The Senior Manager, Business Development – Aquaculture, will establish and manage strategic relationships with companies nationally and internationally for the aquaculture and feed industry.
Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities
- Promote the concept that NEOM’s vision provides enhanced market opportunities in the aquaculture and alternative feed industry
- Develop and implement a strategy for company attraction that aligns with NEOM’s sustainable aquaculture strategy, and good environmental stewardship
- Perform market analyses to identify trends in aquaculture and alternative feed
- Identify companies of high interest to the NEOM aquaculture strategy
- Establish criteria for company selection that include financial stability, technological readiness, product differentiation, and describe advantages over competitors
- Engage with companies that offer the greatest market potential, and align with NEOM’s vision
- Communicate assessments with internal stakeholders at NEOM and establish position statements on target companies
- Assess the feasibility of, and budgets required, to establish companies at NEOM and support their initial and projected market activities
- Identify key needs (infrastructure, talent pool, policies, etc.) in incentivizing companies to establish at NEOM and in ensuring market take-off
- Partner with other tenant attraction stakeholders to draft and communicate effective incentive packages and/or unique value propositions for aquaculture and alternative feed companies of interest
- Benchmark strategies and success in attracting companies against other regional efforts and develop insights to promote NEOM as an advantaged location
- Become acquainted with aquaculture open-sea and land-based operations, and support producer’s improvement plans and annual performance goals
- Collaborate with public research institutions, private companies, and government aquaculture programs to leverage regional aquaculture expertise
- Be a leader in promoting research, evaluation, and product development pipeline to develop new technologies and influence producer’s applications
- Contribute to research, evaluation, and growth of new environmentally sustainable technologies that drive breakthrough results necessary to increase yield and decrease the cost
- Attend relevant industry meetings to maintain and expand current knowledge of aquaculture in the Middle East and the Red Sea
- Develop and implement leadership and support implementation of key marketing initiatives
- Perform other related duties and/or special projects as required
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business and/or an aquaculture field. A graduate degree in either field is desired, and preference will be given to candidates combining qualifications in both.
- A strong industry network within aquaculture, including feed producers, and open sea and land-based aquaculture production systems is a plus.
- Proactive with an entrepreneurial mindset and approach and with regional and international market knowledge a plus.
- Experience in a multicultural environment is a plus as is proficiency in at least two languages.
- Passion for NEOM’s mission in building the sustainable aquaculture industry and set an example for the region
- Knowledge of regional and global consumer and industry trends in the aquaculture and feed space
- Knowledge of the aquaculture industry encompassing large corporations, SMEs, and start-ups (including VCs, accelerators, technology transfer offices, etc.), and research organizations
- Prior experience in a fast-paced international business development role and/or managerial experience in the aquaculture industries
- Prior experience working with consultancy agencies and managing external projects
- Strong networking skills and willingness to initiate engagement with internal and external stakeholders
- Proven team-player with a minimum of 5 years’ experience contributing to multidisciplinary teams
- Highly effective communicator with strong oral and written presentation skills