Senior Manager, Business Development (MENA)

Company Description

Masdar is the UAE’s clean energy champion and one of the largest companies of its kind in the world, advancing the development and deployment of renewable energy and green hydrogen technologies to address global sustainability challenges. Established in 2006, Masdar is today active in over 40 countries, helping them to achieve their clean energy objectives and advance sustainable development.

Masdar is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), and under this ownership the company is targeting a renewable energy portfolio capacity of at least 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and an annual green hydrogen production capacity of up to 1 million tonnes by the same year.

Job Description

Purpose for the job:

To lead business development activities in renewable energy projects in MENA by bringing together a range of skill sets to identify and/or create investment opportunities, generate deals and manage business relationships with partners and stakeholders.

Key Accountabilities:

Support for delivering the unit’s business plans: 

• Support in developing and delivering the annual operational business plans and KPIs for the unit and contribute to performance monitoring and reporting

Business development and growth of the renewable energy project portfolio:

• Identify, attract and develop investment opportunities in renewable energy projects in accordance with the investment and growth strategy, business plan and overall renewable energy market.
• Work on business development opportunities in MENA, screening potential business deals by analysing market strategies, deal requirements, potential and financials while also evaluating options, resolving internal priorities and recommending equity investments. 
• Originate, structure, and negotiate renewable energy projects and partnership deals with relevant stakeholders. Develop negotiating strategies and positions by studying the integration of new ventures with company strategies and operations, examining risks and potentials, and identifying partners' needs and goals.
• In conjunction with senior management in investment and growth, develop a pipeline of viable projects, defining target. investors/stakeholders and target technologies.
• Contribute to the end-to-end investment cycle including the identification of strategic opportunities, development of business cases, negotiation of strategic deals, structuring and execution of deals, and closing of deals, while ensuring effective financial and commercial governance, return on investment, due diligence, and commercial risk assessments.
• Ensure management buy-in in commercial positions and recommend suitable solutions and way forward during negotiations and finalization of agreements

Project development activities and support for delivery:

• Perform and coordinate project development activities for greenfield projects (including land acquisition, permitting and regulatory compliance) to bring the project to Financial Close.
• Ensure complete and effective handover of fully developed renewable energy projects to project delivery teams.
• Contribute to the development and delivery of projects through providing advice and inputs from a business development perspective, liaising with project delivery and technical teams to ensure that project objectives are met.
• As and when required, represent Masdar in conferences and in public forums ensuring that Masdar’s image and brand are well positioned at all times.
• Team management and supervision (if applicable)
• Organize and supervise the activities and work of the team to ensure that all work is carried out in an efficient manner which is consistent with operating policies and procedures.
• Manage the team by overseeing their performance management, recruitment, training and development to ensure high levels of engagement and competence and motivated work environment.

Recommendation and monitoring of budgets and plans:

• Contribute to recommending and monitoring the unit budget yearlong so that the business is aware of areas of unsatisfactory performance against the budget and so that performance improvement opportunities are capitalized upon. Management of stakeholders and third-party service providers
• Ensure relationships with service level providers are managed smoothly and effectively in a way that guarantees that Masdar is provided with quality and timely services, in line with relevant service level agreements.
• As and when required by management, personally manage key relationships/negotiations with relevant internal and external stakeholders in order to ensure the negotiation and agreement of favourable deals and agreements that safeguard Masdar’s best interests while ensuring the delivery of necessary needs/goals

Continuous improvement of policies, systems and processes:

• Contribute to the continuous improvement and implementation of unit systems, policies and procedures covering all areas of activity so that all relevant procedural/ legislative requirements and standards are fulfilled while ensuring that policies and procedures support the delivery of the strategy.

Reporting to stakeholders

• Complete all relevant reports in a comprehensive, accurate and timely manner, and comply with international principles of corporate governance and standards, and shareholder requirements.

Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications:

• MBA or relevant Master’s degree would be an advantage
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Science, Economics or any other related field

Preferred Experience:

• Minimum years 8 - 10 years of experience in business development experience within the energy sector, utilities, major multinational industrial development, high tech manufacturing company or major engineering company with hands-on experience in project origination, development and implementation in large multinational companies or an equivalent experience
• Preference for work experience within the GCC, Egypt, Turkey and Government 2 Government experience. 
• Successful track record of origination, development and portfolio management of private equity backed companies

Job-Specific Skills:

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills leading to a consultative approach within a corporate / multifunctional environment
• Ability to manage cross-functional teams

Additional Information

Masdar is one of the world’s fastest growing renewable energy companies and a green hydrogen leader, placing the UAE at the forefront of the energy transition.

As a pioneer in advancing the clean energy sector and a key enabler of the UAE’s vision as a global leader in sustainability and climate action, Masdar has developed projects in more than 40 countries across six continents and has invested, or committed to invest, in worldwide projects with a combined value of more than US$30 billion.

Masdar unites the UAE’s three energy champions – Mubadala, ADNOC and TAQA – and will utilize their combined expertise to fulfill its purpose as a global clean energy pioneer across renewables and green hydrogen.

Promoting innovation in solar, wind, energy storage, waste-to-energy, and geothermal energy, Masdar has a proven record of delivering pioneering projects using cutting-edge clean energy technologies, that are commercially viable and bankable.