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 Tomorrow
Dubai Holding is looking to hire a Director – Strategy & Value Creation (Entertainment Project Focus) at Dubai Holding. The role holder is responsible for leading the strategy pillar within the vertical’s Strategy & Value Creation (S&VC) function, driving the development of the vertical’s strategy and its translation into actionable plans, prioritised initiatives and measurable value creation outcomes. The role holder converts enterprise ambition and Group direction into a coherent business strategy for the vertical.
Given the focus of the role, relevant experience within destination-based leisure and entertainment environments is essential, with exposure to attractions, theme parks, waterparks, family entertainment destinations or comparable visitor-led entertainment assets strongly preferred. Experience limited to media, broadcasting, content or sports will not be considered equivalent.
The role holder runs the annual and long-range strategic planning cycle, develops the analytical and financial evidence base underpinning strategic choices, identifies and quantifies value creation opportunities, and drives the performance management rhythm that tracks delivery against strategic objectives. The role also delivers discrete strategic mandates and special projects sponsored by the vertical leadership team.
Working across the vertical’s functions and business units, the role holder builds the relationships and credibility required to secure input, challenge assumptions and drive alignment, and develops the capability of the strategy team beneath them.
If you are ready to embark on a dynamic journey where your talents are valued, and your contributions make a real impact, we would like to hear from you.
Key Accountabilities:
Strategy Development:
- Drive the development of the vertical’s strategy and supporting business models, building realistic financial and operational targets over a 3-to-5 year horizon aligned to Group direction, for approval by the VP / SVP – S&VC.
- Run the annual and long-range strategic planning cycle for the vertical, from framing through to leadership approval.
- Synthesise macroeconomic trends, competitor analysis, market dynamics, regulatory change and operational performance into resilient strategic options and recommendations.
- Develop and run scenario analysis and stress testing to test the resilience of the strategy and its underpinning initiatives under different economic, market and competitive conditions.
- Direct market research and competitive intelligence, integrating insights into the strategic planning process and advising leadership on required changes in direction.
- Identify strategic growth opportunities and market adjacencies, and develop and maintain a structured innovation pipeline prioritised on value creation potential, market relevance and the vertical’s capability to deliver.
- Apply strong knowledge of the destination entertainment landscape, including visitor-led attractions, theme parks, waterparks and integrated leisure destinations, to inform strategic choices, growth opportunities and competitive positioning.
Strategy Translation and Execution:
- Translate strategy into actionable plans, identifying the initiatives, programmes and projects required to deliver against targets.
- Define and assess the readiness of strategic initiatives, ensuring they are scoped, resourced and sequenced for successful delivery in collaboration with functional owners.
- Develop business cases, value hypotheses, success metrics and implementation roadmaps for priority initiatives.
- Recommend prioritisation of initiatives based on value, feasibility, risk and strategic alignment, and propose resource allocation accordingly.
- Design and run the governance model for the different transformation programmes ensuring the execution drumbeat is maintained, risks are managed and stakeholders are properly engaged throughout.
Value Creation and Business Analysis:
- Identify value creation opportunities across the vertical and quantify the benefit, feasibility and risk of each.
- Develop the financial modelling and quantitative analysis underpinning strategic choices, including revenue growth, margin expansion, productivity and cost optimisation opportunities.
- Analyse and interpret complex and often ambiguous data to generate clear conclusions and actionable recommendations.
- Drive value creation discipline across the vertical’s business units, supporting leaders to identify and pursue opportunities within their own areas.
- Bring a strong understanding of the commercial and operational dynamics of destination entertainment assets, ensuring value creation opportunities are grounded in the realities of visitor-led leisure and attractions businesses.
Business Development:
- Identify and evaluate new business opportunities that support the vertical’s strategy, including partnerships, joint ventures, commercial arrangements and new revenue streams.
- Develop the commercial case for proposed partnerships and monetisation opportunities, assessing strategic fit, value potential, feasibility and risk.
- Support negotiation and structuring of partnership and commercial agreements, working with Legal, Finance and Corporate S&VC as required.
- Track the performance of established partnerships against the value expectations set out in the original business case.
- Assess opportunities within destination entertainment and leisure, considering their relevance to large-scale attractions, theme parks, waterparks, entertainment destinations and associated visitor experiences.
Special Projects and Strategic Mandates:
- Deliver discrete high-priority strategic mandates and special projects sponsored by the vertical CEO or executive leadership team.
- Structure ambiguous problems, direct the analysis, develop recommendations and drive them through to leadership decision.
- Manage external advisers and consultants engaged on strategic mandates, ensuring quality, pace and value for money.
- Lead strategic mandates within complex destination entertainment environments, requiring an understanding of the commercial, operational and strategic considerations associated with large-scale leisure and attractions assets.
Stakeholder Engagement and Alignment:
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with functional heads and business unit leaders to secure input, test assumptions and drive alignment behind the strategy.
- Negotiate and secure buy-in from internal stakeholders on strategic initiatives and the changes they require.
- Ensure regular information exchange with stakeholders on strategic progress, risks and decisions.
- Contribute to Group-wide consistency by applying the Group common playbook and standards, and by sharing best practice with peer strategy leads across verticals.
People and Capability Building:
- Manage, develop and motivate the strategy team, setting individual objectives, managing performance and providing coaching and feedback.
- Drive upskilling and continuous development in line with the capability requirements of the function and the unified S&VC talent model.
- Promote a culture of intellectual rigour, innovation and value creation within the team and across the vertical.
Who we are looking for:
- 10 - 12 years of progressive experience in corporate strategy, management consulting, transformation or a comparable strategic advisory environment.
- Relevant experience within destination-based leisure and entertainment is required, ideally gained within theme parks, waterparks, attractions, family entertainment destinations, integrated leisure destinations or comparable visitor-led entertainment businesses.
- Candidates should demonstrate direct exposure to the strategy, growth, transformation or value creation agenda of physical entertainment destinations and assets. Experience solely within media, broadcasting, content, gaming or professional sports is not considered relevant entertainment experience for the purposes of this role.
- Demonstrated experience leading strategy development and strategic planning cycles for a business or major division.
- Track record translating strategy into prioritised initiatives and driving them through to delivered outcomes.
- Experience presenting to and influencing executive leadership, with the credibility to challenge senior functional leaders.
- Experience in the GCC / Dubai market, and exposure to the vertical’s industry context, preferred.
Education/Professional Certification:
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline.
- Advanced degree preferred – MBA from a top-tier institution or equivalent.
- Relevant professional qualifications (e.g. CFA, CA) advantageous.
Technical Competencies:
- Strategy development, business model design and strategic planning
- Market research, competitive analysis and strategic option development
- Financial modelling, scenario analysis and quantitative problem solving
- Value creation identification, business case development and benefits tracking
- Performance management, KPI frameworks and executive reporting
- Business development, partnership structuring and commercial evaluation
- Structured problem solving and synthesis of complex, ambiguous information
Behavioural Competencies:
- Structured Thinking: Brings clarity and rigour to ambiguous problems, and reduces complexity to the decisions that matter.
- Commercial Judgement: Grounds strategic recommendations in realistic assessment of value, feasibility and risk.
- Influence & Credibility: Secures engagement and buy-in from senior stakeholders through evidence, clarity and trust rather than authority.
- Bias for Delivery: Outcome-driven; carries strategy through to execution rather than stopping at recommendation.
- Curiosity & Outside-In Perspective: Actively tracks market, competitor and technology shifts and brings external challenge to internal thinking.
- Leadership & Development: Builds, develops and motivates a high-performing strategy 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.
