Venture Development Manager

Job summary

The Venture Development Manager serves as a strategic architect and operator of ADNOC’s next-generation ventures. This role is responsible for identifying transformative opportunities, validating market-backed solutions, and leading high-impact ventures from concept to commercial scale. The position demands comfort with ambiguity, deep stakeholder alignment, and excellence in structured venture building.

Key responsibilities

Venture identification & validation

Define and validate 4-8 high-potential venture concepts.

Conduct market research and feasibility assessments.

Venture building & delivery

Deliver at least 3 MVPs with early commercial traction.

Establish governance, reporting, and agile venture delivery processes.

Lead cross-functional teams to execute venture projects.

Stakeholder alignment & collaboration

Secure alignment with senior stakeholders.

Enable and coordinate cross-functional collaboration.

Innovation governance

Implement innovation frameworks (Lean Startup, Design Thinking).

Ensure structured and scalable venture delivery.

Tools and technologies

Innovation frameworks: Lean Startup, Design Thinking

Project management: Agile tools, Asana, Microsoft Teams

Business modeling: Financial modeling tools, analytics platforms

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Number of validated venture concepts

Number of MVPs launched with commercial traction

Stakeholder alignment and satisfaction

Efficiency of venture delivery processes

Minimum requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Technology, or related field; advanced degree preferred.

8 years of experience in venture development, corporate innovation, strategy, or partnerships.

Proven experience in business modeling, venture feasibility assessment, and go-to-market planning.

Experience working in cross-functional and matrixed enterprise environments.

Exposure to retail, energy, mobility, or consumer-focused industries is an advantage.

Familiarity with agile methodologies, design thinking, and innovation frameworks.

Strong business acumen and commercial evaluation skills.

Solid understanding of startup ecosystems, venture building, and innovation frameworks.

Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.

Strong stakeholder engagement and partnership management skills.

Ability to translate strategic ideas into executable ventures.