JOB PURPOSE:
The Senior Specialist - Economics supports ADNOCu2019s Upstream Business Development activities by delivering inu2011depth economic, financial, and commercial analysis of existing and potential opportunities across the UAE Upstream value chain. The role contributes to the ADNOC Upstream strategy through the identification, evaluation, and structuring of strategic growth, partnership, and portfolio optimization opportunities, negotiations and other commercial activities.
A successful candidate will be responsible for identification and assessment of emerging business development opportunities by integrating commercial, financial, and technical insights to support opportunity screening, feasibility assessments, negotiations, and transaction execution.
The role focuses on investment decision support and transaction economics across ADNOCu2019s Upstream portfolio, including mergers and acquisitions, farmu2011ins/farmu2011outs, joint ventures, and concessionu2011related opportunities.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:
- The scope of the Upstream Concession & Business Development Division is restricted to ADNOC Upstream, but covers the entire Upstream value chain, and all Upstream operations conducted by ADNOC Group Companies, by ADNOC sole-risk, or by companies reporting directly to the SPC active within Abu Dhabi to contribute across all aspects of the strategy, integration, new opportunities identification processes and stakeholder management.
Job Specific Accountabilities
Business Development:
- Lead the economic assessment of new upstream business development opportunities within the UAE, including exploration, producing assets, marginal fields, unconventionals, drilling & OFSE, technology and digital initiatives and others.
- Develop, maintain, and own robust economic models to support the evaluation of upstream opportunities, applying appropriate financial and economic frameworks and metrics. Integrate commercial assumptions (e.g., capex, opex, production profiles) and inputs from legal and technical teams to deliver clear, wellu2011supported recommendations to Upstream Leadership.
- Conduct sensitivity and scenario analyses to assess the robustness and resilience of investment cases under varying assumptions.
- Evaluate commercial terms proposed by prospective partners and assess their impact on ADNOCu2019s overall value proposition.
- Lead opportunity negotiations with potential partners by leveraging economic analysis, market intelligence, and industry benchmarks.
- Provide clear recommendations to Upstream Leadership on the economic viability, value creation potential, and strategic fit of identified opportunities.
- Lead economic analysis of the existing upstream portfolio to identify shortu2011 and longu2011term value optimization opportunities.
- Identify, assess, and propose new business development opportunities, including transactions, joint ventures, alliances, and strategic partnerships.
- Prepare and provide economic and commercial inputs to established Upstream governance processes (e.g., Investment Committee).
- Exercise independent economic judgment and accountability in developing recommendations that materially influence investment decisions, portfolio priorities, and partner engagements.
- Lead crossu2011functional alignment with technical, finance, legal, strategy and other Upstream teams to ensure fully integrated and commercially robust economic assessment frameworks.
- Assess and articulate key value, risk, and strategic tradeu2011offs to support informed decisionu2011making by Upstream Leadership.
Concession Management:
- Lead targeted strategic analyses of existing concession agreements, focusing on most critical areas in which partners are falling short of commitments.
- Support economic assessment of contributions by Upstream Concession partners including cost efficiencies, production enhancements and other improvements
- Analyze ADNOC concession terms with respect to the industry best practices and identify / propose opportunities for enhancement.
- Provide economic and commercial insights to support renegotiation or amendments of concession agreements. Support Upstream management in concession partner meetings and reviews.
- Ensure regular communication with Upstream operating companies and asset managers to assess status against the concession obligations.
- Advise Upstream Management on trends/potential areas of concern which require immediate attention, and initiate /advise on appropriate course of action.
Stakeholder Management:
- Support Upstream leadership in preparation of effective visits, meetings, and engagements with international & local stakeholders by providing economic & commercial insights
- Maintain and grow relationships with key stakeholders across the Company to ensure delivery of key division objectives.
- Report and provide recommendations on current and emerging issues that may impact stakeholder engagement initiatives.
- Develop and maintain relationships with key 3rd party stakeholders outside of ADNOC (e.g. analysts, consulting houses, technology providers and any other organizations as required).
Generic Accountabilities
Policies, Systems, Processes & Procedures
- Support Division leadership with development and implementation of appropriate Division policies, processes, systems, standards, procedures and internal controls, Company guidelines.
Performance Management
- Contribute to the development of the comprehensive Directorateu2019s KPIu2019s.
People Development
- Continue developing knowledge and competencies with regards to the Upstream Value Chain, Business Development, Commercial, Economics and Concession Management.
- Propose opportunities for team capabilities development based on emerging industry themes and trends (e.g. Energy Transition, Digitization, etc).
- Provide guidance and technical support to junior team members as required
Innovation and Continuous Improvement
- Promote an organisation culture that encourages innovation, enhances employee motivation and supports initiatives for implementation of Change Management to continuously improve the Division operations and services.
- Recommend improvements in internal processes against best practices in pursuit of greater efficiency in line with approved standards in order to define intelligent solutions for issues confronting the Division.
Health, Safety, Environment (HSE) and Sustainability
- Support the institution and implementation of an HSE culture and ensure compliance with relevant HSE policies, procedures, systems & controls and applicable legislation and sustainability guidelines across the Division in line with international standards, best practices and ADNOC Code of Practices.
Management Information Systems (MIS) and Reports
- Ensure that all Division MIS and progress reports are prepared to provide accurate and timely reports and necessary information to Company Management to effectively manage the business.
COMMUNICATIONS & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:
Internal
- Concession & Business Development team.
- Upstream Business Line Directorates.
- Group Companies reporting to the Upstream CEO.
External
- Shareholders, counterparts & members of the ADNOC Group, as required.
- Local and international vendors, contractors and third-party service providers.
- Industry peers and technology providers
- Government organisations and entities.
QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:
Minimum Qualification
- Bacheloru2019s degree in Economics, Finance, Business/Commercial Administration, or Petroleum/Reservoir Engineering, or another closely related field.
- Masteru2019s degree or MBA is preferred.
Minimum Experience & Knowledge & Skills
- 8u201312 years of experience in commercial, business development, or economics roles across the upstream value chain (E&P companies, OFS, oil & gas investment banking/private equity, oil & gas advisory).
- Strong commercial and economic acumen with proven experience in economic evaluation and transaction support, including NPV, IRR, breakeven, PI, and sensitivity analysis.
- Solid understanding of the upstream value chain, including fiscal regimes, and commercial agreements (concessions, JOAs, PSCs, farmu2011ins/farmu2011outs, joint ventures).
- Proven experience supporting evaluation & execution of business development opportunities, bid assessments, transaction structuring, and negotiation processes.
- Advanced economic and financial modelling and analytical skills, with high proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint.
- Good understanding of corporate strategy, portfolio management, and market intelligence within the oil & gas sector.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams and engage internal and external stakeholders.
Professional Certifications
TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES:
- Advanced expertise in upstream economic modelling and valuation, including fullu2011cycle field development evaluation, fiscal analysis, cashu2011flow modelling and scenario/sensitivity assessments.
- Strong understanding of upstream fiscal regimes, concession frameworks, transaction documents and commercial structures across various Upstream asset types and key jurisdictions.
- High proficiency in financial and economic modelling tools and analytical techniques, including Excelu2011based modelling, model auditing, data analysis, and visualization.
behavioural CompetenciEs:
- Strong analytical judgment and ability to operate independently on complex, high-value matters.
- Clear and effective communication skills, with the ability to present economic insights to senior leadership.
- Strong stakeholder management and collaboration skills across multidisciplinary teams.
- High standards of professionalism, integrity, and confidentiality
