Director - Digital Services & Partnerships
by Ooredoo in Telecommunications & Networking
Lead the development, launching, and managing of digital product propositions and corresponding partnerships, and oversee the establishment of partnerships with vendors to deliver profitable new digital services and revenue streams for Ooredoo Group. Lead the Digital Services & Partnerships vertical, which contributes more than 5% of Group revenues and more than 15% Group free cash flow, with the objective of progressively increasing this through double digit growth rates. Set and execute the strategy for building partnerships and conceptualizing, developing, and delivering digital products and services across B2C, including Digital, VAS and Platforms such as Gaming; B2B2C, including messaging, mobile advertisements, TV and API monetization; and B2B, including data monetization, cloud services, IOT and hosting services, while developing an enablement layer foundation for unlocking a digital partnership economy. Manage the existing Digital Services & Partnerships portfolio, develop the Group partnerships strategy, create digital & partnerships roadmaps, review the Group portfolio for availability gaps and new partner opportunities, review standalone OpCo contracts for cross-OpCos synergies, quantify synergies, lead negotiations and establish cross-OpCo deals through better commercial terms or broader access to new services. Analyse digital service partnering and platform activities of local and regional telco peers and emergent trends, and embed conclusions into the digital services partnering strategy. Define and oversee a robust and innovative B2B, B2C and B2B2C digital services and partnerships portfolio covering framework, business model, enablement tools, platform requirements, customer experience and market strategies. B2C services include Direct carrier billing, bundled content propositions, Video, Games, Music partnerships, Storage and AI products; B2B services include software sales, cloud storage, hosting and business VAS services; B2B2C/wholesale services include A2P, RCS & CPaaS, API monetization & wholesale deals, mobile advertising and communication services. Guide OpCos in selecting solutions and partners for market RFPs, contracts and frameworks, support final solution selection, develop implementation approaches and timelines, and facilitate coordination between partners and OpCos for local implementation. Act as the Digital Services and Partnerships SPOC for Group Corporate Governance, Group Internal Audit, Group Legal, Group Finance and key digital service partners including Microsoft, Google, Sinch and InfoBip. Analyse and review Digital Services financial performance, develop initiatives and actions to capture opportunities or mitigate shortfalls, prepare reporting read-outs for the Group Chief Strategy Officer, prepare top-management presentation and discussion material for the Group Management Committee (GMC), participate in OpCo performance reviews, conduct quarterly Digital Services exchange meetings with OpCos, and review the performance of the top 5 external digital services partners against defined metrics and KPIs, including operational issues and improvement opportunities. Identify promising digital service business opportunities, develop annual frameworks with viewpoints, target partner lists, target commercial structures & conditions, Go-To-Market strategy/tactics and action lists, align new business development focus areas with Group Functions and OpCos, and develop RACI logic where applicable. Lead group-wide digital service category programs, including support for a Group wide strategy for Pay-TV/OTT TV/SVOD. Identify enablement tools, support and managed services requirements, and MSP/SI requirements for Group projects and OpCo enablement, and develop and disseminate best practice guidelines for content services and digital VAS services. Develop the annual innovation strategy, maintain the innovation leadership exchange team, execute POCs to test hypotheses with a lead OpCo, review performance and facilitate broader rollout of successful POCs, and maintain relationships with key forums for innovation in the telecoms space. Develop processes, rules, procedures and policies for product lifecycle, vendor and customer lifecycle management, partner selection, product launch and B2B marketplace; align policies with local OpCo processes; conduct supplier integrity checks; assure data confidentiality; ensure compliance with Group Digital Services & Partnerships policies, processes, procedures and rules; monitor processes and contracts against approvals and the authority matrix; support Audit requirements; and ensure appropriate controls and action plans. Develop the financial plan and required budgets for the digital service function, align with Senior Director Propositions, Digital Services and Partnerships and GCCO, review OpCo financial plans, and develop market views for addressable digital service markets while comparing market growth with OpCo digital services growth. Lead team activities, develop team members with OGHR, and manage team performance. Work with Group senior stakeholders across Commercial, Branding, Technology, Internal Audit, Corporate Governance, Finance, Legal & Regulatory and Strategic Sourcing, as well as Ooredoo OpCos and their Commercial/Marketing, Security, IT, TV, Technology, Finance, Legal & Regulatory and Local Procurement teams, Group and OpCo MSP’s, vendors and digital partners. Bring 15 years relevant Telecom experience, preferably with MSP or ISV experience, multiple ISV experience and commercial product lifecycle management experience; experience in B2B, B2C, B2C2B and ICT product conceptualization, development and monetization; performance management experience including 6-8 years in telecommunications; expert knowledge of digital services and partnerships management, enablement tools and Operations management; expertise in building business cases and feasibility studies for new product and solution development; understanding of regional and international digital services landscapes; experience researching and establishing new digital revenue stream opportunities; extensive pricing experience across prepaid and post-paid arenas; customer insights, segmentation and propensity modelling; supplier performance measurement in telecommunications supplier markets; API experience to analyse commercial viability of projects; internal audit experience; PowerPoint presentation and Excel modeling skills; Commercial acumen and analysis, Digital Technology Knowledge, Business Partnering, Financial Analysis, Product Development and lifecycle Management, Corporate Performance Management, Leading practice analysis, Industry innovations, trends and commercials, strategic partnerships, Entrepreneurship and project management. The role requires a minimum bachelor’s degree in a business/IT and/or IS discipline, with a Master degree considered a plus and PMP certification desirable, plus written/oral fluency in English and Arabic preferred but not mandatory.