Director Special Projects & Performance - MENA

About the Role
The Director, Special Projects & Performance is a senior regional leadership role within the CIO office, operating across all eight markets with a focus on both food and Quick commerce. This role is pivotal in driving business performance, owning cross-market strategic initiatives, and serving as a key thought partner to the CIO and market Managing Directors. The Director will lead a team of around five people, directly responsible for their development, performance, and growth. With a significant strategic weight alongside operational responsibilities, this role demands a leader who can engage senior stakeholders and solve hands-on problems, ensuring that initiatives are executed from diagnosis to completion.

Responsibilities

• 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 surfacing 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

• 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, being fully hands-on and working on the frontline
• Strong financial acumen, including P&L ownership, financial modeling, and budgeting
• Highly analytical
• 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 with experience applying AI tools to enhance analytical and operational efficiency

Benefits

• Opportunity to impact business performance across multiple markets
• Work with a dynamic team committed to innovation and excellence
• Engage in a high-performance culture with opportunities for personal and professional growth
• Regular travel across the MENA region, providing hands-on experience and learning

This role is ideal for someone seeking to leverage their strategic and operational expertise to drive significant impacts across growth markets.