Country Manager (Research – International Firm)

Project Management:

• Min. 6 years of relevant research / advisory experience in the Middle East region
• Proven track record of conducting secondary research, designing research strategies, interpreting and analysing information for accuracy, exhaustiveness and applicability in resolving research problems
• Experienced in doing sector intelligence, benchmarking analysis, trend analysis, etc.
• Ability to connect the dots and derive insights on Middle East and global markets
• Expertise in handling multiple project teams and playing the role of a problem solver to them
• Adroit in workflow management / triaging
• Ability to translate client objectives into clear deliverables in Arabic and English with associated priorities and constraints
• Ability to lead quality assurance, quality improvement practices / processes on multiple projects

People Management:

Project lead with complete responsibility of project delivery for complex and challenging projects in addition to the regular role of being the point of contact for all projects
Capable of managing a team of 4-6 analysts with responsibilities including steering the team in the right direction, and ensuring all work is aimed at meeting client objectives

Client Management:

• Identify opportunities to provide value-adds on the existing workstream to clients
• Manage client communication on projects and deliverables etc
• Strengthen relationships by having good understanding of the local Middle Eastern culture
• Be on top of identifying opportunities and act as a solutions provider

Technical skills:

Knowledge of key databases such as Capital IQ, MEED, Zawya, Eikon, Factiva, FactSet etc.

Skill Set Required:

• Seasoned research professional with a strong focus on cross-industry research
• Ability to understand the consulting / advisory business environment, language, and processes
• Updated with current events in leading Middle East sectors and ability to identify key trends shaping the industries
• Highly adept in understanding business issues and translating them into research priorities
• Ability to ensure that tasks within areas of responsibility are completed in a timely manner
• Ability to estimate effort for tasks / projects
• Effective communicator in Arabic and English (reading, writing and speaking) with excellent relationship building & interpersonal skills
• Strong analytical, problem solving & organizational abilities
• Challenging current thinking by implementing new ways of working
• Possess a flexible & detail-oriented attitude
• Ability to identify pro-active ways to contribute to firms’ goals & mission
• Ability to manage people (mentoring)

Education and experience:

• The right candidate should have worked for 6-8 years with a reputed firm in consulting / research and analysis. Preferably should have worked in (or) for the research team of a professional services firm (Consulting, Advisory, Corporate Finance)
• Experienced in working on pilot projects, that went on to becoming larger ongoing engagements
• Good knowledge of databases and Latest MS Office tools is required
• Graduate/Postgraduate