Associate Strategy Manager, Strategic Opportunities and Impact - UAE National

Life at Dubai Future Foundation

Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) aims to realize the wise vision of Dubai’s leadership to keep Dubai 10 years ahead, institutionalizing future-oriented thinking and forward-looking methodologies that position Dubai as the leading city of the future.

In collaboration with government entities, global institutions, startups, and innovators, DFF drives collective efforts to imagine, design, and execute the best possible future for humanity.

Under the supervision of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of DFF, the Foundation oversees a portfolio of initiatives that include the Museum of the Future, Area 2071, Dubai Future Accelerators, Dubai Future Labs, Dubai Future Academy, Dubai Future Forum, Dubai Centre for AI, and the Dubai RDI Program.

Through these platforms, DFF institutionalizes foresight, enables innovation, builds talent, and designs the systems and industries that will keep Dubai 10 years ahead in every dimension of its future.

For more information on the initiatives, projects, and programs of Dubai Future Foundation, please visit the website: www.dubaifuture.ae

Where does this role fit into the bigger picture?

The Associate Strategy Manager, Strategic Opportunities and Impact reports directly to the Director of Strategy, within the Strategy and Strategic Capital Department at DFF.

This vertical sets DFF’s strategic direction and futures agenda, identifying and sizing high value opportunities, shaping corporate strategy and governance, and embedding strategic and analytical firepower across the organisation’s most important initiatives.

Associate Manager

As the Associate Strategy Manager, Strategic Opportunities and Impact, you will help define where DFF aims next, identifying bold high value opportunities, sizing their potential impact, and translating them into strategic direction, transformative roadmaps, and executive-ready cases for leadership and the board.

The role blends the toolkit of a top-tier strategy consultant with the rigour of an economist: structured problem-solving and compelling storytelling on one side, and quantitative impact assessment, financial modelling, and investment thinking on the other. You will work at multiple horizons, from long-term strategic vision to near-term execution, and embed directly with project teams when the hardest strategic questions need cracking.

Your duties and responsibilities:

High Value Opportunity Identification & Impact Assessment

• You will scan global trends, technologies, and futures signals, through environmental scanning, competitive benchmarking, and horizon analysis, to identify candidate high value opportunities, white spaces, and emerging strategic opportunities for DFF.
• You will define what qualifies as a high value opportunity for DFF (the criteria, ambition threshold, and strategic fit) and build a structured pipeline of high value opportunities for leadership consideration.
• You will assess the potential impact of each high value opportunity both qualitatively (strategic significance, transformative and societal potential, and contribution to keeping Dubai 10 years ahead) and quantitatively (economic value-at-stake, sizing, return on investment, and measurable impact metrics).
• You will support investment thinking on the high value opportunities, strategic partnerships, new initiatives, and program expansions they imply, contributing to business-case development, DCF and payback analysis, and scenario modelling.
• You will build the evidence base behind each high value opportunity, bringing an economist’s rigour to sizing impact, modelling scenarios, and turning bold ideas into quantified, defensible cases for investment.

Corporate Strategy & Direction

• You will lead and contribute to defining DFF’s overall strategic direction, long-term vision, and annual corporate priorities, in close collaboration with senior leadership.
• You will translate identified high value opportunities into bold strategic targets and transformative roadmaps that challenge conventional thinking and reflect DFF’s position as a global futures institution.
• You will design and facilitate executive strategy workshops, strategic planning cycles, and board-level presentations.
• You will track and report on organisational KPIs, OKRs, and strategic milestones to ensure accountability at all levels.

Governance & Organizational Alignment

• You will oversee and ensure adherence to DFF-wide strategic frameworks, policies, and operating procedures across business units and initiatives.
• You will develop governance structures, decision-making frameworks, and escalation protocols that improve organisational agility and accountability.
• You will act as a strategic liaison between the Corporate Strategy team and internal stakeholders, identifying misalignments early and driving corrective action.
• You will monitor implementation of approved strategies, flagging deviations and recommending course corrections with supporting analysis.

Project Strategy & Deep-Dive Engagements

• You will embed directly with project teams on complex, high-priority initiatives to provide strategic guidance, structured problem-solving, and analytical firepower.
• You will define project scope, hypothesis trees, and issue-based workplans in the style of top-tier management-consulting engagements.
• You will synthesise qualitative and quantitative findings into executive-ready deliverables (memos, briefings, and recommendations) and craft compelling strategy decks that translate complex analysis into clear narratives for leadership and board audiences.
• You will support DFF’s broader portfolio of initiatives in sharpening their strategic narratives and impact metrics.

Digital Transformation & Innovation

• You will support the identification and assessment of digital transformation opportunities across DFF’s operations, programs, and stakeholder-engagement models.
• You will support the development of digital strategy roadmaps, leveraging emerging technologies (AI, data platforms, automation) to unlock efficiency and amplify DFF’s impact.
• You will collaborate with technology and operations teams to help define digital use cases and translate them into prioritised, executable initiatives.
• You will stay at the frontier of global trends in govtech, smart cities, and emerging technology to inform DFF’s innovation agenda.

Why this role is important?

This role is where DFF’s biggest bets are found, sized, and shaped. By identifying high value opportunities, quantifying what they could deliver, and turning them into clear strategic direction, you help leadership choose the boldest, highest-impact paths, and keep Dubai 10 years ahead.

What Dubai Future Foundation offers?

DFF offers a dynamic and mission-driven environment that values collaboration, excellence, and measurable impact. You will work alongside multidisciplinary teams passionate about execution, innovation, and the future of Dubai. Expect diverse challenges, high-level exposure, and the opportunity to contribute directly to shaping Dubai’s readiness for the future.

Essential qualifications and behaviors

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Business Administration, Engineering, Finance, Economics, or a related discipline; an advanced degree (MBA, MSc) is a plus. A strong economics background and the ability to quantify economic and strategic impact are particularly valued.
• 2 to 4 years of experience in a top-tier multinational consulting firm (McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, Accenture Strategy, or equivalent); exposure to economic impact assessment, futures/strategy, or government innovation is an advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to identify high value opportunities and assess their potential impact both qualitatively and quantitatively, sizing economic value-at-stake, return on investment, and strategic significance.
• Exceptional structured problem-solving, comfortable breaking down ambiguous, complex challenges into clear hypotheses and actionable insights.
• Strong financial and economic acumen: fluency in business-case development, investment analysis, economic impact assessment, and financial modelling.
• Proven ability to think in systems and at multiple horizons, from long-term strategic vision to near-term execution priorities.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication; able to craft compelling executive narratives and influence senior audiences.
• Excellent PowerPoint and Excel skills, able to translate complex analysis into compelling, well-structured presentations with strong visual storytelling, and to build robust models and analyses in Excel; familiarity with BI, data-visualisation, and digital productivity tools is an advantage.
• Experience in or exposure to digital transformation, AI strategy, or technology-driven business change.
• Able to work natively with AI tools and emerging technologies, and to develop or meaningfully contribute to new AI-enabled tools and solutions that enhance how DFF operates.
• Comfort with ambiguity and a bias for action, able to move fast with incomplete information and iterate toward the right answer.
• Cross-functional collaboration skills across diverse teams, cultures, and seniority levels (Arabic is an asset).
• High attention to detail and accountability. Emirati candidates preferred.