
• Act as a catalyst for collaboration between business units, technical leaders, and commercial teams
• Promote a culture of excellence, accountability, and client-centricity across the organisation
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and motivate teams and mobilise organisational resources

Competency Development:

• Contribution to and sharing of knowledge about industry best practices
• Optimising workloads, resource management and capability building in sector expertise

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's or master’s degree in engineering, Planning, Built Environment, or a related field.
• Professional registration (Pr Eng/Pr Tech/ Pr Planner with ECSA)
• Business Science degree (MBA) will be an advantage
• 12+ years relevant experience in consulting engineering, planning, or infrastructure development
• Proven track record in business development across multiple industries, including securing major contracts and expanding stakeholder relationships
• Achieve annual financial targets with a proven track record in managing P&L
• Experience working across diverse industries and client types (public and private)
• Demonstrated ability to navigate complex commercial and political environments.
• Experience with large-scale government initiatives, infrastructure programs, and public-private partnerships
• Strong understanding of procurement processes across the public and private sector
• Strong leadership and commercial experience across multiple contexts
• Demonstrated financial acumen
• Deep understanding of industry dynamics, competitive positioning, and client needs
• Knowledge of local regulations, industry standards, and best practices
• Proactive with an entrepreneurial approach and key differentiator in business development
• Experience working across multiple regions, cultures, and multidisciplinary teams

We believe that a diverse workforce is key to our business success. We seek the best people for our jobs based on their skills, qualifications, and experience. We embrace the principle of equal opportunity in employment, and we work towards eliminating all forms of unlawful discrimination in our employment practices. In support of diversity and the equal opportunity principle, preference will be given to individuals from designated groups within South Africa.