Manager – Business & Ecosystem Development

We are seeking an experienced Manager – Business & Ecosystem Development to lead strategic partnerships, business opportunities, and ecosystem initiatives. The role will be responsible for identifying and developing new opportunities, structuring and negotiating partnerships, managing relationships throughout the partnership lifecycle, and delivering measurable commercial and strategic value.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the identification, development, and management of strategic partnerships, business opportunities, MoUs, joint ventures, and ecosystem initiatives.
• Build and manage a qualified pipeline of business opportunities and strategic partnerships across relevant industries and markets.
• Identify and assess prospective partners, evaluating strategic fit, commercial potential, mutual value, and collaboration opportunities.
• Lead discussions and negotiations with prospective and existing partners within approved commercial and governance parameters.
• Develop partnership proposals, business cases, value propositions, term sheets, MoUs, and partnership frameworks in coordination with relevant internal functions.
• Manage partnerships throughout the lifecycle, from origination and structuring through agreement execution, activation, performance review, renewal, and expansion.
• Develop and monitor partnership activation plans, commitments, milestones, and deliverables.
• Identify and address partnership risks and escalate issues requiring management intervention.
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships with corporate, industry, government, semi-government, and institutional stakeholders.
• Support ecosystem programmes, events, initiatives, and cross-sector collaborations.
• Work closely with Strategy, Marketing, Legal, Finance, Operations, and other stakeholders to ensure effective and compliant partnership execution.
• Maintain accurate pipeline, partnership, and CRM records and provide regular reporting on opportunities, performance, value, risks, and outcomes.
• Support business development and revenue planning by identifying and quantifying partnership-generated value.
• Lead, coach, and develop Business Opportunity & Partnership Specialists, ensuring consistent standards and performance across opportunity identification, structuring, tracking, activation, and relationship management.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Economics, Marketing, International Business, or a related discipline.
• Master’s degree is preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience in business development, strategic partnerships, commercial development, ecosystem development, or a related field.
• Minimum 3–4 years of managerial or supervisory experience, including team leadership.
• Proven experience in strategic partnership development, commercial negotiation, stakeholder management, and partnership lifecycle management.
• Experience in developing and negotiating commercial or strategic agreements.
• Experience in media, technology, creative industries, economic development, free zones, or similar ecosystem-driven environments is desirable.
• Strong commercial acumen, negotiation, relationship management, and business development capabilities.
• Strong analytical, communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proficiency in English is required; Arabic is an advantage.