Summary
AstroLabs is a business expansion platform supporting companies entering and growing in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Chief of Staff - Commercial will turn strategic initiatives into plans, owners, milestones and KPIs, and run PMO tracking, governance and escalations across commercial and programs work. The role also prepares business cases and leadership materials and coordinates delivery across teams and external partners. Applicants should have 12+ years of experience, including 4–5+ years at a reputable strategy consultancy at Manager level or above, and be based in or willing to relocate to the UAE or KSA.
The posting
As published on astrolabs.com. Pulled from the employer's site and shown as they wrote it.
Who We Are, AstroLabs, the Gulf's Leading Business Expansion Platform
AstroLabs is the largest business expansion platform in Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf's leading platform for high-growth companies expanding into the Saudi and UAE markets. We work alongside government entities and private-sector partners to develop key sectors in the Kingdom, offering business setup, co-working, recruitment, and bespoke programs tailored to the industries we serve.
Over the last decade, we've enabled more than 1,500 global ventures to set up and grow in the Gulf, partnering with organizations including MCIT, Riyad Bank, the Royal Commission for AlUla, and Majid Al Futtaim to drive innovation across their sectors. We're the only platform that combines expertise in global venture sourcing, local company formation in collaboration with MISA, coworking soft-landing support, and bespoke program design, helping international companies integrate into the market end to end.
Our commercial and programs leadership holds two portfolios at once. The binding constraint isn't ideas, it's conversion: turning strategy into plans, plans into owned tasks with KPIs, and tasks into tracked delivery. This role exists to own that conversion.
Who You Are, A Strategy Operator Who Delivers
You're a strategy-trained operator with 12+ years of experience, including several years at a top-tier or reputable consultancy at Manager level or above. You know how to build a business case or an operating model and you're just as comfortable turning that plan into tasks, owners, and a cadence that actually moves.
You've run a PMO or a multi-workstream programme, not just sat inside one, and you know how to get work done through people who don't report to you.
Strategy to Execution
Translate strategic initiatives into structured plans, scope, milestones, owners, dependencies, resourcing, and risks
Break plans into tasks and KPIs, assign ownership, and run the cadence that keeps them moving
Take direct ownership of discrete, high-priority initiatives end to end
PMO & Governance
Run the PMO layer across commercial and programs: progress tracking, dashboards, escalations, and a single credible view of where every initiative stands
Prepare the analysis and materials behind decisions, business cases, options papers, board and leadership packs
Stakeholder Management & Representation
Chase and close loops across functions, working with very different personas from front-line sales to founders and external partners
Represent the VP Commercial & Programs' office in forums where a delegate is appropriate, and brief the VP Commercial & Programs on what they need to know
What You Bring, Skills & Experience
12+ years' total experience, with at least four to five years at a top-tier or reputable strategy consultancy, at Manager level or above
Demonstrated strategy work: market analysis, business cases, operating-model or growth strategy
Strong, hands-on project and programme management, someone who has run a PMO or a multi-workstream programme, not only sat inside one
Proven ability to move work through people who do not report to them
Structured written and verbal communication. Able to turn ambiguity into a one-page plan
Strong analytical and modelling ability, using PM & presentation tools and comfortable working with AI
Based in, or willing to relocate to, the UAE or KSA
Your Qualifications
12+ years' total experience, including 4-5+ years at a top-tier or reputable strategy consultancy (Manager level or above)
Post-consulting experience in a scale-up or operating business is a strong plus
Prior chief-of-staff, strategy-office, or transformation-office experience is a plus
Exposure to Saudi market entry, ecosystem, or government-linked programmes is a plus
Arabic is a plus
Why Join AstroLabs?
Join the Gulf's leading business expansion platform in a genuine second-pair-of-hands role at leadership level, one where you'll take an intent and come back with a plan worth challenging, then drive it across teams yourself. This is a deliberate stepping-stone into an operating career: real exposure to commercial and programs decision-making, direct access to leadership, and a fast track toward owning a function of your own.