Summary
Qiddiya Investment Company is hiring a Director of Business Planning in Riyadh. The role leads the development of business planning standards and supports business units in preparing and reviewing five-year development plans. Responsibilities include validating plans against approved scope, financial assumptions, timelines, and governance requirements, as well as supporting strategic planning and stakeholder coordination. Applicants need a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and 8–12 years of related experience; a master’s degree and professional certifications such as CFA, ACCA, CIMA, or RICS are preferred. English fluency is required, and Arabic proficiency is advantageous.
The posting
As published on qiddiya.com. Pulled from the employer's site and shown as they wrote it.
Specific Responsibilities:
Business Planning Standards and Framework Development
· Lead the development and periodic update of standardized business planning processes, procedures, templates, and tools aligned with the stage gate process.
· Ensure the consistent application of business planning standards and methodologies across all business unit submissions, reviewing outputs for compliance and providing guidance to business unit teams where gaps or deviations are identified.
· Lead the maintenance of the central business planning repository, ensuring approved templates, standardized methodologies, and validated business plans are version-controlled, current, and accessible to authorized stakeholders.
Business Plan Development Support and Compliance Review
· Lead business unit Development Financial Analysis teams in the preparation of five-year execution plans, providing structured business planning guidance throughout the plan development process to promote consistency with established planning standards.
· Review, validate, and assess the compliance of development business plans submitted at each stage gate, ensuring submissions reflect approved scope, financial assumptions, realistic execution timelines, and established business planning standards prior to governance review.
· Provide structured feedback to business unit Development Financial Analysis teams on business plan submissions requiring refinement, ensuring identified gaps are addressed and submissions satisfy business planning and governance requirements prior to resubmission.
Strategic Planning Support and Governance
· Support development relevant stakeholders in strategic business planning by providing planning analysis, portfolio insights, and recommendations to inform development priorities and organizational decision-making.
· Liaise with business unit Development Financial Analysis leaders through the Finance Project Control Group to communicate business planning standards, gather implementation feedback, and promote the consistent adoption of approved business planning methodologies.
Oversee the business plan governance process, ensuring governance requirements are effectively coordinated, business plan submissions comply with established governance obligations, and governance deliverables are prepared in accordance with committee and stage gate requirements.
Generic Responsibilities:
Policies, Processes, and Procedures
· Lead the implementation of a comprehensive framework of policies and procedures for the Business Planning function, while establishing a system for monitoring and improving the framework, and drive the implementation of industry-leading practices.
Stakeholder Management
· Support the Business Planning Lead in engagements for the Business Planning function, build towards open communication and accountability among key stakeholders.
Change Management
· Lead the initiatives for continuous improvement of the Business Planning function systems, processes, and practices, relevant in the QIC environment take actions where needed
Reporting
· Support preparation of accurate and timely reporting for the Business Planning function, so that all reports support the wider-business and meet Qiddiya's needs and standards.
Additional Duties
This job description outlines the duties that are typically performed by the jobholder; these duties are not the only responsibilities required by the role, and management may assign additional tasks as necessary.
Requirements
- Preferred: Master’s degree in Finance, Real Estate Finance, Business Administration (MBA), Economics, or a related field.
- Required: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field.
- Professional certifications or memberships within recognized finance, investment, or real estate institutes (e.g., CFA, ACCA, CIMA, RICS) are preferred.
- 8-12 years of experience in development finance, real estate business planning, financial analysis, or related fields is required
- Demonstrates experience in accountability of construction of real estate assets, business planning and financial analysis within a real estate development or comparable large-scale development environment, supporting structured business planning and execution processes, reviewing and validating development business plans across multiple asset classes, and supporting structured stage gate governance processes.
- Demonstrates fluency in written and verbal English, with proficiency in Arabic advantageous
- Interprets complex information and analysis to inform decision-making, and address ambiguity
- Manages relationships with internal and external stakeholders, facilitating cross-functional collaboration and ensuring alignment on priorities and initiatives.
- Demonstrates deep expertise in development business planning, with hands-on experience across diverse asset classes and development typologies.
- Applies advanced understanding of development governance and investment approval processes, including the ability to review and challenge business plan submissions against organizational standards to ensure they are accurate, complete, and ready for senior leadership endorsement.