Associate Director - Investments Strategy & Value Creation (Dubai Holding Investments)

Established in 2004, Dubai Holding is a global investment company with investments in more than 34 countries and a combined workforce of nearly 45,000 individuals. In line with the vision of Dubai’s leadership and economic diversification strategy, Dubai Holding companies have nurtured sectors, irrevocably transforming Dubai’s socio-economic landscape and positioning Dubai as a diversified, globally integrated economy.Dubai Holding is committed to the diversification of Dubai’s non-oil economy. Our portfolio, valued at over AED 284+ billion, spans 10 sectors, including real estate, hospitality, leisure & entertainment, ICT, design, education, media, retail, manufacturing & logistics, and science.For the Good of TomorrowDubai Holding is looking to hire an Associate Director - Investments Strategy & Value Creation at Dubai Holding Investments. The role holder is responsible for driving DHI's portfolio operations, intelligence, strategy and value creation activities, turning DHI's strategy and operating model into disciplined investment processes, consistent portfolio reporting, decision-useful insight and measurable value creation outcomes. The role holder supports the development of DHI's strategy.They identify and quantify opportunities to shape the fund and portfolio and propose them to the Executive Director – Portfolio Operations and Intelligence and DHI leadership, who set the direction. The role runs the portfolio review and governance rhythm, tracks execution against strategic objectives, and leads the delivery of strategic, value creation, operating model and process initiatives across investment and enabling functions.Key Accountabilities: Strategy development Support the development of DHI's strategy and supporting business models, providing analysis, options and recommendations so the Executive Director and DHI leadership can set direction.Contribute to the annual and long-range strategic planning cycle by preparing analytical inputs, proposed financial and operational targets, and leadership materials.Synthesise macroeconomic trends, competitor analysis, market dynamics, regulatory change and portfolio performance into strategic options and recommendations.Develop scenario analysis and stress tests to check how the strategy and its supporting initiatives hold up under different economic, market and competitive conditions.Conduct market research, competitive intelligence and benchmarking of institutional peers, and highlight the implications for DHI's direction.Identify strategic growth opportunities and market adjacencies, and maintain a pipeline of opportunities prioritised by value creation potential, market relevance and capability to deliver, for leadership review.Strategy Translation & Value Creation Turn approved strategic direction into actionable plans, identifying the initiatives needed to deliver against targets.Identify value creation opportunities across the DHI portfolio and quantify the benefit, feasibility and risk of each.Develop the financial modelling and quantitative analysis behind strategic choices, including AUM, EBITDA, revenue growth, margin expansion, productivity and cost optimisation.Develop business cases, value hypotheses, success metrics and implementation roadmaps for priority strategic fund-level and portfolio initiatives.Assess whether initiatives are ready to proceed, and recommend prioritisation, reallocation or exit based on value, feasibility, risk and strategic alignment.Support investment and portfolio teams to identify and pursue value creation opportunities within their own areas.Investment Process & IC Enablement Implement and continuously improve the investment and portfolio management lifecycle, including deal funnel definitions, stage gates, IC templates and minimum data standards.Track post-approval value creation and project commitments, making sure named owners carry decisions through and estimated value is realised.Simplify recurring processes and identify automation opportunities, without weakening controls.Business Development Identify and assess commercial opportunities that support DHI's strategy, and propose those with merit to the Executive Director and DHI leadership.Develop the commercial case for opportunities endorsed by leadership, assessing strategic fit, value potential, feasibility, risk and fit with the wider DHI portfolio.Provide analytical and operational-readiness input to the structuring of approved opportunities, working with Investments & Portfolio Management, Legal, Finance, Business Affairs & Governance and Corporate S&VC. Origination, negotiation and execution remain with Investments & Portfolio Management.As relevant, track the performance of such initiatives against the value expectations in the approved business case.Portfolio Oversight & Performance Intelligence Maintain the integrated view of the DHI portfolio, giving leadership reliable, current insight into portfolio performance and early warnings as relevant.Maintain portfolio KPI definitions, calculation methodologies and business rules on behalf of the Executive Director, and resolve inconsistencies in portfolio submissions with investment teams and enabling functions.Own the content and insight of portfolio review packs and committee, Board and shareholder reporting, so leadership receives a consistent, decision-useful view of portfolio performance.Lead periodic monitoring and thematic analysis across asset classes, geographies and investment types, using consistent KPI, performance, concentration, exposure