Senior Associate – Digital Growth & Innovation

Summary:

Multiply Group is an Abu Dhabi–based investment holding company listed on ADX. Alongside opportunistic investments, we follow a vertical building strategy designed to generate long-term value for shareholders. This approach typically begins with a strategic investment in an anchor company within a target sector, followed by bolt-on acquisitions that accelerate inorganic growth and synergy realization. These are complemented by a focused set of value-creation initiatives aimed at driving both revenue expansion and margin improvement.

Our key focus sectors include consumer verticals (mobility, wellness, beauty, media, and retail fashion) as well as energy.

The Portfolio Team leads value creation and EBITDA uplift across these verticals. Within it, Innovation Labs has been established as the central engine for digital and AI-driven value creation, systematically identifying, prioritizing, and scaling innovations that deliver measurable EBITDA impact and sustainable competitive advantage across the portfolio.

Innovation Labs is structured around two complementary functions:

• The AI Team, which provides deep expertise in data science, machine learning engineering, and platform enablement to develop and deploy high-impact AI use cases and prototypes.
• The Digital Growth & Innovation Team focuses on business innovation, identifying new revenue streams, reimagining customer journeys and business models, and defining the digital and AI roadmaps for each portfolio company.

This dual structure ensures that technical execution is tightly integrated with strategic business design, enabling Multiply Group to translate innovation into measurable business value.

We are seeking a Senior Associate to support the Digital Growth & Innovation mandate and to collaborate with Vertical Leads on broader initiatives that extend beyond core digital transformation workstreams when required.

Role Responsibilities:

1) Digital Transformation & 100-Day Plans:

• Compile and interrogate technology, operational, commercial, and financial data (e.g., digital revenue %, legacy IT pain points, automation ratio, customer behavior, cost segmentation) to surface high-leverage digital/AI opportunities.
• Build and maintain transformation dashboards (KPIs, milestones, value realization) and ensure cadence with PortCo owners.
• Co-shape 100-day “rapid value” workstreams (scope, owners, timelines, dependencies, KPIs).

2) AI Initiative Business Case Development:

• Translate identified AI/digital opportunities into investment-grade business cases including:
• Baseline and target economics; EBITDA uplift, OPEX/CAPEX, and cash view.
• ROI, NPV, payback, and sensitivity/scenario analysis.
• Implementation roadmap, capacity/skills assumptions, and risk register with mitigations.
• Value-tracking model (benefits realization, KPI definitions, governance).
• Prepare exec-ready artifacts (one-pagers, SteerCo packs) to support go/no-go decisions and funding.

3) Execution Enablement & Value Tracking:

• Support delivery of digital/AI use cases (automation, analytics, CX tooling, agentic workflows) across PortCos; track results vs. targets and escalate risks early.
• Maintain a reusable use-case library with adoption status and realized benefits to accelerate replication across verticals.

4) Performance Monitoring & Predictive Insight:

• Identify cross-portfolio trends, leading indicators, and potential headwinds; produce fact-based insight notes for Portfolio Managers and Vertical Leads.

5) Deal Support (as needed):

• Assist with digital/tech due diligence, synergy sizing, and integration planning; convert findings into actionable value-creation levers for the first 6–12 months.

6) Market Scan & Innovation Radar:

• Track emerging digital/AI tools and case studies relevant to Multiply’s sectors; summarize implications and recommend pilots/partnerships.

7) Broader Portfolio Support:

• Provide analytical, coordination, and presentation support to Vertical Leads on adjacent workstreams (commercial, operational excellence, M&A integration, strategy refresh), not limited to digital/AI.

Required skills & Qualifications: (non-negotiable; all requirements are a must have):

• 5–8 years of relevant experience, ideally from digital practice of Top tier consulting firms, top consultancy, with exposure to institutional investors
• Proven ability to:
• Support complex transformations from diagnostics, to design, pilot, and scale, with value tracking.
• Communicate insights crisply to senior stakeholders (SteerCos/Boards).
• Connect digital/technology initiatives directly to EBITDA, ROI, and exit multiples.
• Understand financial/operational models (EBITDA bridges, sensitivity analysis, ROI/NPV/payback).
• Operate at pace across multiple companies/workstreams with structured prioritization.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, or Information Systems, reflecting both analytical and technical fluency. MBA or Master’s degree is strongly preferred.

Soft skills:

• Analytical, structured, and operator mindset; bias to action.
• Clear written/verbal communication; stakeholder management across C-suite and functional leaders.
• Curiosity, resilience, and high ownership standards.

Additional information:

• In-person presence, in Abu Dhabi, is required.
• Travel may be required as and when needed