Senior Vice President - Strategy Development

About QNB Group

Founded in 1964 as Qatar’s first locally owned commercial bank, QNB Group has developed into the largest banking institution in the Middle East and Africa region. Through its subsidiaries and associate companies, the group operates in more than 31 countries across three continents, offering a broad suite of advanced products and services. It employs over 28,000 people, serves up to 20 million customers, and operates through 1,000 locations supported by an ATM network of 4,300 machines.

The bank is recognized among the highest-rated regional banks by major credit rating agencies, including Standard & Poor’s (A), Moody’s (Aa3), and Fitch (A+). It has also received multiple awards from major international specialist financial publications. Based on its sustained financial strength and global expansion, QNB is ranked as the most valuable banking brand in the Middle East and Africa by Brand Finance Magazine. The group also runs an active community support program and sponsors social, educational, and sporting events.

Role Summary

This senior leadership position is responsible for independently directing the Strategy Development team within the Strategy and Business Development department. The role owns and executes the group’s strategy portfolio across business/support functions and countries throughout QNB’s international network, with very limited supervision. Assignments may include regional strategies, country strategies covering all relevant lines of business, and business unit strategies. The role also supports executive-level requirements such as GCEO interviews, Board materials, and public-facing documents.

Key Responsibilities

The incumbent will lead strategy work across financial, customer, process, continuous improvement, learning, and risk/compliance dimensions.

• Manage a portfolio of group-wide strategy engagements covering domestic and international areas.
• Create KPIs and tracking measures to monitor progress and outcomes for strategy and implementation work on a regular basis.
• Own the financial planning process for strategy assignments and review plans as needed.
• Support senior executives in assessing issues that may influence profitability, growth, and productivity across the organization.
• Set and apply best-practice KPIs for the Senior Vice President, Strategy Development function.
• Operate within delegated authority and assign responsibilities to team members while monitoring execution.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the drivers behind the bank’s financial and non-financial performance.
• Lead group-wide strategy initiatives such as regional strategies, country strategies, and business unit strategy development.
• Ensure internal and external stakeholder requirements are built into strategy design and implementation plans.
• Manage interactions with senior stakeholders from business divisions, support units, and country general managers to align outputs and delivery.
• Serve as a dependable point of contact for business units, support teams, and country GMs during strategy delivery.
• Handle additional group strategy assignments such as annual business planning, strategic plan development, performance management, GCEO interviews, Board presentations, and other requested documents.
• Receive mandates, inputs, and project briefs from senior management for strategy and implementation projects.
• Align project scope, direction, and outputs with the EVP of Strategy & Business Development.
• Oversee multiple strategy projects at the same time and direct all phases of delivery.
• Design project setups including scope, structure, timelines, resourcing, and work plans.
• Guide project teams daily to ensure timely, high-quality, and high-impact delivery.
• Coach the Vice Principal, Strategy Development on hypothesis building, analysis, market sizing, baselining, frameworks, strategic recommendations, and conclusions.
• Review and align project outputs with the delivery teams.
• Support the EVP in reviewing team performance and the section’s overall effectiveness, and recommend improvements where necessary.
• Supervise the Strategy Development team and handle related HR matters including team performance, absence management, training needs, and other people-related requests.
• Promote industry-leading standards in strategic recommendation development and governance frameworks.
• Provide strong leadership to ensure adequate controls and resources are in place to manage workload.
• Support recruitment, motivate employees, guide teams, and reinforce high performance and adherence to the bank’s values and mission.
• Build effective working relationships with related departments and units to help achieve the group’s objectives.
• Lead cross-functional improvement initiatives and help teams deliver measurable gains.
• Encourage the adoption of practices that exceed industry standards.
• Promote creative thinking and new ideas in both major and routine work.
• Support the professional growth of self and direct reports by identifying development needs.
• Provide guidance, direction, and training to help team members strengthen their capabilities.
• Review direct reports’ performance and provide ongoing feedback, including recognition of strengths and stretch opportunities.
• Lead with support, direction, and vision, while motivating and listening to the team.
• Keep current on banking operations, regulations, and accepted practices, and research industry topics to recommend improvements to products, services, and systems.
• Bring advanced knowledge of strategy and business development tools, methods, and frameworks.
• Complete all mandatory bank training and seminars to maintain required competence levels.
• Perform any other related duties within the scope of the role, including training departmental staff and handling special assignments from management.
• Follow all legal, regulatory, and internal compliance requirements, including AML & CTF, Sanctions, Data Protection, Fraud Control, Whistle Blowing, Conflict of Interest, and Insider Dealing policies.
• Carry out responsibilities under the Three Lines of Defence model to identify, assess, monitor, manage, and report risks.
• Ensure outcomes for clients are aligned with Conduct Risk policy expectations.
• Support RCSA, KRI, incident reporting, and remediation activities as required under Operational Risk Management rules.
• Maintain the knowledge required to remain fully qualified for the position.
• Attend mandatory internal and external seminars when instructed by the bank.

Education and Experience

• A bachelor’s degree or master’s degree is required, with a preference for a master’s qualification, and an MBA from a leading institution.
• At least 15 years of professional experience is required, including a minimum of 7 years in strategy development and most recently at Senior Manager level.
• Experience should come from a top-tier strategy consulting firm such as McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Booz, Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, or a comparable environment within a well-known international financial services organization.
• The candidate should show strong career progression and clear leadership potential.
• A proven record of leading strategy assignments from concept through implementation is essential.
• Excellent analytical and conceptual-methodological abilities are required.

Application Documents

Applicants must be ready to provide a resume/CV, passport, and educational certificates.