Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer

Chief Strategy & Growth Officer (CSGO)

Job Title: Chief Strategy & Growth Officer (CSGO)

Directorate: Strategy & Growth

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Location: United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Reporting structure

Direct supervision of:

• Executive Vice President (EVP) – Commercial
• Senior Vice President (SVP) – Regulation
• SVP – Demand Forecasting
• SVP – Integrated Planning

Indirect supervision of: All Strategy & Growth employees

Job summary

Our client is a major, government-backed power and water sector organisation at the centre of national infrastructure and the clean-energy transition. The Chief Strategy & Growth Officer (CSGO) shapes long-term system strategy and market design while enabling near-to-long-term growth.

The role leads three critical capabilities: Sector Strategy, Commercial, and Regulation , acting as a principal advisor to the CEO and Board Committees on sector strategy, tariff/market evolution, and growth pathways that ensure security of supply at least cost and accelerate the transition to cleaner energy.

Main roles and responsibilities

1) Strategy and leadership

• Serve as the CEO’s lead advisor on sector strategy, growth options, and market evolution; translate national energy policy into executable strategies and portfolios.
• Set the Strategy & Growth roadmap, performance framework, and risk posture; ensure integration with Operations, Assets, Finance, and Legal.
• Champion a data-driven culture; ensure modelling transparency and “single source of truth” assumptions across forecasting and planning.

2) Sector strategy (Demand Forecasting and Integrated Planning)

• Oversee development of robust power and water demand forecasts (annual and in-year updates) and ensure timely communication to internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead integrated resource/system planning (future capacity and system requirements), including scenario design, techno-economic modelling, and evaluation of new technologies and bilateral options.
• Govern model standards, inputs, assumptions, and validation processes; mandate auditability and change control.
• Ensure clear hand-offs from long-term planning to Commercial and Operations (operational planning is not in scope).

3) Commercial (Customer Management, Energy Trading and Business Development)

• Direct customer strategy for regulated and unregulated customers, including account planning, bespoke commercial structures, and satisfaction insights.
• Govern energy trading activity (near-term trades and interconnection opportunities) in line with market rules, risk limits, and least-cost objectives; approve trading frameworks and counterparties.
• Lead business development for new commercial initiatives (new products, bilateral agreements, cross-border opportunities) in coordination with Legal, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), and Finance; ensure bankable, value-accretive deals.

4) Regulation (Economic Regulation and Technical Regulations)

• Own the organisation’s position on economic regulation (price control constructs, market mechanisms) and technical regulations in collaboration with key system stakeholders.
• Lead engagements with authorities on methodology and rules; ensure internal readiness and compliance with approved market designs.
• Anticipate regulatory risk/opportunity and drive evidence-based proposals that strengthen sustainability and cost efficiency.

5) Stakeholder and sector advocacy

• Build trusted senior relationships across regulators, sector entities, generators/producers, interconnector partners, and key customers; represent the organisation in high-stakes forums and consultations.
• Communicate complex model outputs and regulatory proposals in clear, non-technical language for executive and Board decisions.

6) Governance, risk and performance

• Establish governance across forecasting and planning.
• Set commercial and trading risk limits with Finance/Treasury and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM); ensure pre-trade approvals and post-trade performance reporting.
• Drive continuous improvement, capability building, and succession planning across the Strategy & Growth directorate.

Standard leadership responsibilities

• Develop directorate strategy, policies, and procedures aligned to organisational objectives; refresh as needed.
• Coach, mentor, and develop leaders and teams; create a strong performance and talent pipeline.
• Lead annual budget planning and performance reporting for the directorate.
• Identify opportunities to improve systems, processes, and practices using international leading practice and change-management disciplines.
• Promote and ensure alignment to organisational values (sustainability, integrity, collaboration, innovation).

Job requirements

Emirati Nationality with UAE Family Book

Minimum education

• Master’s degree in Economics, Engineering, Finance, or related field (Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Master of Public Policy (MPP) preferred).

Minimum experience

• Minimum 16 years’ progressive experience in power and water sector strategy, market design and regulation, system planning, or commercial leadership.
• At least 5 years in an executive leadership role within a complex, multi-stakeholder utility/energy environment.
• Demonstrated track record in integrated resource planning , market/regulatory change , and high-value commercial outcomes .

Key competencies

Behavioural:

• Drive organisational excellence
• Encourage continuous learning
• Build effective relationships
• Communicate with impact
• Adopt a strategic mindset

Technical:

• Sector strategy and scenario planning
• Integrated resource/system planning and modelling
• Demand forecasting and analytics governance
• Economic regulation and price control design
• Technical regulations
• Energy markets and trading
• Business development and partnership structuring
• Stakeholder engagement and communication
• Strategy and business planning
• Negotiation
• Sector knowledge
• Technical writing
• Project/programme management