Digital Partnerships & Engagement Manager

About the Role
Lead strategic innovation partnerships to accelerate digital transformation and foster sustainable growth for the company by managing a broad portfolio of engagements, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, compliance with security standards, and effective stakeholder collaboration. Oversee the entire lifecycle of partnerships while building a collaborative ecosystem with internal and external partners across the open innovation landscape.

Your duties would include:
Strategic:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive partnership and engagement (P&E) strategy aligned with the company’s digital innovation roadmap.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with external and internal partners, conducting regular performance reviews, feedback loops, and collaborative design thinking workshops.
• Develop and manage partnerships with government bodies to align innovation initiatives with the country’s vision, public policy, and secure funding.
• Design and execute open innovation programs such as hackathons, industry challenges, and co-creation workshops.

Operational:

• Proactively identify, evaluate, and engage with potential partners, including startups, technology firms, academic institutions, and government agencies.
• Engage with universities and research centers to drive collaborative R&D, technology transfer, and knowledge sharing.
• Conduct market scans and trend analyses to inform strategic decision-making and identify new opportunities for digital disruption. Develop a co-creation innovation ecosystem powered by partnerships.
• Lead the development, negotiation, and management of partnership agreements, including commercial terms, procurement processes (RFI, RFP, Tenders, Trial agreements), and intellectual property arrangements.
• Manage a partnership portfolio, ensuring delivery within agreed timelines, budgets, and quality standards.
• Oversee data and information security management for all partnership activities, ensuring compliance with relevant company policies and regulations.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration within the company organization to support joint innovation initiatives.
• Define, track, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) for innovation initiatives and partnerships.
• Perform other departmental duties related to his/her position as directed by the Head of the Department.

Management & Leadership:

• Establish the department or team's objectives and priorities to align with and support business objectives.
• Regularly evaluate the department or team's objectives, plans, procedures, and practices, and make appropriate changes if needed.
• Oversee and supervise employees. Direct daily activities, recruit, train, develop, and discipline to ensure a high standard of service delivery.
• Train and develop other employees to ensure succession planning is in place.
• Commit and contribute to national talent development by coaching national developes, preparing them for a career with boundless potential and leading to the program’s continued growth and success.

Be part of an extraordinary story
Your skills. Your imagination. Your ambition. Here, there are no boundaries to your potential and the impact you can make. You’ll find infinite opportunities to grow and work on the biggest, most rewarding challenges that will build your skills and experience. You have the chance to be a part of our future and build the life you want while being part of an international community.

Our best is here and still to come. To us, impossible is only a challenge. Join us as we dare to achieve what’s never been done before. Together, everything is possible.

Essential Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree or Equivalent with Minimum 6 years of job-related experience.
• Strong expertise in technology trends and the ability to inspire future possibilities.
• Proven experience in organizing events and forging impactful partnerships with diverse entities.
• Proven track record in driving corporate technology innovation initiatives.
• Strong experience in vendor and procurement management.
• Proven experience in problem-solving frameworks such as design thinking and service design.
• Experience in continuous integration and delivery, agile and lean startup methodologies.
• Experience with cloud-based services and technologies.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage partnerships within an open innovation ecosystem.
• Expertise in problem-solving frameworks such as Design Thinking and Service Design.
• Deep understanding of emerging technologies including AI, IoT, Web 3.0, robotics, and data analytics.
• Strong project management skills with a successful track record of implementing transformative technology solutions.
• Creative problem-solving skills and a passion for innovation in technology.
• Proficient in reporting skills, administrative writing skills, Microsoft Office skills, managing processes, organization, analyzing information, professionalism, problem-solving, scheduling staff, inventory control, and verbal communication.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills including command of the English language.
• Managerial skills - Ability to delegate work, set clear direction, and manage workflow. Strong mentoring and coaching skills. Ability to train and develop subordinates' skills. Ability to foster teamwork among team members.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Business Development, Innovation Management, or a related field.
• Proven experience (6+ years) in a leadership role driving technology innovation partnerships within the IT industry or related industry.
• Minimum 6 years as a senior resource managing a team of IT resources.
• Relevant industry certifications in PMP, ITIL, and Cloud Technologies.
• Aviation industry experience would be an added advantage.
• Experience in managing innovation labs or incubators.
• Ability to adopt and adapt to emerging technologies.
• Exposure to digital transformation programs in large enterprises.
• Knowledge of regulatory and compliance requirements in technology procurement.