Executive Vice President, Commercial (UAEN)
Location: United Arab Emirates
About the Company
Our client is a major strategic organisation operating at the heart of the United Arab Emirates power and water ecosystem. Working at multi-billion-dirham scale, the business plays a critical role in long-term supply planning, commercial structuring, tariff development, customer relationships, and market evolution across one of the region's most important infrastructure sectors.
The organisation works with a broad network of government entities, utilities, developers, fuel and network partners, and large-scale industrial customers. It offers the scale, complexity, and public impact of a nationally significant utility platform, combined with a strong focus on strategy, commercial innovation, and sustainable growth.
The Opportunity
The Executive Vice President, Commercial will lead the organisation's commercial function, taking ownership of major customer relationships, tariff strategy, contract negotiation, and the development of trading and bilateral commercial arrangements across the power and water value chain.
This is a senior leadership role with responsibility for both protecting and optimising major revenue streams, while also helping shape the future commercial model of a highly strategic utility business. The role requires a blend of customer leadership, negotiation expertise, regulatory understanding, commercial analysis, and market development capability.
Reporting Line
This role reports to the Chief Strategy & Growth Officer.
Team Leadership
The EVP, Commercial will directly oversee senior leaders across:
- Trading
- Commercial Tariffs
- Commercial Projects
- Commercial Structuring & Analysis
The role also carries indirect leadership responsibility for the broader commercial team.
Financial Scope
The position oversees multiple multi-billion-dirham contractual arrangements and tariff-related commercial activity across the bulk supply of electricity and water.
Key Responsibilities
Commercial Leadership and Customer Management
- Lead the planning and execution of customer management activities in alignment with the organisation's broader strategy and growth agenda.
- Manage existing and new relationships with major power and water customers, acting as the central point of contact for commercial engagement.
- Oversee relationships with non-regulated and strategic counterparties across the United Arab Emirates and wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
- Lead negotiations on price, contract type, commercial structure, and deal implementation in close coordination with legal and finance stakeholders.
- Manage the negotiation and implementation of electricity and water sales agreements for major industrial and non-embedded customers.
- Build effective feedback loops with planning and project development teams to inform the structuring and negotiation of long-term customer agreements.
- Coordinate with finance to support timely payment flows and strong commercial governance.
Tariffs and Commercial Structuring
- Oversee the development, calculation, and approval process for bulk supply tariffs and related pricing mechanisms.
- Manage methodologies and timetables for tariff calculation in line with regulatory requirements.
- Ensure accurate calculation of fuel surcharge adjustments based on actual versus forecast consumption.
- Oversee the calculation and validation of bulk tariffs, industrial tariffs, and other customer pricing structures.
- Review and challenge tariff outputs in partnership with finance and relevant internal stakeholders before communication to customers.
- Validate tariffs applicable to retail customers under relevant electricity and water agreements.
- Monitor and report on variances between power and water purchase costs and bulk tariff revenues, feeding insight back into long-term capacity and least-cost planning.
Trading and Market Development
- Lead the development of the energy trading market and oversee the evaluation and agreement of bilateral trades.
- Drive exchange synergies with other utilities and sector participants across the United Arab Emirates.
- Build commercial cooperation frameworks that enable profitable short-term trading arrangements both domestically and regionally.
- Oversee the calculation of trading prices in line with business and market requirements.
- Negotiate and establish commercial frameworks for interconnections and cross-emirate trading arrangements.
Customer Experience and Operational Excellence
- Oversee all customer management channels and ensure robust mechanisms are in place for handling requests, complaints, and queries.
- Lead the development and maintenance of a strong customer database and account management approach.
- Monitor customer satisfaction and advocacy levels, identifying areas for improvement.
- Provide leadership, feedback, and performance support to strengthen team capability and departmental effectiveness.
- Drive continuous improvement in line with international best practice and evolving business needs.
- Ensure the timely preparation of accurate reports in line with internal standards and governance requirements.
- Ensure compliance with health, safety, security, and environmental standards, while promoting values such as sustainability, integrity, collaboration, and innovation.
Key Internal and External Stakeholders
Internal
- Strategy & Growth
- Assets
- Operations
- Legal
- Finance
External
- Regulators and government stakeholders
- Utility and infrastructure partners
- Transmission and network operators
- Project developers
- Fuel suppliers
- Insurance and advisory partners
Candidate Profile
This position does require Emirati (UAE) Nationality.
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Economics, Econometrics, Statistics, Engineering, or a related field is essential.
- A Master's degree in Economics, Engineering, or a related discipline is preferred.
Experience
- Minimum 12 years of experience in commercial leadership, relationship management, or a related field.
- At least 4 to 6 years in a senior leadership role.
- Experience gained within a medium to large-scale, multicultural, and ideally multinational organisation.
- Strong preference for candidates from the energy, utilities, or infrastructure sectors.
Core Capabilities
Leadership and Behavioural Strengths
- Strategic mindset
- Organisational excellence
- Continuous learning orientation
- Relationship building
- High-impact communication
Technical Expertise
- Contract management
- Financial and economic analysis
- Commercial negotiation
- Regulatory affairs
- Stakeholder and partner engagement
- Strategy and business planning
- Sector knowledge
- Performance management
- Procurement understanding
- Good working knowledge of generation, desalination, scheduling, and dispatch environments
Working Environment
This is primarily an office-based leadership role within a modern corporate environment, with flexibility for remote working where required. The position also involves external engagement, including visits to stakeholder offices, operational sites, and relevant government or partner locations.
