Now it’s your time to join the #1 bank in the Middle East and one of the most prestigious financial companies in the region. Shaking up the world of banking requires a lot of smarts and skill. We’re looking for the brightest and best to help us reach our goals and we’ll also help you reach yours. Your success is our success as you grow stronger in your career. Join us and leave a legacy of your own, as a pioneer in both the company and the industry.

Group function and role purpose

The Group Strategy department is responsible for managing the overall formulation, direction and delivery of the Bank’s long term business plans, overseeing group-wide strategic initiatives and managing the strategy execution process and balanced scorecards at the Group and Executive level. The Group Strategy team works with all businesses, functions and geographic areas across the group to inform, guide, create and execute strategic plans for the Group and all its businesses including subsidiaries.

Key accountabilities and impact

·     Towards this the job holder is required to collect, condense and analyze relevant strategy related information (e.g. financial and non-financial data on the banking and financial services industry and key competitors; internal data of FAB businesses and details of business initiatives). The job holder is the expected to identify and highlight growth opportunities and new business ideas for FAB backed with analyses

·     The job holder is responsible for economic and market research (e.g. economic trends, market analyses etc.) across markets where FAB has current and potential business interests. Reports will have to be developed and presented to senior management including heads of businesses, departments and functions and at times to certain EXCO members.

·     The job holder will lead the preparation of quarterly market insights reports comparing FAB to a set of key local and regional peers. The reports must not only focus on financial performance measures but also cover tactical moves and identify the strategic direction that competitors are pursuing. To do this the jobholder must rely on market intelligence obtained from various sources. Reports to be circulated to EXCO and select senior management. The job holder is expected to continuously improve / elevate the quality of insights, as well as optimise the delivery/preparation process for such reports.

·     The job holder is required to significantly contribute to large and complex strategic projects such as feasibility studies, business model definitions, market entry and growth strategies, M&A related projects (e.g. target identification and profile preparation, commercial due diligence reviews etc.). This will include leading and ensuring timely completion of assigned project deliverables.

·     The job holder will independently lead and manage end to end delivery of certain specific strategy projects where appropriate. Examples of such project could include: strategic reviews of businesses and subsidiaries, market assessments, competitive benchmarking, revenue pools computations etc. Project deliverables will need to be presented to senior management including heads of businesses, departments and functions and at times to certain EXCO members.

·     Certain strategy projects will require the job holder to build detailed business plans including complex financial models.

·     The job holder will act as a thought partner with the Head of Strategy [Business line], Head of Enterprise Strategy and Performance Management and the Head of Strategic Planning to discuss and solve more complex strategy challenges being tackled by the group

·     The job holder will need to coordinate with stakeholders across the bank to monitor and track key KPIs to support the Head of  Enterprise Strategy and Performance Management in the Balanced Scorecard processes.

·     The job holder will support the Head of Strategy [Business line], Head of Enterprise Strategy and Performance Management and the Head of Strategic Planning in developing various strategy material including presentations, strategy write-ups etc. for internal and external purposes. This will include preparation of presentations to be delivered to the Board, EXCO and external stakeholders (e.g. Investors, Central Banks etc.)The job holder will be responsible to maintain up-to-date internal information datasets of macro-economic, banking and financial services data released from official sources such as the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, Central Banks, IMF, World Bank etc.

·     The job holder is responsible to structure and ensure that key information datasets and competitor’s financials (harmonized to FAB standards) are made available to businesses across the FAB group through the data warehouse enabling businesses to use a common data for analyses and to develop reports

The job holder will be responsible for all external vendors for the supply of information and with external consultants from time to time on key projects. The job holder will be responsible to oversee vendor contracts and payments and manage vendor relationships.

Level of know-how required

·     The job holder is expected to cultivate strong relationships across the organization and build broad understanding of various functions in order to maintain a holistic view of businesses across FAB, understand interdependencies between units and be able to identify the impact of strategy recommendations on various units

·     The role holder is expected to stay up to date with industry and macro trends to provide analyses and insights to senior management (including EXCO)

·     The role holder must have excellent knowledge of strategy development approaches and must also have strong financial analyses and modelling skills.

The role holder must be familiar with approaches to valuations and is expected to play a vital role in idea generation, strategic evaluation, due diligences processes and business planning activities

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

Threshold Qualifications

·     Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Commerce or any related discipline

·     Master’s degree, MBA or Professional Qualification in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Commerce or any related discipline

·     Ability to think strategically for the organization

·     Superior problem solving and analytical abilities, particularly in strategic and financial analyses

·     Excellent verbal and written communications skills

Years & Nature of Experience

·     Minimum of 7 years of experience in banking with at least 2 years in a similar role or 3 years of experience in strategy consulting at a top tier consulting firm