and early-warning methods.Identify trends, emerging risks, data gaps and cross-portfolio themes, and turn them into implications, recommended actions and forward-looking insight for capital allocation.Review portfolio packs and challenge the analysis so that conclusions are evidence-based and useful for decisions.Portfolio Governance, Operating Model and Continuous Improvement Run the portfolio review rhythm. Own the review content, financial and operational KPIs and insights, and challenge submissions for completeness, consistency and compliance with agreed standards.Maintain the portfolio action register so that every action has a named owner. Escalate gaps, delays and recurring issues with clear options.Coordinate with Business Affairs & Governance, Risk and Finance to build investment policies, monitoring standards and risk inputs into investment processes.Conduct post-investment and post-exit reviews, turning lessons learned into measurable improvements.Review RACI, DOA, SLAs and related governance. Develop target operating models, playbooks and guidance that, whilst preserving mandate-specific requirements, improve consistency across asset classes so the platform can support AUM growth without a matching increase in headcount.Lead cross-functional workshops to identify bottlenecks, efficiencies and additional value, benchmarking institutional practice and recommending improvements proportionate to DHI's portfolio and maturity.Delivery & Special Mandates Lead end-to-end delivery of strategic, operating model and process initiatives: structure the problem, analyse root causes, recommend solutions and define how they will be executed.Plan concurrent workstreams, dependencies and deadlines, setting sustainable milestones and value creation KPIs.Deliver specific strategic mandates and special projects sponsored by the CIO or the Executive Director, taking recommendations through to a leadership decision.Manage external advisers and service providers, including scope, deliverables, quality and value for money.Stakeholder Engagement & Capability Building Build strong working relationships with investment, portfolio and enabling teams to secure their engagement and alignment behind portfolio priorities.Act as an ally rather than an auditor: clear blockers, align teams where definitions or priorities differ, and speed up decisions.Prepare executive-level presentations and periodic and ad hoc reports for C-level stakeholders on business cases, research, progress and performance.Share knowledge, review peers' work and help build capability in portfolio analytics, process design and reporting across the team.What we’re looking for: 8–10 years of relevant experience in strategy, value creation, portfolio management or institutional investment operations within a sovereign wealth fund, asset owner, private equity platform, real estate investor, investment organisation or strategy consultancy.Demonstrated experience supporting strategy development and turning it into prioritised initiatives and delivered outcomes.Proven experience leading cross-functional workstreams to improve operating models, processes and governance.Experience leading portfolio analysis; exposure to multi-asset portfolios strongly preferred.Experience presenting to and influencing senior leadership and investment committees.Experience in the GCC / Dubai market preferred.Education/Professional Certification: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Accounting, Engineering, Data/Analytics or a related discipline.Postgraduate qualification, such as an MBA, preferred.Relevant certification, such as CFA, CA/CPA, FRM, PMP, Lean Six Sigma advantageous.Technical Competencies: Strategic planning support and strategic option developmentMarket research, competitive analysis and institutional benchmarkingFinancial modelling, scenario analysis and quantitative problem solvingValue creation identification, business case development and benefits trackingCommercial evaluation of partnership and venture opportunitiesCommercial and financial dynamics of alternative asset management, particularly real estateInvestment lifecycle, IC governance and portfolio monitoring practicePortfolio analytics, KPI frameworks, and risk, concentration and exposure analysisOperating model design, process design, controls and continuous improvementPortfolio KPI methodology, reporting design and executive reportingAdvanced Excel and PowerPoint; working knowledge of BI and portfolio analytics toolsBehavioural Competencies: Integrator Mindset: Sees the whole rather than the parts, and connects work across teams to keep it coherent.Structured Thinking: Brings clarity and rigour to ambiguous problems and narrows complexity down to the decisions that matter.Commercial Judgement: Grounds recommendations in a realistic assessment of value, feasibility and risk.Influence Without Authority: Wins commitment through credibility, transparency and trust rather than reporting lines.Early Transparency: Raises difficult news and emerging risks early rather than letting issues build up.Collaboration: Works effectively across multidisciplinary teams, shares knowledge openly and helps build the capability of the whole team.As much as we would be delighted to entertain all applicants, due to the high volumes of applications, only successful applicants will be contacted within 14 business days.This job description is not all inclusive. Dubai Holding reserves the right to amend this job description at any time. Dubai Holding is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment.