Group Business Development Director - MENA - Private Equity

Job Summary

The Group Business Development Director - MENA is responsible for identifying, originating and securing major infrastructure investment opportunities across Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The role leads deal sourcing and relationship development with government entities, strategic partners, project developers, current asset owners and operators, and co-investors.

The role drives revenue generation through direct deal origination and supports opportunity assessment, commercial negotiation, diligence, transaction structuring and closing in collaboration with the investment deal team.

Job Responsibilities 1

Deal Origination & Business Development

• Lead deal origination across Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, building and maintaining a robust pipeline of investment opportunities across ports, airports, power generation, oil and gas, refinery, water, agriculture, real estate, mining and pipeline sectors.

• Develop and execute a comprehensive regional business development strategy to source opportunities through direct engagement with governments, current asset owners and operators, strategic partners and project developers.

Strategic Stakeholder & Government Relations

• Establish and nurture strategic relationships with government officials, regulatory bodies, public-sector stakeholders, asset owners and operators to understand priorities and secure direct access to investment opportunities.

• Manage relationships with current asset owners and operators, identifying partnership, acquisition and investment opportunities, with deal-team support for detailed technical and financial diligence.

• Build and maintain relationships with co-investors and strategic co-investment partners

Opportunity Assessment & Investment Preparation

• Identify and qualify investment opportunities through market research and direct stakeholder engagement, assessing commercial and structural feasibility.

• Prepare investment opportunity assessments and memoranda for the Investment Committee, detailing market context, opportunity characteristics and proposed structure.

Capital Investment Project Development

• Partner with sector verticals to design and implement stage-gate processes for capital investment project maturation, establishing clear quality gates, decision criteria, and approval protocols aligned with sector-specific requirements.

• Support sector implementation of cost estimation methodologies and documentation standards aligned with best practices; establish guidance frameworks that enable sector teams to manage cost estimate progression from preliminary Class 4 to Class 1 bankable estimates, including audit trail, assumptions documentation, and risk registers at each gate.

• Develop sector-specific project governance templates and escalation protocols defining roles, approval authorities, and documentation requirements; support sector adoption and provide Bridge Holding governance interface for alignment with investor and lender requirements.

• Establish bankability assessment frameworks and gate-review criteria in partnership with sectors; support readiness validation for Investment Committee approval and third-party financing; ensure best in class capital project development standards are met.

• Build and maintain project intake, tracking, and documentation systems that support sector pipeline visibility, stage-gate compliance, and Bridge Holding oversight; generate quarterly reports on project maturation progress by sector, gate approval rates, cost estimate confidence evolution, and bankability metrics; serve as primary interface between sector origination teams and central Investment Committee.

Job Responsibilities 2

Commercial Negotiation & Deal Execution Support

• Lead commercial negotiations of term sheets, framework agreements and transaction arrangements with governments, current asset owners, project developers and co-investment partners, with support from legal and transaction teams.

• Collaborate with financial analysts, technical specialists and legal advisers on opportunity evaluation, providing market insight and commercial perspective.

• Support financial, technical, legal, tax, regulatory, sanctions and integrity diligence and coordinate inputs from internal specialists and external advisers.

• Assist with transaction structuring, financial analysis, term-sheet review, negotiations, documentation and closing processes.

Co-Investor & Financial Institution Engagement

• Build and maintain relationships with co-investors, co-investment partners and financial institutions to facilitate deal execution and investment syndication.

Market Intelligence & Strategic Advisory

• Travel across assigned regions, estimated at 20 to 30 percent of time, to maintain stakeholder relationships, identify emerging opportunities and manage critical negotiations.

• Monitor market trends, regulatory developments, competitive landscape and sector dynamics in target geographies to identify emerging investment opportunities.

• Provide market insight and strategic recommendations to senior management for fund-strategy refinement and opportunity identification.

Team Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead and mentor the business development team, supporting origination, relationship management and opportunity-evaluation activities

Additional Responsibilities 3

Job Knowledge & Skills

• Infrastructure investment acumen: Deep understanding of infrastructure investment strategies, sector dynamics, risk profiles and return drivers across ports, airports, power, energy, water, agriculture, mining and real estate, including greenfield, brownfield and acquisition opportunities.

• Deal origination and market sourcing: Ability to identify, qualify and originate high-quality infrastructure investment opportunities through direct engagement with governments, asset owners and developers and to assess commercial viability and structuring potential.

• Asset-owner and operator relations: Ability to build productive relationships with existing asset owners, operators and managers, understand their business drivers and identify partnership and acquisition opportunities.

• Commercial negotiation and deal structuring: Ability to negotiate commercial terms, concession agreements, joint-venture arrangements and purchase agreements, with an understanding of pricing mechanisms and governance frameworks.

• Regional market and political expertise: Deep knowledge of Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa political economy, macroeconomic trends, regulatory frameworks, currency dynamics, key sectors and major asset owners and developers.

• Project stage-gate and cost estimation: Understanding of cost classification standards and stage-gate project maturity frameworks; ability to guide and support sector teams in designing and implementing stage-gate processes that drive project cost estimates from Class 4 through Class 1 bankability.

• Bankability assessment and project documentation: Ability to work with sectors to assess projects against investor, lender and sector-specific bankability criteria; expertise in developing and socializing project charter, basis-of-estimate, risk framework, and covenant documentation templates that meet institutional financing standards.

• Sector-specific project standards and governance: Knowledge of cost estimation methodologies, technical requirements, permitting processes, and governance frameworks across assigned sectors (energy infrastructure, mining, ports/airports, agricultural supply chains, digital infrastructure); ability to translate sector-specific standards into scalable, repeatable project processes.

Job Experience

• Infrastructure investment and project development: Minimum 15 years of professional experience in infrastructure investment, project development or related sectors, including at least 10 years in a senior business development, deal origination or investment role focused on infrastructure, private equity or project finance.

• Deal origination and transaction track record: Proven record of originating and closing major infrastructure deals exceeding USD 100 million in transaction value in MENA, Africa and/or emerging markets, with direct experience building relationships with government stakeholders, current asset owners and operators, and project developers.

• PPP, concession and multi-stakeholder experience: Demonstrated experience in energy, mining, ports, airports, water, agriculture and/or transportation infrastructure, including public-private partnerships, concessions and complex multi-stakeholder negotiations.

• Languages: Fluency in English is required. Arabic language capability is a significant advantage.

Competencies

Education