About the Role
The Director, Special Projects & Performance is a senior regional leadership role within the CIO office at the company, overseeing operations across all eight markets. This position is integral for both food and Quick commerce, focusing on driving business performance and owning cross-market strategic initiatives. A key thought partner to the CIO and market Managing Directors, this role leads a team of approximately five, directly responsible for their development, performance, and growth. The role necessitates a balance of strategic and operational execution, engaging with senior stakeholders while also being hands-on in problem-solving and implementation.
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What's On Your Plate?
Regional Performance & P&L Management
- Oversee business performance across all markets, tracking trends, anomalies, and opportunities across Food and Q-commerce.
- Partner with market MDs and regional finance teams on annual budgeting, forecasting, and Best Estimate (BE) cycles.
- Hold markets accountable to financial targets; proactively surface risks and corrective actions when performance deviates.
- Prepare data-driven performance reviews and strategic recommendations for ExCo.
Strategic Partner to the CIO
- Act as the right hand to the CIO, synthesizing complex business situations into clear recommendations for leadership.
- Prepare the CIO for exco reviews, regional check-ins, and senior leadership forums with sharp analysis and structured narratives.
- Drive cross-market alignment on strategic priorities, ensuring decisions translate into coordinated execution on the ground.
- Represent the CIO in cross-functional and cross-market discussions as required.
Market Turnaround & Special Projects
- Travel regularly to markets to work directly alongside MDs and their teams on performance turnaround initiatives.
- Diagnose root causes of underperformance and co-develop actionable recovery plans.
- Lead end-to-end strategic and special projects across markets, from scoping and structuring through to delivery.
Innovation & AI
- Identify and drive innovation opportunities across markets.
- Work with regional and market teams to test, scale, and embed new tools and ways of working.
- Lead AI adoption efforts across performance functions, identifying high-value use cases and owning rollout.
Team Leadership
- Build and lead a lean, high-performing team, setting clear goals, providing sharp feedback, and holding a high bar for output.
- Develop team members into strong, independent contributors capable of operating at the market level.
- Foster a culture of ownership, intellectual rigor, and continuous improvement.
Qualifications
What Are We Looking For?
- 10+ years of experience in high-growth tech, market leadership / chief of staff roles, strategy, management consulting, or investment banking.
- Willingness and ability to travel regularly across the MENA region, fully hands-on and working on the frontline.
- Strong financial acumen in P&L ownership, financial modeling, and budgeting.
- Highly analytical with proven ability to operate at ExCo level and manage senior stakeholders across multiple markets.
- Experience leading turnaround projects or cross-functional strategic initiatives end to end.
- Comfortable with ambiguity; able to structure and move quickly without waiting for perfect information.
- AI fluency; experience applying AI tools to enhance analytical and operational efficiency.
