Chief Strategy & Growth Officer (CSGO)
Job Title: Chief Strategy & Growth Officer (CSGO)
Directorate: Strategy & Growth
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Location: United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Reporting structure
Direct supervision of:
- Executive Vice President (EVP) Commercial
- Senior Vice President (SVP) Regulation
- SVP Demand Forecasting
- SVP Integrated Planning
Indirect supervision of: All Strategy & Growth employees
Job summary
Our client is a major, government-backed power and water sector organisation at the centre of national infrastructure and the clean-energy transition. The Chief Strategy & Growth Officer (CSGO) shapes long-term system strategy and market design while enabling near-to-long-term growth.
The role leads three critical capabilities: Sector Strategy, Commercial, and Regulation, acting as a principal advisor to the CEO and Board Committees on sector strategy, tariff/market evolution, and growth pathways that ensure security of supply at least cost and accelerate the transition to cleaner energy.
Main roles and responsibilities
1) Strategy and leadership
- Serve as the CEO's lead advisor on sector strategy, growth options, and market evolution; translate national energy policy into executable strategies and portfolios.
- Set the Strategy & Growth roadmap, performance framework, and risk posture; ensure integration with Operations, Assets, Finance, and Legal.
- Champion a data-driven culture; ensure modelling transparency and single source of truth assumptions across forecasting and planning.
2) Sector strategy (Demand Forecasting and Integrated Planning)
- Oversee development of robust power and water demand forecasts (annual and in-year updates) and ensure timely communication to internal and external stakeholders.
- Lead integrated resource/system planning (future capacity and system requirements), including scenario design, techno-economic modelling, and evaluation of new technologies and bilateral options.
- Govern model standards, inputs, assumptions, and validation processes; mandate auditability and change control.
- Ensure clear hand-offs from long-term planning to Commercial and Operations (operational planning is not in scope).
3) Commercial (Customer Management, Energy Trading and Business Development)
- Direct customer strategy for regulated and unregulated customers, including account planning, bespoke commercial structures, and satisfaction insights.
- Govern energy trading activity (near-term trades and interconnection opportunities) in line with market rules, risk limits, and least-cost objectives; approve trading frameworks and counterparties.
- Lead business development for new commercial initiatives (new products, bilateral agreements, cross-border opportunities) in coordination with Legal, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), and Finance; ensure bankable, value-accretive deals.
4) Regulation (Economic Regulation and Technical Regulations)
- Own the organisation's position on economic regulation (price control constructs, market mechanisms) and technical regulations in collaboration with key system stakeholders.
- Lead engagements with authorities on methodology and rules; ensure internal readiness and compliance with approved market designs.
- Anticipate regulatory risk/opportunity and drive evidence-based proposals that strengthen sustainability and cost efficiency.
5) Stakeholder and sector advocacy
- Build trusted senior relationships across regulators, sector entities, generators/producers, interconnector partners, and key customers; represent the organisation in high-stakes forums and consultations.
- Communicate complex model outputs and regulatory proposals in clear, non-technical language for executive and Board decisions.
6) Governance, risk and performance
- Establish governance across forecasting and planning.
- Set commercial and trading risk limits with Finance/Treasury and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM); ensure pre-trade approvals and post-trade performance reporting.
- Drive continuous improvement, capability building, and succession planning across the Strategy & Growth directorate.
Standard leadership responsibilities
- Develop directorate strategy, policies, and procedures aligned to organisational objectives; refresh as needed.
- Coach, mentor, and develop leaders and teams; create a strong performance and talent pipeline.
- Lead annual budget planning and performance reporting for the directorate.
- Identify opportunities to improve systems, processes, and practices using international leading practice and change-management disciplines.
- Promote and ensure alignment to organisational values (sustainability, integrity, collaboration, innovation).
Job requirements
Emirati Nationality with UAE Family Book
Minimum education
- Master's degree in Economics, Engineering, Finance, or related field (Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Master of Public Policy (MPP) preferred).
Minimum experience
- Minimum 16 years progressive experience in power and water sector strategy, market design and regulation, system planning, or commercial leadership.
- At least 5 years in an executive leadership role within a complex, multi-stakeholder utility/energy environment.
- Demonstrated track record in integrated resource planning, market/regulatory change, and high-value commercial outcomes.
Key competencies
Behavioural:
- Drive organisational excellence
- Encourage continuous learning
- Build effective relationships
- Communicate with impact
- Adopt a strategic mindset
Technical:
- Sector strategy and scenario planning
- Integrated resource/system planning and modelling
- Demand forecasting and analytics governance
- Economic regulation and price control design
- Technical regulations
- Energy markets and trading
- Business development and partnership structuring
- Stakeholder engagement and communication
- Strategy and business planning
- Negotiation
- Sector knowledge
- Technical writing
- Project/programme management
